Abstract Expressionism
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Transcript of Abstract Expressionism
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM“THE NEW YORK
SCHOOL”
Elena Winberry Danielle Hutko
Dominique Greer
“These New York artists viewed their art as a weapon in the struggle to maintain their humanity in the midst of the worlds
increasing insanity.”
Abstract Expressionism (1940s–1960s)
The New York School Artists Americas art movement
A general attitude They shared a general outlook on art
rather than a specific style Artists shared their morally loaded themes,
often heavy-weight and tragic, on a grand scale
Wanted to achieve the “sublime” rather than the beautiful
Process rather than outcome
What just happened
WWII had just ended, during which many technological advances (the atom bomb) caused the Cold War and the fear of a nuclear holocaust
Many of these artists came to New York because Europe was a wreck (Hitler) 1941: a lot of refugees
These artists were turning against the conventional definitions and techniques of art
The United States was facing a growth in prosperity (The American Dream)
What just happened cont…
The New Deal: Had many stimulus programs that were for
the arts Works Progress Administration: de Kooning and
Gorky Social Realism prominent during 1930’s
Rejected by abstract expressionists
Influential people
Psychologist Carl Jung: collective unconscious
Arshile Gorky: for runner Picasso: Kandinsky: spontaneity McCarthy: his red scare attitude made
social realist art “unwelcome”: art “censored”
Influential movements
Cubism and Futurism: “anti-figurative”
Surrealism: improvisation and the subconscious
Dada: they were some of the first to go against conventional techniques
German Expressionism: emotion
Arshile Gorky Bio
Born in Armenia in 1904 Survived the genocide of the Armenians by
the Turks Had a very rough childhood: his mother
died of starvation in his arms in 1919 Moved to New York to join his father in 1920 Went to school at National Academy of
Design and the Grand Central School of Art (taught until 1931.)
1920’s: developed his first style with influences from Cézanne, Picasso, and others
Arshile Gorky Bio Changed his name from Vosdanik Adoyan to
Arshile Gorky to get away from the negative connotations that being Armenian had in America
1930’s and 40’s: his mature period: influenced by Surrealism and a precursor to action painting
1931: first solo exhibition Worked with the WPA and met de Kooning and
others 1941: married Agnes Magruder 1946-48: his studio burnt down, he was
diagnosed with colon cancer, his wife had an affair, he was in a bad car accident, and he finally committed suicide
Arshile Gorky
Said to be the single most important influence on Abstract Expressionism and the “bridge between Europe and America”
'painterly' painter Had no formal training
Painted what he saw from other artists
Arshile Gorky: Influences
Influences: Post Impressionism (Cézanne) Cubism (Picasso) Abstractionism (Kandinsky) Surrealism: (Matta and Miro)
AutomatismBiomorphism
Surrealist Poetry (Andre Brenton: Surrealist Mantifesto: “ the unconscious was the real expression of the mind, as opposed to reason, or aesthetic or moral preoccupations”)
The Liver is the Cock’s Comb: 1944
One of his more famous paintings
Influenced by Brenton
Miró: Shapes
Kandinsky: Color
Basic Information
1st American avant-garde movement Avant-garde: “the advance group in any field,
especially in the visual, literary, or musical arts, whose works are characterized chiefly by unorthodox and experimental methods”
“birth place”: Greenwich Village “abstract but expresses the artists state of mind.” Dubbed “Abstract Expressionism” by Robert M.
Coates in 1946 Each person had own style, reason, and was
influenced by different people
Basic Information Continued
Abstract expressionism was an specifically American post world war II art movement.
This put New York City at the center of the art world. Abstract expressionism has its roots in other earlier 20th
century Art movements such as cubism and surrealism that promoted abstraction rather than representation.
Rejected social realism and regionalism
“regarded as provincial and tainted by nationalistic overtones”
geometric abstraction Thought it to be “academic and emotionally
detached.”
Styles: Action (Gesture) Painting1940’s-1950’s
1st phase of the movement They believed the painting wasn’t a picture,
but an event Named “gestural” because many artists
didn’t use an easel. They laid the canvas on the ground and used their whole body to create the painting
Techniques: Dripping Dabbing Smearing Flinging paint
Named American Action Painting by Rosenburg in December of 1952
Styles: Color Field (Chromatic) Painting1950’s-1960’s
The “answer” to action painting First by Helen Frankenthaler: Mountains
and Sea 1953 Canvas as stained with thin, translucent
color washes Color field is less about the process of
making the work, which is at the heart of action painting.
Color Field Continued
Color field is about the tension created by overlapping and interacting areas of flat color.
These areas of color can be shapeless or clearly geometric.
Color field paintings are huge canvases. If you stand close to the canvas the colors seem to extend beyond your peripheral vision.
Color Field Techniques
Large fields of flat, solid color spread across or stained into the canvas creating areas of unbroken surface and a flat picture plane.
Color Field and Action Paintings
(Similarities) Color field and action share common
traits, they both treat the surface area of a canvas or paper as a field of vision without a central focus. (Traditional paintings usually organizes the surface in terms of the middle or zones of subject matters.)
