Abstract
Abstract
Expressionism
Expressionism
1946 -1960s
-1960s
1946
When and How Did It Start?
•
•
•
•
Years right after World War II
Small group of painters
New York City
Previous surrealism art movement
What are the
Movement’s
Roots?
• New York City – mainly
– but other American
cites such as San
Francisco and California
• The origin of the actual
concept of Abstract Art
are usually said to have
come from the work of
Kandinsky in Russia.
What Is Abstract
Expressionism?
• Abstract Expressionism is a form of art in which
the artist expresses him or herself purely through
the use of form (shape) and colour.
• It is non-representational or non-objective art,
which means that there are no concrete objects
represented.
• The invention and development of abstraction,
that is, art that does not imitate the appearance
of things, is among the twentieth century’s most
important contributions to the history of art.
• Abstract expressionism has never ended it has
just changed through technological advances
and medium development.
• Some Abstract expressionists in contemporary
times add plastic polymers to their paints which
creates texture which does not deteriorate over
time, unlike Jackson Pollock’s classic ‘Blue
Poles.’
What Caused it to Start?
There are different opinions on
how it began;
- Russian Artist Wassily
Kandinsky
- People stopped tolerating
the social realism after the
war and instead switched
Harmonie Tranguille
to Abstraction
(Quiet Harmony) by
Wassily Kandinsky.
The original
masterpiece oil
painting was painted in
1924.
The forefather
Kandinsky
Winter landscape with Church
Kandinsky was an expressionist artist from
the Der Blaue Reiter era. Kandinsky’s works
were humanitarian, spiritual and non-political.
Abstract Expressionism can be divided
Into 2 main facets
Action or Gestural Paints
and
Colour Field
The return of Thornton Willis reflects the
enduring legacy of abstract painting.
Action or
Gestural
Painting
Artists Techniques
and Media Use;
The artists typically applied
paint rapidly and with force
to their huge canvases in an
effort to show feelings and
emotions, they painted
gesturally, non-geometrically,
sometimes applying paint
with large brushes and
sometimes dripping or even
throwing paint onto canvas.
Action or Gestural Painting
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
Hans Hofmann (1880-1966)
Franz Kline (1910-1962)
Mark Tobey (1890-1976)
Philip Guston (1913-1980)
Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974)
Critical Appraisal Artist 1 –
Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles
•The principals of design of this piece are neither planned or organized.
•Random gesture and movement to make a completely un-constructed art piece.
•Use of dripping of paint creates broad textual lines of many intersecting colours.
•Randomness is the intention, when we critically analysis this paint we can see
the strong vertical formations
•Vertical lines dominate the piece and are positioned in a balanced manner with
symmetry.
•Harmonious to look at and rhythm occurs with the movement of elements that
flow across the canvas.
•No form, however, even with his randomness he has created tree-like shapes
giving the suggestion of a forest.
•This is a significant painting
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
The media referred to Jackson Pollock
as “Jack the Dripper
Jackson Pollock, Birth, c. 1941
Oil on canvas, 116.4 x 55.1 cm
Jackson Pollock, Night Mist, 1945
Oil on canvas
Jackson Pollock, Painting (Silver over Black, White and Red), 1948
Painting on paper mounted on canvas, 61 x 80 cm
Jackson Pollock, The Deep, 1953
Paint on canvas, 220.4 x 150.2 cm
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
Willem de Kooning, Light in August, 1946
Oil & enamel on canvas, 139.8 x 105.5 cm
Willem de Kooning, Seated Woman, 1952
Pastel, pencil, and oil on two hinged sheets, 30.8 x 24.2 cm
Willem de Kooning, Woman V, 1952-53
oil and charcoal on canvas, 154.5 x 114.5 cm, NGA
Willem de Kooning, The Visit, 1966-1967
Oil on canvas, 152.4 x 121.9 cm
Hans Hofmann (1880-1966)
Hans Hofmann, Pompeii, 1959
Oil on canvas, 214.0 x 132.7 cm
Hans Hofmann, The Gate, 1959–60
Oil on canvas, 190.5 x 123.2 cm
Hans Hofmann, To Miz-Pax Vobiscum, 1964
