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

Timeline of 20th Century Art Movements

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

Jackson Pollock: Works

The Moon Woman (1942)

Jackson Pollock: Works

Pasiphae (1943)

Jackson Pollock: Works Continued

Cathedral (1947)

Jackson Pollock: Works ContinuedBlue Poles (1952)

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

Untitled: 1948

Woman I: 1950-1952

Two Figures in Landscape: 1968

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.

Mark Rothko: 1951 Violet Green Red

Mark Rothko: 1967 Red White Brown

Mark Rothko: Blue and Grey 1962

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

Robert Motherwell: Works

Je t'aime IV

Robert Motherwell: Works

Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 108

Robert Motherwell Works Continued

Open Number 24 in Variations of Orange

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

Geometric sculpturesCubi XVIII, 1964 Cubi XVII, 1963 Cubi XIX, 1964

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.”