A
painting movement in which artists typically applied paint
rapidly, and with force to their huge canvases in an effort to
show feelings and emotions, painting gesturally,
non-geometrically, sometimes applying paint with large brushes,
sometimes dripping or even throwing it onto canvas. Their work
is characterized by a strong dependence on what appears to be
accident and chance, but which is actually highly planned. Some
Abstract Expressionist artists were concerned with adopting a
peaceful and mystical approach to a purely abstract image.
Usually there was no effort to represent subject matter. Not all
work was abstract, nor was all work expressive, but it was
generally believed that the spontaneity of the artists' approach
to their work would draw from and release the creativity of
their unconscious minds. The expressive method of painting was
often considered as important as the painting itself.
Artists who
painted in this style include Hans
Hoffman
(German-American, 1880-1966), Adolph
Gottlieb
(American, 1903-1974), Mark
Rothko
(American, 1903-1970), Willem
De Kooning
(Dutch-American, 1904-1997), Clyfford
Still
(American, 1904-1980), Barnett
Newman
(American, 1905-1970), Franz
Kline
(American, 1910-1962), William
Baziotes (American,
1912-1963), Jackson
Pollock
(American, 1912-1956), Philip
Guston
(American, 1913-1980), Ad Reinhardt (American, 1913-1967), Robert
Motherwell
(American, 1915-1991), Sam
Francis
(American, 1923-1994), and Helen
Frankenthaler
(American, 1928-).
Abstract Expressionism originated in the 1940s, and became
popular in the 1950s
text is
taken from:
ArtLex - Visual Arts Dictionary
http://www.artlex.com
