2. • From 1945 to 1960, American painting moved increasingly toward
abstraction.
• America's insulation from destruction brought by the war attracted many
artists from Europe. A group of artists living in New York focused on
artistic innovation.
• Among them were
• Jackson Pollock,
• Willem de Kooning,
• Adolph Gottlieb,
• Franz Kline,
• Robert Motherwell,
• Barnett Newman,
• Ad Reinhardt,
• Mark Rothko,
• and Clyfford Still.
• They challenged the aesthetic norms and created the style of painting
known today as Abstract Expressionism.
3. • In 1952 MOMA organized the exhibition “15 Americans” which introduced
the Abstract Expressionism, sometimes called New York School.
• Abstract Expressionism was the first American movement to achieve
worldwide influence and also put New York City at the center of the art
world.
• Abstract Expressionism became the first American art movement to have
an influence on Europe.
• There are two major groups within Abstract Expressionism
• Color Field Painters: Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still
worked with simple, unified blocks of color.
• Gestural Painters: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and
Hofmann used Surrealist techniques of automatic art.
Abstract Expressionism:
• It is not a style, it is a common approach
• Focuses on the PROCESS rather than the PRODUCT
• Is non-representative
• Is non-figurative
4. Mondrian was born in 1872 in Amersfoort,
the Netherlands. He spent his formative
years in Paris, which he first visited in 1911.
He arrived in United States in October 1940
He was 68 years old.
In New York, Mondrian fundamentally
restructured his thinking.
He eliminated the black line completely, and
replaced it by vivid bands of primary colors.
In New York Mondrian’s painting lost its
rigidity and became more rhythmic.
Synonymous with New York, Jazz played a
central role in the creative development of
Mondrian’s paintings.
Mondrian in New York:
The Tempo of the Metropolis
Piet Mondrian. Broadway
Boogie Woogie. 1942-43.
Oil on canvas, 50 x 50".
Anonymous gift. Museum
of Modern Art, NY.
5. Hans Hofmann emigrated from
Germany to the United States in
1930.
Hofmann's later work made a
substantial contribution to
Abstract Expressionism.
His style is a fusion of various
modes of expression. He mixed
Cubist structure with Fauvist
color. Hans Hofmann. Spring. 1944–45
(dated 1940 onreverse). Oil on
wood. 11-1⁄4 × 14-1⁄8”. Museum
of Modern Art New York
Entering a New Arena:
Modes of Abstract Expressionism
6. Gorky, a direct precursor of the
Abstract Expressionist movement, is
usually labeled as one.
Gorky’s body of work was crucial for
the emergence of the Abstract
Expressionist style.
Many of his works had a very
personal content, reflecting on the
artist's traumatic past as a genocide
survivor.
Arshile Gorky was the biggest
stylistic influence on de Kooning.
Arshile Gorky. The Liver is the
Cock’s Comb. 1944. Oil on
canvas. 6’ 1-1⁄4”× 8’ 2”.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Buffalo, New York
Gorky
7. Willem de Kooning typified the vigorous
gestural style of the Expressionist
movement.
He developed a radically abstract style of
painting that fused Cubism, Surrealism and
Expressionism.
De Kooning is generally considered an
Abstract Expressionist, although he never
fully abandoned the depiction of the human
figure.
He was attracted to traditional subjects and
would eventually become most famous for
his pictures of women.
Willem de Kooning. Woman I
1950–52. Oil on canvas
6’ 3-7⁄8” × 4’ 10”. The
Museum of Modern Art New
York
8. Pollock
Jackson Pollock developed one of the
most radical abstract styles in the
history of modern art.
He was influenced by the Mexican
muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros, José
Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, all
of whom were active in New York
during the 1930s.
From 1947 to 1952 Pollock created his
most famous poured paintings, which
he gave numbers rather than titles to
avoid distracting the viewer with
associations.
Jackson Pollock. Guardians of
the Secret. 1943. Oil on canvas
4’ 3⁄4”× 6’ 3”. San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art
9. Jackson Pollock. Number 1A, 1948,
1948. Oil and enamel paint on canvas
5’ 8”× 8’ 8”. Museum of Modern Art,
New York
Pollock used sticks, basting
syringes, and old brushes that
had become stiff.
