Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and also the one that put New York City at the centre of the art world, a role formerly filled by Paris.
Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock's dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of Max Ernst. Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his "white writing" canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the "all over" look of Pollock's drip paintings.
Jackson Pollock at work Mark Tobey
During the late 1940s Jackson Pollock's radical approach to painting revolutionized the potential for all Contemporary art that followed him. To some extent Pollock realized that the journey toward making a work of art was as important as the work of art itself. Like Pablo Picasso's innovative reinventions of painting and sculpture near the turn of the century via Cubism and constructed sculpture, Pollock redefined what it was to produce art. His move away from easel painting and conventionality was a liberating signal to the artists of his era and to all that came after. Artists realised that Jackson Pollock's process—the placing of unstretched raw canvas on the floor where it could be attacked from all four sides using artist materials and industrial materials; linear skeins of paint dripped and thrown; drawing, staining, brushing; imagery and non-imagery—essentially blasted art-making beyond any prior boundary. Abstract expressionism in general expanded and developed the definitions and possibilities that artists had available for the creation of new works of art.
Mark Rothco steered abstract expressionism in a very different direction. Instead of spattering paint all over the canvas, they painted one colour or a few colours in clearly defined rectangles. Because he painted broad areas of colour he was one of a group of painter called colour field painters.
Rothko wanted his boxes of colour to fight and be at conflict at the same time. He tried to merge two contrasting forms of creativity - the orderly side ( form) and the wild side ( expression) Rothko's boxes argue with each other and vibrate around the edges. Sometimes he butts complimentary colour fields against each other, creating conflict. More often he paints harmonious ( analogous) colour fields close to each other as in Untitled ( violet. Black , orange, yellow on white and red) Because the colours are harmonious. They want to blend but Rothko wont let them. This creates tension and establishes the equivalent of a magnetic pull between the colours.
Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock's dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of Max Ernst. Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his "white writing" canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the "all over" look of Pollock's drip paintings.
Jackson Pollock at work Mark TobeyDuring the late 1940s Jackson Pollock's radical approach to painting revolutionized the potential for all Contemporary art that followed him. To some extent Pollock realized that the journey toward making a work of art was as important as the work of art itself. Like Pablo Picasso's innovative reinventions of painting and sculpture near the turn of the century via Cubism and constructed sculpture, Pollock redefined what it was to produce art. His move away from easel painting and conventionality was a liberating signal to the artists of his era and to all that came after. Artists realised that Jackson Pollock's process—the placing of unstretched raw canvas on the floor where it could be attacked from all four sides using artist materials and industrial materials; linear skeins of paint dripped and thrown; drawing, staining, brushing; imagery and non-imagery—essentially blasted art-making beyond any prior boundary. Abstract expressionism in general expanded and developed the definitions and possibilities that artists had available for the creation of new works of art.
Mark Rothco steered abstract expressionism in a very different direction. Instead of spattering paint all over the canvas, they painted one colour or a few colours in clearly defined rectangles. Because he painted broad areas of colour he was one of a group of painter called colour field painters.
Rothko wanted his boxes of colour to fight and be at conflict at the same time. He tried to merge two contrasting forms of creativity - the orderly side ( form) and the wild side ( expression) Rothko's boxes argue with each other and vibrate around the edges. Sometimes he butts complimentary colour fields against each other, creating conflict. More often he paints harmonious ( analogous) colour fields close to each other as in Untitled ( violet. Black , orange, yellow on white and red) Because the colours are harmonious. They want to blend but Rothko wont let them. This creates tension and establishes the equivalent of a magnetic pull between the colours.