Existing comment:
Abstract Expressionism:
In the wake of World War II, the center of Modern art shifted from Paris to New York, where Abstract Expressionism became the dominant style. Embracing the mythology of antiquity and of indigenous peoples, as well as Freud's notion of an unconscious, its abstract forms replaced figures to express mankind's common fears and desires. Abstract Expressionism combined the flat forms of French Cubism, the rough brushstrokes of German Expressionism, and the psychological content of Surrealism with a North American mural tradition inspired by early 20th-century Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera. Yet critics referred to it as "American-type painting," partly because of its large scale.
Abstract Expressionism consisted of two major strains -- Action Painting and Color-Field. Action Painting was associated with the gestural style of Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning, who experienced a painting as an encounter between the artist and the canvas. This view of art, as an unplanned record of the interplay between maker and matter, extended to the practice of collage, which experienced a resurgence in the 1950s. Color-Field, the second strain, was associated with Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clifford Still. These artists created contemplative works with vast swaths of color that seemed to open out into limitless space, as they also asserted the flat surface of the canvas. |