ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

Today’s topic is Abstract Expressionism. We will talk about the movement in general, when it happened and what are its main characteristics. After that we will have a look at the historical context of America in that period and finally we learn about one of the greatest artists of this movement Jackson Pollock and his painting techniques.

Warm-up Activity: Match the definition to the term:

……………………………………………………………. not following what is normal ……………………………………………………………. experimental methods in art ……………………………………………………………. clear, accurate and neat ……………………………………………………………. tendency not to like changes ……………………………………………………………. not special, ordinary

Unconventional Common Precise

Savant-guarde Conservatism

1. Look at the painting and discuss in pairs which words would describe this artwork

1. Text about Abstract Expressionism: read the text and make a note of the main idea of each paragraph. An example has been done for you.

Abstract Expressionism

New York, the new centre of the art

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During the first half of nineteen century artists continued to experiment and form new avant-garde movements. But the centre of their activities changed. Before the war, European cities such as Paris had dominated the arts scene. After the war, the focus shifted to New York, where many artists had moved to escape the fighting.

Abstract Expressionism is considered one of the great avant-garde movements that happened in New York City in the 1940s and 1950s, sometimes is called the New York School and sometimes ‘Action Painting’. Abstract Expressionist painters explored new ways of creating art, reinvigorating and reinventing the medium. They changed the nature of painting with their large, abstract canvases, energetic and gestural lines, and new artistic processes.

In the past we have seen other art trends which were defined by specific techniques, however the work produced by the Abstract Expressionists cannot be commonly defined by specific techniques. The style is the result of individual concepts. With unconventional ways of painting, the Abstract Expressionists sought new forms of self-expression and personal freedom in their work.

Abstract Expressionists shared an intensity of creativity and individuality which was partly based on the historical consequences of the Great Depression, the Second World War as well as post-war politics. These artists moved away from European traditions of painting to create a distinctly new American kind of art which both respected and challenged the domination of the early 20th century giants such as Picasso and Matisse.

Abstract Expressionism is best known for large scale paintings, really big canvases: artists developed new techniques to apply paint, such as moving the canvas from the easel to the floor and working on canvas and then began to paint using various kinds of paint and tools, such as sticks, leaves, to express themselves. In some cases they used house paint, as opposed to different kinds of oil paints or acrylics.

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Abstract Expressionism is considered as an advancement in painting because

the ideas of these artists had a huge influence on painting, drawing, sculpture,

graphic novels and graphic design. Artists belonging to this movement include

Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt.

The world of the Abstract Expressionist artists was firmly rooted in

Lower Manhattan. A walk along 8th Street would take you from the

Waldorf Cafeteria, where penniless artists made “tomato soup” from

the free hot water and ketchup; past the Hans Hofmann School of Fine

artists founded by the painter of the same name; to The Club, a loft

where lectures and heated arguments about art carried on late into the

night. Jackson Pollock’s studio was on East 8th Street, Willem de

Kooning’s and Philip Guston’s were on East 10th, and although Franz

Kline moved among various homes and studios in the area, most nights

found him and many of his contemporaries at the Cedar Street Tavern

on University Place.

GLOSSARIO

Canvas: tela

Easel: cavalletto

House paint: colore fatto in casa

Huge: enorme

Large scale: di grandi dimensioni

To challenge: sfidare

To move away: allontanarsi

To root: radicare

To share: condividere

To shift: spostarsi

Stick: bastoncino

Trend: corrente

2. Pair work. Find at least 12 key words in the text to help explain the concepts you can find in it. When you have finished compare your findings with those of your classmates

The first one has been given as an example

1 Savant Guarde movement

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3. Compare teacher list with student one: look at the difference!

4. Complete the following sentences

Abstract Expressionism, also called ______________________ and ______________________________ , flourished in New York in the years following ______________________

These artists wanted to challenge the clear domination of early 20th century painters such as _________________________________________

Their main goal was to create ____________________________________

Although this movement happened in a time of great political repression, it was an ____________________________________

The most prominent Abstract Expressionist painters were ____________________________________

Summarise what you have learned in this lesson. Use the lexicon given:

This art movement happened in ... It dates back to ... Its main characteristics included ... These artists produced ... This art movement took place in ...

