Abstract Expressionism

Jackson Pollock 'Number 14'

Mark Rothko 'Composition'

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters in 1940s/50s based mostly in New York City. Typical characteristics of this style of art are that the colour is used to express emotions and the artwork is usually not realistic.

There are two types of Abstract Expressionist painters:

    Action Painters

Example painters- Jackson Pollock, Willem DeKooning

These painters worked in a spontaneous, improvisatory manner and often used large brush strokes to make sweeping gesture marks. They would also flick and through paint. They were often referred to as ‘All Over Painters’ due to their paintings lacking a particular subject or form. The paintings were flat, had no background or foreground and no beginning or end.

    Colour Field Painters

Example Painters- Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman

These painters were deeply interested in religion and myth. They created simple compositions with large areas of a single colour, intended to produce a contemplative or meditation response in the viewer. They focused on colour to create the mood and atmosphere of their paintings.

Barnett Newman

(Left) ‘Moment’ 1946

(Right) ‘Adam’ 1951

Newman often used vertical bands in his work which is why his paintings are called ‘Zip Paintings’. The single band down the middle in ‘Moment’ represents light, while the three bands in ‘Adam’ symbolise creation. They have rough edges and it is hard to separate the background from the foreground. Newman looked at the dynamic intervention between zips and space. 

Barnett Newman 'Canto X'

World War 2 prompted the Abstract Expressionist artists to paint about their experiences at war. However, the USA had a different wartime experience to Europe as they weren’t invaded or bombed, although they did go through Pearl Harbour. A lot of the painters were European 1^st or 2^nd generation refugees and so there was a strong European influence in this style of art.

Their paintings were often flat and would be extremely large to fill and the viewers’ peripheral vision, to make them feel engulfed. This allowed the viewer to contemplate and dim lighting would be used to display the artwork which heightened this sense. They would question whether a painting was supposed to be representational or thought provoking. Abstract Expressionist painters also wanted purity in art so would like paint to be for paintings, not sculptures, and fabric to be for textiles, not collage or painting.