Pollock believed that the journey
involved in creating art was just
as important as the finished
product.
His work mixed elements of
Cubism, Surrealism, and
Impressionism, and transcended
them.
10. Wyeth broke from the trends of
abstraction raging at the time.
With her back to the viewer, Anna
Christina Olson is looking out at her
farmhouse.
Affected by a degenerative muscular
disease, Christina was unable to
walk.
Christina's World is subtle and
unsettling.
Andrew Wyeth. Christina’s World,
1948. Tempera on gessoed panel.
31 ¼” x 47 ¾” . Museum of
Modern Art, New York
11. Inspired by Mondrian, Krasner invented the "all-over"
technique, which influenced Pollock's "drip paintings.“
Krasner’s training in art theory, enabled her to distill her
technique throughout the course of her career.
She reused canvases she painted earlier to create
collages.
Lee Krasner.
Untitled, 1949.
Oil on composition
board, 48 × 37”.
The Museum of
Modern Art, New
York
Lee Krasner. Milkweed,
1955. Oil, paper and
canvas collage on canvas
6’ 10-3⁄8” × 4’ 9-3⁄4”
Albright Knox Art Gallery,
Buffalo,New York
Krasner
12. Kline
American Abstract Expressionist
Franz Kline is best known for large
black and white paintings depicting
abstract compositions.
Franz Kline’s black and white
abstract paintings, have been
compared to Japanese calligraphy.
Kline didn’t attribute meaning to his
pictures.
Franz Kline. Nijinsky. 1950
Enamel on canvas.
46 × 35-1⁄4”. Collection Muriel
Kallis Newman, Chicago
13. Tamlin and Tobey
In his work Tamlin combined
Abstract Expressionism with
Cubism. He died of a heart attack at
the age of fifty-three..
Tobey’s dense compositions were
inspired by Asian calligraphy. His
work differs philosophically from
most Abstract Expressionist
painters.
Mark Tobey. Universal Field.
1949. Pastel and tempera on
cardboard, 28 × 44”.
Whitney Museum of American
Art, New York
14. Guston
The artists started out in the 1930s
as a social realist painter.
Later he developed a unique
Abstract Expressionist style.
He opted for a subtle painting
technique in which forms seem to be
indistinguishable. Zone suggests a
warm calm.
In the 1960s Guston developed a
style of realism for which he is best
known.
Philip Guston. Zone, 1953–54
Oil on canvas. 46 × 48”. The
Edward R. Broida Trust, Los
Angeles
15. Elaine de Kooning and Grace Hartigan
Krasner and Elaine de Kooning were part of
a community of visionaries dedicated to the
exploring the limits.
Krasner is often defined in relation to
Pollock to whom she was married, but her
work stands on its own.
Elaine de Kooning was similarly defined in
relation to her husband, although she
forged a successful career as a painter and
critic.
Elaine de Kooning
Harold Rosenberg #3
1956. Oil on canvas
6’ 8” × 4’ 10-7⁄8”
National Portrait
Gallery, Smithsonian
Institution
Washington, D.C.
16. Rothko believed that his art could free the
unconscious energies previously liberated
by symbols, and rituals.
He recommended that a viewers position
themselves as little as 18 inches away
from the canvas to experience a sense of
awe, a transcendence of the individual,
and a sense of the unknown.
Despite his fame, Rothko felt a growing
personal seclusion, and a sense of being
misunderstood as an artist and feared that
people purchased his paintings simply out
of fashion.
He wanted his paintings to move beyond
abstraction, as well as beyond classical
art.
Mark Rothko. Untitled
(Rothko number 5068.49)
1949, Oil on canvas.
6’ 9-3⁄8” × 5’ 6-3⁄8”. National
Gallery of Art Washington, D.C
Complex Simplicity: The Emergence of
Color Field Painting
17. Newman
Barnett Newman shared the Abstract
Expressionists' interests in myth and the
primitive unconscious, but the large fields
of color and trademark "zips" set him
apart from the gestural abstraction of many
of his peers.
Newman believed that the modern world
had rendered traditional art subjects and
styles invalid, especially in the post-World
War II years.
Newman's paintings were a decisive break
with the gestural abstraction. He devised
an approach that avoided painting's
conventional oppositions of figure and
ground.
