16. abstract expressionism
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Late 1940s-1950s
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract Expressionism
A Modern Art Movement Began in New York in 1940’s Post World War II Response to conservative American Culture
Abstract Expressionism
Artists needed to communicate feelings and experiences
New York replaced Paris as centre of Art World
Non coherent Art Movement Grew out of Surrealism
Where it Started-Influences
Cubism Surrealism Abstraction
Influences
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search=1&page=2&f=Works%20on%20View&cr=17
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79018
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1999.363.11
Cubism
Surrealism
Abstraction
Subject Matter
Abstract imagery Expression through Colour and Line Work reflected individual Artists own
emotions Valued spontaneity & improvisation Expressive method of painting as important
as painting itself
Key Characteristics of Abstract Expressionism:
Emotional Expression Unconventional method of painting Dripping, smearing, slathering paint on
canvas Spontaneous, Automatic and Subconscious
Creation Vivid Colours
Key Characteristics of Abstract Expressionism:
Emphasis on process Allowed for Spontaneity Gestural Writing-loosely
calligraphic Large Scale canvasses Two main types of painting:
- Action Painting
- Colour Field Painting
Two Main Types of Painting:
Action Painting Colour Field Painting
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1985.63.5
Art Critic- Harold Rosenberg
Rosenberg redefined Abstract Expressionism as ‘Action Painting’.
As he put it;
"At a certain moment the canvas began to appear to one American painter after another as an arena in which to act... What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event.“ – Harold Rosenberg
Action Painting:
Painting was the result of the artist’s dynamic action
Act of painting more important than the painting itself
Gave freedom to the painter’s creative impulses Paint energetically splashed, spilt or dribbled on
to canvas Usually placed face up on the floor
Key Artists: Action Painting
Jackson Pollock William de Kooning Joan Mitchell Franz Kline Lee Krasner
http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/XStatic/vanguardia/images/espanol/9500316c.jpg
“Painting is a state of being… Painting is self discovery. Every good painter paints what he is…When I am in my painting I’m not aware of what I’m doing”.
Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
abstracted4life.blogspot.com
No. 6, 1948,Oil on Paper
•American Painter•Nicknamed ‘Jack the Dripper•Unique style of Drip painting•Enlarged Scale•Many layers to his work•Wanted to be ‘in’ the painting- to be physically part of it.
Jackson Pollock
• Un-primed Canvas• Abandoned conscious control of painting• Hand controlled conscious• Layering of colour• Limited Palette• Mark-making• Visual Rhythms• Sensations
Autumn Rhythm, No. 30, 1950, Enamel on Canvas
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/57.92
William De Kooning
http://whitney.org/Collection/WillemDeKooning/5535/Audio
Woman and Bicycle, 1952-53,Oil on Canvas
• Dutch Born Painter• Bold and spontaneous brushwork• Abstract figurative work• Women I• Series of provocative paintings of women• Reversed traditional representation of the woman as ‘the idol’.
Joan Mitchell
http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424260964&gid=424260964&cid=75384&wid=424342786&page=1
Harbour December, 1956, Oil on Canvas
Franz Kline
Ballantine, 1958-60,Oil on Canvas http://martintomlinson.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/paint-it-black/
Lee Krasner
Gothic Landscape, 1961, Oil on Canvas http://www.cavetocanvas.com/post/17453987164/lee-krasner-gothic-landscape-1961-from-the-tate
Colour Field Painting:
Bold and assertive. Contemplative and questioning. Carefully constructed. Large scale canvasses.
Colour Field Painting:
Sought to rid art of superflows and rhetoric. Artists used reduced references to nature. Eliminated recognisable imagery. Presented abstraction as an end in itself.
Key Artists: Colour Field Painting
Mark Rothko Adolph Gottlieb Helen Frankenthaler Kenneth Noland Barnett Newman
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80566
Mark, Rothko, Untitled
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?object=78.2461&search=&page=&f=Title
1949, Oil on Canvas
• Russian Born Painter• Distinctive Style-• Large Canvasses• Deliberate plain, soft edge shapes• Luminous, glowing colours• ‘Paintings were about tragedy, ecstacy and doom, fundamental emotions and passions’- -Rothko
Adolf Gottlieb
Adolf Gottlieb, Sentinel, 1951 Oil on Linen
http://arttattler.com/archivecolorasfield.html
• Adopted the term “pictograph”• Connection between image making and writing• Fascinated by myth• Sought painting that was ‘timeless and tragic’
Helen Frankenthaler:
Canyon, 1965, Acrylic on Canvas
HTTP://WWW.PHILLIPSCOLLECTION.ORG/RESEARCH/AMERICAN_ART/ARTWORK/FRANKENTHALER-CANYON.HTM
Kenneth Noland:
EAST WEST, 1963
http://www.kennethnoland.com/works/1960-1970.php
Barnett Newman:
http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/abstract-expressionism/barnett-newman
Vir Heroicus Sublimis. 1950–51
Acknowledgements
Art Associates Maria Moore
Margaret O’Shea
Local Facilitator TeamAine Andrews
Joe CaslinJane Campbell
Siobhan CampbellNiamh O’Donoghue
Niamh O’NeillKeith O’Rahilly
Sheena McKeonTony MorrisseyMonica White
Many thanks to the following for their invaluable contribution to the European Art History and Appreciation series of workshops and resource materials.
Professional Development Service for Teachers
Professional Development Service for Teachers
The PDST is funded by the Department of Education and
Skills under the National Development Plan 2007 -
2013
Cultural & Environmental Education
Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST)
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National Co-ordinatorConor Harrison
Mobile: 087 240 5710E-mail: [email protected]
AdministratorAngie Grogan
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