abstract expressionism
TRANSCRIPT
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
Noelle Milad
Rachel Trulock
Claire Cousino
“A painting is not about experience, it is an experience.”
Summary
Main Influences:Surrealism, cubism, impressionism
Historical Context:WWII, Great Depression
Main ArtistsPollock, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko
Public reaction
Quick review:
Cubism- Geometric shapes, sharp lines, didn’t paint with natural linesPicasso
Impressionism- Ordinary scenes, played with the lighting of the sceneManet
Surrealism Dali, Ernst
Great Depression
Works Progress Administration (WPA)Tried (somewhat successfully) to get U.S.
out of Great DepressionOptimistic
Federal Art ProjectGovernment hired artists to paint murals
(just and example) and bring hope to the people
World War II
Genocide of Jewish culture Affected Rothko specifically
Expressed opinion against totalitarian government control in Europe
Showed their pessimism and negative feelings
Showed violence to mirror wartime.“Their brutality of their art was screaming
out of rage at what their world had become.”
Action painting
Artists: Jackson Pollock Willem de Kooning Franz Kline: Lead into color field
TechniquesUsed various tools, unconventional toolsDrip painting (Pollock), swiping brushes across
canvas
Action Painting
•Motive- wanted to evoke strong emotion
•Wanted to be a part of the painting
•Used large canvases
Jackson Pollock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjY4e7NqTo (2:13)
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Troubled childhood
Lived in New York City
Worked on the Federal Art Project (Great Depression).
Dealt with severe alcoholism; died in a drinking and driving accident
Jackson Pollock
Drip painting: 1947-1950Used wall paints (fluid paint, muted colors,
unconventional applicators, unprimed and un-stretched, large canvas)
Defined “drip painting” as a type of action painting.
Wanted to be “in” the paintings.
No.5 1948, Pollock, 1948
Blue Poles, Pollock, 1952
Convergence, Pollock (1952)
“I can control the flow of the paint, there is no accident.”
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
Sculptures and paintings
Started as a commercial artist
Federal Art Project (1935-1939)Murals
Subjects of paintings are easily recognizable, unlike other abstract expressionists.
Women series is his most famous works
Applied paint in aggressive manners
Willem de Kooning
Woman, de Kooning (1950)
Excavation, de Kooning (1950)
Women and Bicycle, de Kooning (1953)
Franz Kline (1910-1962) Childhood upbringing influenced his
aggressive painting style
Influenced by wife’s illness
Didn’t have a meaning behind what was painted on the canvas
Black and white paintingsAvoided bright colors
Chief, Kline (1950)
Painting No. 2, Kline (1954)
Mahoning, Kline (1956)
Color field
Artists: Franz Kline Mark Rothko Techniques
Blocks of bright colorsHuge canvases
Motive- Evoke intense emotional reaction
Emotion- The color in the painting
Paintings were typically very large and painted on big canvases
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko (1903-1970) Born in Latvia, moved to the U.S.
Attended YaleDropped out because of the elitist feelings
there.
Worked with Jackson Pollock.
Mark Rothko
He looked at art as something that is inspired from one’s feelings within.
Wanted to expose and bring out reality to the viewer.
Painted to represent a single idea that summarized all the ideas of human feelings such as human values.
White Center, Rothko (1950)
No. 10, Rothko (1950)
No. 2, Rothko (1951)
Public Reaction
Generally accepted by the publicAppreciated the reality of the society coming
out through the art.
Liked by the art community
Boosted the public‘s morale
After Abstract Expressionism Pop art
Andy Warhol
Minimalism
Was the transition between modernism and postmoderism