Barnett Newman. Genesis
—The Break. 1946. Oil on
canvas, 24 × 27”
Collection DIA Center for the
Arts, New York
18. He created a symbol, the "zip.
He thought that humans had a primal drive
to create, and one could find expressions of
the same instincts and yearnings locked in
ancient art as one would find in modern art.
He saw artists, and himself, as the creators
of the world.
Barnett Newman is viewed as crucial to the
Abstract Expressionist movement and as a
precursor to Minimalism.
Barnett Newman. Onement, I, 1948. Oil on
canvas and oil on masking tape on canvas. 27-
1⁄4 × 16-1⁄4”. The Museum of Modern Art, New
York
19. Newman rejected
comparisons to
geometric painters as
well as comments that
named him a progenitor
of the Minimalist
movement.
Unlike those more stark
canvases that focused
on non-representational
meaning of shapes and
colors, Newman brought
a more philosophical
edge to his .
Barnett Newman Vir Heroicus Sublimis
1950–51 Oil on canvas 7’ 11-3⁄8” × 17’ 9-1⁄4”
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
20. Still
Clyfford Still, not as widely known as some of
his New York School contemporaries.
Still was not as widely known as some of his
New York School contemporaries.
Reinhardt
Between 1936 and 1939, Reinhardt worked for
the WPA Federal Art Project.
From 1937 to 1947, he was a member of the
American Abstract Artists group.
Ad Reinhardt's work remains influential in the
evolution from the Abstract Expressionism of
the 1950s to the Minimal and Conceptual art
movements of the following decade.
Clyfford Still. Number 2,
1949. Oil on canvas
7’ 8” × 5’ 7”. Collection
June Lang Davis
Medina, Washington
21. Gotlieb
Adolph Gottlieb embraced Abstract
Expressionism for its ability to express
feelings caused by the trauma of World
War II.
Gottlieb employed symbols he created
to appeal to the unconscious mind of
the viewer as part of his
communication process.
His goal was to develop an universal
meaning using the simplest form.
Gotlieb also focused on the emotional
effects of colors and space.
Adolph Gottlieb. Orb from
the Bursts series, 1964
Oil on canvas. 7’ 6” × 5’
Dallas Museum of Art
22. Motherwell
Several key themes define
Motherwell's work:
• the dialogue between
• European modernism and a
new American vision,
• and between formal and
emotional approaches to art
making.
Robert Motherwell's legacy is
significant not only for the
importance of his paintings, but also
for the breadth and influence of his
writing, editing and teaching.
Robert Motherwell. Elegy to the
Spanish Republic, No. 34.
1953–54, Oil on canvas,
6’ 8” × 8’ 4”. Albright-Knox Art
Gallery, Buffalo, New York
23. David Smith. The Letter,
1950. Welded steel,
37-5⁄8 × 22-7⁄8 × 9-1⁄4”.
Munson-Williams-
Proctor Institute.
Museum of Art, Utica,
New York
Drawing in Steel: Constructed
Sculpture
Smith and Dehner
David Smith, was the first sculptor to
work with welded metal.
He successfully combined a range of
influences from European modernism
including Cubism, Surrealism, and
Constructivism and created an art that
was marked by expressions of trauma.
Smith translated the painterly concerns of
the Abstract Expressionists into
sculpture.
.
24. Smith brought qualities of
industrial manufacturing into
the language of art.
Collage influenced Smith’s
sculpture. It inspired him to
develop a process similar to
paper collage, in the sense
that a sculpture could be
made of various existing
elements.
Smith was a an important
influence on Minimalism.
David Smith. left: Cubi XVIII, 1964.
Stainless steel, height 9’ 8” Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston Center: Cubi XVII 1963
Stainless steel, height 9’ Dallas Museum of
Art Right: Cubi XIX, 1964 Stainless steel,
height 9’5” Tate, London Art
25. Mark di Suvero, Iroquois, 1983
Metal , 42 ft × 40 ft × 3 ft
Di Suvero and Chamberlain
David Smith’s achievement in sculpture
was distinctive and influential.
Mark di Suvero is an Abstract
Expressionist sculptor who welds scrap
metal into monumental outdoor
sculptural works.