Despite this ... had a great influence on ... The main artists of this movement are ... One of the most innovative aspect is ...

Historical contest: from 1940 to 1955

5. Answer to the questions (work in pairs)

Do you know any of these people?

What do you think is happening in these pictures?

Maybe, It’s possible that……………………………………

It’s likely to be……………………………………….

I would imagine that…………………………………………………….

Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

Yalta Conference

Cold War

UNICEF Is Founded

Marshall Plan

Gandhi Assassinated

Princess Elizabeth Becomes Queen at Age 25

Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus

6. Read the following text:

America in the 1950s

Abstract Expressionism emerged in a climate of Cold War politics and social and cultural conservatism. World War II had positioned the United States as a global power, and in the years following the conflict, many Americans enjoyed the benefits of unprecedented economic growth. But by the mid-1950s the spirit of optimism had turned into a potent mix of power and paranoia. Fueled by the fear of Communist infiltration, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin unleashed a series of “witch-hunts” against alleged Communist sympathizers. Any hint of subversion could make an individual suspect. One scholar later reflected: “It is ironic but not contradictory that in a society in which political repression weighed as heavily as it did in the United States, abstract expressionism was for many the expression of freedom: the freedom to creative controversial works of art, the freedom symbolized by action painting, by the unbridled expressionism of artists completely without fetters.”

GLOSSARIO

Fetter: impedimento

Growth: crescita

Hint: accenno

Scholar: studioso

To allege: affermare

To fuel: alimentare

To turn into: trasformare

To unleash: scatenare

To weigh: pesare

Unbridled: sfrenato

7. Write down a short text about the historical events happened from 1940 to 1955

8. Look at the following photos:

The photos show Jackson Pollock, one of the major artists of Abstract Expressionism, at work in

his studio. Can you write down four differences between this work and traditional painting

methods?

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When you have finished, compare your answers with those of your classmates.

Video about Jackson Pollock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVE-WQBcYQ&list=PLJ-bQH7_2kozuGNdfyhHKcZn4I566slJC

9. Lend me your eyes (video without sounds) Half of the class sit with their back to the screen, the other half describes what they see

10. Listen to the video and fill in the gaps

I don’t work from drawings or colour sketches. My painting is direct. I enjoy working on a large canvas,

usually on the floor. I feel more at home, more at ease in a big area. Having the canvas on the floor I

feel nearer, more a part of the painting. This way I can walk around it, work from all four sides and

begin the painting.

Sometimes I use a brush, but often prefer using a stick. Sometimes I pour the paint directly out of the

can. I like to use a dripping, fluid paint, as well as sand, broken glass or string. I want to express my

feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement. When I am

painting I have a general notion as to what I am about.

I can control the flow of the paint. There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end.

Sometimes I move the painting but I have no fear of changes or of destroying the image because a

painting has a life of its own – I try to let it live!

11. Read the test about Jackson Pollock’s life

January 28,

1912

1930

1938

1943

1945

1945

1947

1956

1956

12. Read the biography one more time. Use the timeline to practice reporting it orally.

1912 1930 1938 1943 1945 1956

13. In pair, answer the questions: Where and when was Jackson Pollock born? Where did he study? What does WPA mean? What does “period drip” mean? Was Jackson Pollock only a painter? How and when did Jackson Pollock die?

14. Work in group.

Look at the two images: What have they in common? Find information about them on the web,

surfing the following websites:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/jackson-pollock3.htm http://www.philamuseum.org/ http://www.moma.org/collection/works/ http://www.jackson-pollock.org http://www.learn.columbia.edu/monographs/pollock/

Write down an article about them. You should write between 140 and 190 words.