Oil on canvas, 196.5 x 212.4 cm
Franz Kline (1910-1962)
Franz Kline, New York, N.Y., 1953
Oil on canvas, 200.6 x 129.5 cm
Franz Kline, Painting Number 2, 1954
Oil on canvas, 204.3 x 271.6 cm
Franz Kline, Untitled, 1957
Oil on canvas, 200 x 158.5 cm
Franz Kline, C & O, 1958
Oil on canvas, 195.6 x 279.4 cm
Mark Tobey (1890-1976)
Mark Tobey, Cloud, 1954
Tempera on paper, 21 x 20 cm
Mark Tobey, Untitled, 1958
Tempera on paper, 20.96 cm x 11.43 cm
Mark Tobey, Lake, 1959
Gouache on paper, 24.7 x 31.7 cm
Mark Tobey, Advance of History, 1964
Gouache and watercolour on paper, 65.2 x 50.1 cm
Philip Guston (1913-1980)
The Bauhaus, Tea set, 1930
Philip Guston To B.W.T.,1952
Oil on canvas,123.2 x 130.8 cm
Philip Guston, Zone, 1953-54
Oil on canvas 116.8 x 121.9 cm
Philip Guston, The Return, 1956-8
Oil on canvas, 178.1 x 199.1 cm
Adolph Gottlieb
Adolph Gottlieb, Apaquogue, 1961
oil on canvas, 183.5 x 229.2 cm
Adolph Gottlieb, Centrifugal, 1961
Gouache on paperboard, 38 x 25.4 cm
Cy Twombly (1928- )
Cy Twombly, The Italians, 1961
Oil, pencil and crayon on canvas,199.5 x 259.6 cm)
Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1967
Oil and crayon on canvas, 147.3 x 177.8 cm
Cy Twombly, Untitled (Bolsena), 1969
oil-based house paint, wax crayon, and graphite on canvas, 203.2 x 244.2 cm
Colour Field Painting
Characterised by large areas of a more or
less flat single colour. It differed from
Abstract Expressionism in that these
artists eliminated both the emotional,
mythic or religious content of the earlier
movement, and the highly personal and
painterly or gestural application associated
with it.
Colour Field Painting
Clyfford Still (1904-1980)
Mark Rothko(1903-1970)
Barnett Newman (1905-1970)
Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967)
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-)
Jules Olitski (1922-)
Critical Appraisal Artist 2 – Clyfford
Still’s Untitled
•Concerned mostly with colour.
•Uninterested in form and content
•The size of the art work is extremely
significant as the enormous blocks of
colour have an effect on the viewer.
•Some art critics describe the effect of
these paintings as creating a vibration
which stimulates emotion.
•No line or recognizable forms are
intended by the artist.
•Although composition does not follow
traditional arrangements the breaks in
colour – as we can see in this piece –
are still harmonious to the eye and
have a sense of rhythm.
1956 Oil on canvas,
92.1 x 266.1 cm
Clyfford Still
(1904-1980)
1951-N, 1951
oil on canvas, 234.5 x
175.6 cm
Untitled, 1956
Oil on canvas, 92.1 x 266.1 cm
Mark Rothko(1903-1970)
Mark Rothko, Untitled (Violet, Black, Orange, Yellow on White and Red), 1949
Oil on canvas, 207 x 167.6 cm
Mark Rothko, Number 2, 1954
Oil on canvas, 291.5 x 207 cm
Mark Rothko, Number 20, 1957
Oil on canvas, 233.0 x 193.0 cm NGA
Mark Rothko, Sienna, Orange & Black on Dark Brown,1962
Oil on canvas, 193 x 175 cm
Barnett Newman (1905-1970)
Barnett Newman, Dionysius, 1949
oil on canvas, 170.2 x 124.5 cm
Barnett Newman, Achilles, 1952
oil and acrylic resin on canvas, 241.6 x 201 x 5.7 cm
Barnett Newman, The Third, 1962
oil on canvas
Clyfford Still, 1951-N, 1951
oil on canvas, 234.5 x 175.6 cm
Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967
Ad Reinhardt, Abstract Painting, c. 1951-2
Oil on canvas, 203.2 x 106.7 cm
Ad Reinhardt, Black Painting No 34, 1964
Oil on canvas, 153.0 x 152.6 cm
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-)
Helen Frankenthaler, Wales, 1966
Acrylic on canvas, 287.5 x 114.4 cm
Helen Frankenthaler, Coral Wedge, 1972
Acrylic on canvas, 207 x 118.1 cm
Helen Frankenthaler, Viewpoint II, 1979
Acrylic on canvas, 206.38 X 240.03 cm
Jules Olitski (1922-)
Jules Olitski, Summer Seizure, 1966
Oil on Canvas, 238.7 x 81.2 cm
Jules Olitski, Prince Patutsky's Command, 1966
synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 418.2 x 179.0 cm NGA
Impact on Art Today;
• Abstract paintings and art have influenced many
artist to not feel like that have to paint portraits
and landscapes, but they can paint what they
feel and make their work mean something to
them.
• There are many artists that still create abstract
art today, and now they have taken the ideas of
it and applied it to other things, such as
architecture.