1. +
Warm-Up


What do you think this is a
painting of?

Would you paint something like
this?

Do you think this is art?

Earth and Green
1955
Mark Rothko
How would you classify this
painting?
Why? or Why not?

2. +

Early Rothko Self Portrait

3. +
Non-Objective Art
Non-objective art does not contain a recognizable subject. Rather, the artist manipulates the
elements of art by using the principles of design.
One thing to remember about non objective art is the time period. Non-objective art really began
in post war America, at a time period where there was so much emphasis on subject matter.

4. +
Why do people create non-objective art?


Abstract expressionist artists
continue to use the formalist and
expressionist techniques used by
the expressionist artists.

Instead of using a recognizable
subject matter to illustrate their
emotions, abstract expressionist
artists are purely creating a visual
representation of what is within.

Helen Frankenthaler
Nature Abhors a Vacuum, 1973
Acrylic on canvas, 103 x 112 inches
Abstract expressionism
For example: Instead of painting
someone who looks sad, they
were attempting to paint what they
felt sad looked like.

5. +
Characteristics of abstract expressionist
work.

Emphasis on use of elements
and principles.

Typically very large scale
paintings.

With just a few exceptions, there
are no recognizable subject
matter. (non-objective)

Abstract expressionism began
here in America and is credited
with putting New York in the
center of the art world.

6. +
Color Fields


Spread
Kenneth Noland
1958
Stemmed from abstract
expressionism, most of the early
color field painters were
prominent abstract
expressionists.
Color field paintings are typically
in simple shapes, stripes, targets,
simplistic natural shapes and
detach color from a description of
a subject, and instead use color
as a subject on it’s own.

7. +
Prominent Artists

Jackson Pollock

Mark Rothko

Helen Frankenthaler

Frank Stella

8. +
Jackson Pollock
Pollock wanted an end to the viewer's  January 28, 1912 – August 11,
1956
search for figurative elements in his
paintings, and so he abandoned titles and
 Was
started numbering the paintings instead. Of an accomplished painter, and
is
this, Pollock commented: "...look passively best known for his Abstract
Expressionist drip paintings
and try to receive what the painting has to
created between 47 and 50.
offer and not bring a subject matter or
preconceived idea of what they are to be
 The most prominent and well
looking for." Pollock's wife, Lee Krasner, known Abstract Expressionist
said Pollock "used to give his pictures painter.
conventional titles... but now he simply
numbers them. Numbers are neutral. They
 Action Painting- style of painting
make people look at a picture for what it in which paint is spontaneously
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist,1950
is—pure painting.
dribbled, splashed or smeared
onto the canvas, rather than being
carefully applied.
Going West, Jackson Pollock

9. +
Mark Rothko

September 25, 1903 – February 25,
1970

Rothko was a pioneer in the art of
color field painting.

Though Rothko is an Abstract
Expressionist painter his style differs
greatly from the erratic drips and
splatters of Pollock.

For Rothko, these blurred blocks of
various colors, devoid of landscape or
human figure, let alone myth and
symbol, possessed their own life
force. They contained a "breath of life"
he found lacking in most figurative
painting of the era.
Mark Rothko, No.61, Rust and Blue, 1953

10. +
Helen Frankenthaler


Initially associated with Abstract
Expressionism her career was
launched in 1952 with the exhibition of
Mountains and Sea.

She introduced the technique of
painting directly onto an unprepared
canvas so that the material absorbs the
colors.

Round Trip, Helen Frankenthaler, 1957
December 12, 1928 – December 27,
2011
Using this type of painting created a
water color look but utilized oil paints
heavily diluted with turpentine. A
disadvantage of not priming the surface
is, the paint eventually begins to
discolor and rot the painting.

11. +
Frank Stella


In addition to painting, Stella’s
work also includes a wide array
of prints and sculptures.

Stella’s Color Field paintings
incorporate focus heavily on line
and shape, as well as color.

Firuzabad, Frank Stella, 1970
May 12, 1936-still alive
Stella is also a pioneer and one
of the only artists known for his
shaped canvases.

12. +
Your non-objective objective.

Using the paper given, create a collage which utilizes your
elements and principles, your goal should be to emphasize one
or two specifically.

Your collage should not incorporate recognizable images or
words.