Group 1

Jackson Pollock, Male and Femine, 1942-43

Carl Gustave Jung in his studio

Group 2

Jackson Pollock, Landscape with steer, 1937

David Alfaro Siqueiros

Group 3

Jackson Pollock, Guardians of the secret, 1937

The navajo indians

ARTICLE: ______________________________________________________________

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15. Read the following text:

Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950

Jackson Pollock painted One during the summer of 1950 while at the height of his career.

This huge painting – it measures 2.7 X 5.3 m – is a network of overlapping lines, drips and splatters

of paint on canvas.

There is no recognizable imagery in this work, no preconceived subject other than the paint itself.

Years prior to this painting Pollock was working on a small easel painting. He struggled for a while

and then decide to take the painting off the easel, place it on the floor and then pour some paint

on the surface to finish it.

From this apparently simple decision, an entirely new series of creative possibilities opened up to

Pollock. In fact he spent the next years of his career exploring them.

Placing the canvas on the floor, Pollock no longer remained in physical contact with the canvas

while painting. Instead of using conventional artist’s brushes to push or smear liquid paint across

the surface of the painting, Pollock was now using things like sticks, turkey basters and dried paint

brushes that he variously drizzled, poured or splashed on the canvas below. Pollock’s

compositional strategy was to distribute pictorial incidents in such a way as to create no centre of

attention. The result is an allover composition and a lack of hierarchy of imagery.

Pollock used very fluid gloss enamel paint.

Because the paint was so fluid Pollock essentially drew in space so that drawing quite literally

happened in the air before falling down to canvas below, sometimes thick and sometimes thin.

This technique is sometimes referred to as “dribbling” or “dripping”.

This method required not just the use of his wrist and arm, but his entire body. “When I am in my

painting, I’m not aware of qhat I’m doing. It is only after a sort of get acquainted period that I see

what I have been about”, Pollock once wrote.

Art historians at the time called this kind of painting “Action Painting” because of this very idea that

you could imagine quite visually the actions that went into the making of the painting.

Glossary

Drip: a drop of liquid that falls from something Easel: a wooden frame which supports a canvas

for painting or drawing Height: high level of success

Splatter: a mark or spot made by a large drop of liquid

Stick: a thin piece of wood or other material To allover: covering the whole surface To overlap: to extend or cover part of

To drizzle: to pour liquid slowly over something To lack: to be without

To pour: to cause to flow To smear: to spread over a surface

To splash: to cause a liquid to fall To struggle: to experience difficulty

Turkey baster: a utensil used to drop liquid on a cooking turkey

16. Homework

Read the passage above and complete the following sentences:

- This painting immediately strikes the viewer because of the dimensions, in fact

_______________________________________________________

- Contrary to most paintings that depict a specific subject, One

________________________________________________________

- The change in Pollock’s painting technique was marked by the decision to

__________________________________________________________

- Instead of using traditional tools, ______________________________________________

- The drawings process did not happen on the canvas but

________________________________

- With the canvas on the floor painting required unprecedented physical participation and

Pollock’s gesture engaged not only the hand or wrist,

but_________________________________________________________________

- The result of Pollock’s compositional strategy

is_______________________________________________________________

- At the time, this style of painting was defined

_____________________________________________________

You have five minutes to place each of the adjective below next to its synonym. Five adjective have no correspondence.

Discernible pleasing unprecedented prearranged

Original unbroken whole uncomplicated full unusual overlying traditional

……………………………………………………………………../overlapping lines ……………………………………………………………………../recognizable imagery

……………………………………………………………………../preconceived subject ……………………………………………………………………../simple decision ……………………………………………………………………../creative possibilities ……………………………………………………………………../conventional artist’s brushes ……………………………………………………………………../entire body

17. Final task. Draw a sketch for a detail of an design’s object using Pollock’s technique and write a

short description of it. Use the app “Fotobabble” to explain your artwork to the class.

(http://www.fotobabble.com/).

Focus on:

- the title

- the colours used

- the technique used

- the feeling you want to convey (for example, freedom or joy).