The

Abstract
Expressionists
Art 3 & 4 | Spring 2017
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract: does not represent an
external reality; uses shapes, forms,
colors, etc to communicate
Post-WW2
New York City, 1940s
The first famous American art
movement
Influenced by German Expressionism
and Surrealism
Seen as rebellious & anarchist
Interested in the spiritual, emotional,
and active parts of human life
Two main forms: Action Painting and Franz Kline, Black Reflection
Color Field Painting
Action Painting
Showed the marks made by
the artist - meant to be a record
of the artists movements
An expression of freedom
Related to Existentialism: our
actions give our lives meaning
Usually an All-over
composition: no clear top,
bottom, left, or right

Action painters: Jackson Pollock, Jackson Pollock, Untitled

Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning
Jackson Pollock
Known for his unique drip paintings
Reclusive, struggled with alcoholism
Very famous - called the greatest painter
that America ever produced by celebrated
critic Clement Greenwood
Used house paint, sticks, reeds, and basting
syringes to create his artwork
Painted very large works by laying them flat
on the ground
Painting is self-discovery.
Every good artist paints what
he is.
Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm
Franz Kline
Studied art at Boston University, worked as
a designer for a department store in New
York
Known for art that breaks down forms into
quick, simple brushstrokes
Uses black and white to show positive and
negative space
Created his paintings very carefully
Calligraphic: resembling handwriting

I paint not the things I see

but the feelings they arouse
in me.
Franz Kline, Painting Number 2
Willem de Kooning
Born in the Netherlands, stowed away on a
ship to the US at 22 years old
Worked for the government, painting murals
Started creating abstract work in the 1950s
Considered the most knowledgeable of the
Abstract Expressionists
Used oil paints mixed with water and
safflower oil

I don't paint to live, I

live to paint.
Willem de Kooning, Excavation
Color Field Painting
Used absolutely no recognizable images
Painted large, flat areas of color
Interested in the sublime: awe and terror
in the face of nature
Artists wanted people to have a
subconscious emotional response to
their paintings

Color Field painters: Mark Rothko, Helen

Frankenthaler

Barnett Newman, Onement

Mark Rothko
Grew up in Russia in a Jewish family
Emigrated to the US in 1913
Studied at Parsons The New School for
Design
Paints in thin, layered washes of color

Pictures must be
miraculous.
 Orange
and
Yellow

Black in
Deep
Red
Helen Frankenthaler
Developed her own distinct style
Thinned paint with turpentine and soaked it
into canvas
Inspired by the natural landscape

Every canvas is a
journey all its own.
Helen Frankenthaler, Madame Matisse
More Abstract Artists
Wassily Kandinsky
Jeane Myers
Alice Baber
Michel Keck
Corey Barksdale
Zhu Jinshi
Nancy Eckels
Lee Krasner
Mark Tobey
Joan Miro
Arshile Gorky
Cy Twombly Alice Baber, The Way of the Wind