Later, he developed works based on
industrial structures, such as welded or
bolted l-beams and heavy gauge metal.
He also incorporated motion into his
pieces with swinging beams and
rotating forms, allowing viewers to
interact with the sculpture.
26. John Chamberlain
Hillbilly Galoot, 1960. Metal
Abstract Expressionist sculpture
developed first in Europe. In the
US
Chamberlain created vibrantly
colored, dynamic sculptures from
crushed, twisted and bent
automobile parts. That aligned
him with Abstract Expressionism.
His use of three-dimensional
space, and his use of color
further set him apart.
27. The term biomorphic, referred to as organic,
describes the use of rounded abstract forms
based on those found in nature.
The style flourished during the 1930s/40s: the
term "biomorphic sculpture" was actually first
used in 1936, by Alfred H Barr.
Biomorphic is a feature of the work of many
different artists, such as Constantin Brancusi,
Hans Arp, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.
Noguchi
Inspired by traditional Japanese art, and by the
biomorphic qualities of some Surrealist art,
Noguchi became known for his post-war art,
architecture and design.
Louise Bourgeois
Quarantania I1947–53
Painted wood on wooden
base, 62-3⁄8 × 11-3⁄4 × 12”
The Museum of Modern
Art, New York
Textures of the Surreal: Biomorphic
Sculpture and Assemblage
28. Louise Bourgeois
French American
Artist 1911-2010
Bourgeois. Spider, Bronze,
stainless steel, marble. 30’ x 33’.
Tate Modern, London, 2007
Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois' work focused
on psychologically traumatic
events from her childhood,
particularly her father's infidelity.
29. Cornell
Using Surrealist technique of juxtaposing
seemingly unrelated objects, Joseph Cornell
created new meanings through re-
contextualization.
Highly recognizable, his works consist of
boxes in which he and old photographs,
trinkets, and other found objects.
The focus of Cornell’s shadow boxes are
recurrent themes such as memory, space, and
birds which offer an escape from the outside
world.
Cornell’s shadow boxes are the earliest
examples of assemblage, Installation art, and
Fluxus boxes.
Joseph Cornell, Medici Slot
Machine, 1942,
Construction.
13-1⁄2 × 12 × 4-1⁄4”
Private collection, The
Joseph and Robert Cornell
Memorial Foundation.
30. Nevelson
Louise Nevelson utilized wooden
debris to create her large
installations.
Nevelson carefully arranged the
objects and created a new context .
Her sculptural environments included
personal feelings about clashing
cultures, and nature's divinity,
informed by her biography.
Nevelson’s large sculptures align
with the monumental Abstract
Expressionist canvases of American
art of the 1950s.
Louise Nevelson, Dawn’s
Wedding Chapel I, 1959.
Painted wood, 7’ 6” × 4’ 3”.
Private collection
31. White, Siskind, and Porter
In 1938, Minor White began his career
in photography in 1938 when he
moved to Portland, Oregon
White moved to New York City in 1945.
He studied aesthetics and art history at
Columbia University for two years.
This contributed to the development of
his own distinctive style. He became
involved with influential photographers
which included Alfred Stieglitz, Edward
Weston, and Ansel Adams.
Minor White, Sun in Rock
Devil’s Slide, 1947. Gelatin-
silver print. 7-3⁄8 × 9-5⁄8”
The Museum of Modern Art
New York
Expressive Vision: Developments in
American Photography
32. Aaron Siskind focused on images
resembled the non-representational
designs of abstract painting.
In his photographs he emphasized
the modernist concern with the
flatness of the picture plane by
close-up framing, texture, and line.
Eliot Porter was known for his color
photographs of nature. His career
in photography started when a
friend introduced him to Ansel
Adams and Alfred Stieglitz who
showed Porter's photographs in his
New York gallery in 1938.
Aaron Siskind, Chicago. 1949
Gelatin-silver print
33. Levitt and DeCarava
Four photographers made important images of Harlem in the 1940s.
Roy DeCarava, who grew up in Harlem, began his career by taking
pictures that became widely known after they were published in 1952.
DeCarava’s photographs reflect his training as a painter.
Helen Levitt, grew up in Brooklyn. She used “street photography” to
capture evanescent beautiful . She is known for her photographs of city
kids.
