Abstract Expressionism

Thèmes abordés

Abstract expressionism, Pollock, Rothko, Newmann, Still,

Résumé du document

In the 1950s, abstract expressionism was the most influential in the world of art. But that movement which considered United States as the leading artistic place wasn't a bolt from the blue.

In fact in the 1940s, some artists asked themselves about the idea of pure American art, and most of them considered the idea of isolated American painting as totally absurd.

This generation of painters during the 1930s -1940s lived through a tragic history: The great depression, the World War II and the Cold War.

The aftermath of this turbulent era of history was added to the individual crisis of these painters, like alcoholism for Jackson Pollock, or nervous breakdowns for Mark Rothko and David Smith. This combination of personal crisis and outside events gave way to abstract expressionism.

Extraits

[...] Because this line could also be interprated like a gestural sign, a clumsy action which could represent the human frailty. But his last works shows an evolution to a more minimal and clear painting. Common elements of these paintings We have seen that these painters had developped their works in two opposite styles, but this was not a so closed frontier, because in some way they had a priviliged connection with the spectator. They wanted to talk about a jolted conscious and to represent it either in a violent and straightforward way, or in a passive way to express the emptiness after an impact. [...]

[...] Abstract Expressionism: The conscious of the tragic I. Sources: The question of a legacy In the 1950's, the abstract expressionism was the most influential in the art world. But that movement which established United States as the leading artistic place, wasn't bolt from the blue. In fact in the 1940's, some artists asked themselves about the idea of a purely american art, and most of them considered the idea of an isolated american painting, totally absurd. This generation of painters who began to create during the 1930's -1940's have lived through a tragic history: the great depression, the World war II, the Cold War. [...]

[...] There were also many exhibitions in the Museum of living art, and the Museum of non objective arts founded in 1939, which owned a collection of Kandinsky's paintings. This discover of new themes, and tools for painting was also assisted by education. One of the most famous exile who was in contact with abstract expressionism painters was the german-born Hans Hoffman, who migrated to America in 1930. He founded an influencial school of art in New-York where he teached a synthesis of the major european movement, like fauvism, cubism, german expressionism, but he also remained to the stimulus of the new. [...]

[...] In doing this he followed the Navajos Indians who made paintings by throwing earth onto the ground to made patterns. This technique was also derived from the use of automatism made-up by the Surrealists which consisted to let spontaneous painting in order to express the subconscious mind. But for Pollock this tool was not only considered to liberate subconscious, but also to invent new shapes. During theses works Pollock channeled his inner impulses and set aside the outside world to be in touch with his canvas and pouring, throwing and dripping paint onto it. [...]

[...] Therefore, the two way of this movement used a monumental scale, in order to reinforce a semi-religious experience, and to differentiate from decorative paintings. We could also say that some artists vacillated between the two ways, and could integrate the quietness of colorfield paintin with spontaneous drawing. For example in Lavender Mist from Jackson Pollock, at first we can distinguish the sharpness of gestures, but then we can also contemplate a field, these brushstroke made an homogeneous unity, and through this painting we could imaginate the emptiness of a battlefield. [...]