They both emphasize the flatness of the surface, neither do not refer to object in the natural world. They reveal the artists emotional state of mind. “his or her expression”
Artists
ActionAction Jackson Pollock Willem de Kooning Lee Krasner Williams Hans Hoffman Elaine Fried de
Kooning
Color FieldColor Field Mark Rothko Robert Motherwell Helen Frankenthaler Clyfford Still Barnett Newman Aldolph Gottlieb Louis Schanker Franz Kline
Jackson Pollock: Bio
Born January 28th, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming Grew up in California and Arizona
Age of 18 moved to New York City Enrolled at the Art Students League
Studied under the painter Thomas Hart Benton 1935 – started work on the WPA Federal Art
Project as a Painter 1938 – began psychiatric treatment for
alcoholism Used his drawings in therapy sessions
Jackson Pollock: Bio
1943 – Peggy Guggenheim gave him his first solo exhibition
Mid 1940s developed the “drip” technique
1945 – married Lenore (Lee) Krasner Moved to studio in East Hamptons from the
city August 11, 1956 he was killed because
he drove drunk
Jackson Pollock: Techniques
Gorky’s “heir” Dripping Technique Influences: Influences:
Picasso, Cezanne, Benton, Orozco, Miro
Native American Art American Religionalism Cubism Surrealism
Alive surface: Alive surface: Paint viscosity Speed and direction of
impact Interaction with other layers
ENERGY
Willem de Kooning: Bio Born in Rotterdam, Holland April 24, 1904 1909: Parents got divorced (super important
to Women paintings) 1916: Started to train as a commercial artist
at Rotterdam Academy 1926: Emigrated to the US, worked illegally
in New York Met Gorky who got him into abstract
expressionist painting 1935-1939: worked for Federal Art Project Dec 9, 1943: Married wife Elaine Fried
Willem de Kooning: Bio Continued 1946: 1st black and white abstract works 1947: began series of “Women” paintings 1952: finished one of his most famous, Woman 1 1962: became a US citizen 1960’s on: said to have lost his artist’s touch 1964: received “Presidential medal of Freedom” 1970: started sculpting with bronze Mar 19, 1997: Died in Springs, US of old age
Willem de Kooning
Techniques Thought a lot about
the process Scraped away dry
paint and repainted Was “in” his paintings Impasto paint
Influences Picasso Miro Mondrian Gorky
Willem de Kooning: Works
Late 1930’s-mid/ late 40’s Restriction of feelings: helplessness to deal
with problems? Late 1940’s-1960
Violent feelings that were bottled up come out (Women series: His mother was very unpleasant
during his parents divorce which is what is thought to have been his inspiration for this series)
Early 60’s till death: A lot softer and more relaxed with figures
Mark Rothko: Bio
“Simple Expression of complex thought” Born September 25, 1903 as Marcus
Rothkowitz in Dvinsk Vitebsk Province, Russian Empire.
His family wasn’t as wealthy but they all were highly educated
Emigrated to the US in 1913 He accelerated from third to fifth grade
with high honors.
Mark Rothko: Bio Continued
After graduating he received a scholarship to Yale based on academic performance.
While visiting a friend at the Art Student League of New York he saw students sketching a model, and this is when he established his art career.
Mark Rothko: Techniques
His work consist of strong formal elements such as color, shape, balance, depth, composition and scale.
He believed that “there is no such thing as a good painting about nothing”. Also flat two-dimensional forms destroy illusion.
Robert Motherwell: Bio
Born in Aberdeen, Washington in 1915 Spent much of childhood in California
Attended Stanford University Earned BA in philosophy in 1973
Received extensive education in philosophy, literature and art history
Went onto Harvard for a Ph.D. in philosophy Interrupted by yearlong European Trip
1940 – went to Columbia University To study art history
Robert Motherwell Bio Continued 1941 – went to Mexico with Surrealist painter
Roberto Matta Inspired first known paintings/sketches
1948 – began Elegies to the Spanish Republic Series 1940s-1960s – worked as a teacher
Taught at Black Mountain College, North Carolina Helped establish Subjects of the Artists, an art
school in New York's Greenwich Village Taught at Hunter College
1953-1957 – painted Je t’aime series 1968 – painted the Opens series 1991 – died in his home in Provincetown, MA
Robert Motherwell: Techniques
Color Field Painter Simple shapes, bold
color contrasts Dynamic balance
between restrained and boldly gestural brushstrokes
Influences: Roberto Matta, Henri
Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Alfred North Whitehead
Surrealism, Cubism, Symbolism, Mexican Art
Sculpting: David Smith
Born: March 9,1906 in Decatur, Indiana Worked with metals Influenced
Cubism, Surrealism, and Constructivism Frued: Totem Collage
David Smith
Innovations (in chronological order) Core of a sculpture
replaced it with the idea of 'drawing in space.' large geometric forms
Died: May 23, 1965 in Bennington, Vermont
Influenced Minimalism
Critics of Abstract Expressionism
Polarized: “The movement is felt by many to be rebellious and anarchic; even nihilistic”
Clement Greenburg: one of the most famous Proponent of Abstract Expressionism Motherwell joined him “in promoting a
style that fit the political climate and intellectual rebelliousness of the era”
Influenced
Second Generation Abstract Expressionists European art:
Dubuffet: rebelled against conventional techniques Looked at children’s drawings
Pop Art: wanted to emphasize subject again Minimalism: went from “no form, only expression” to
“no expression, only form” “With the advent of Abstract Expressionism in the late
1940s, the United States, particularly New York City, became the world center for the creation of ‘progressive art’, and former critics began to accept the validity of American Modernism.”