PrimeLuck ArtsAbstract Expressionism
Abstract Expressionism was the first major American art movement to lead the world. It uses large abstract canvases to express strong emotion.
- Period
- Early twentieth-century modernism
- Approximate dates
- c. 1940s to 1960s
- Place of origin
- New York City, United States
- Key regions
- United States
- Art forms
- Painting
- Major artists
- Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Helen Frankenthaler
Visual introduction
Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)
Jackson Pollock · 1950 · Enamel on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Poured and dripped paint across a huge canvas records the movement of the artist's body.
No. 61 (Rust and Blue)
Mark Rothko · 1953 · Oil on canvas · Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Large, soft-edged fields of colour aim to draw an emotional response from the viewer.
Woman I
Willem de Kooning · 1950 to 1952 · Oil on canvas · Museum of Modern Art, New York
Aggressive brushwork mixes figure and abstraction in a powerful gesture.
Historical context
After the Second World War, New York replaced Paris as a centre of the art world. Many European artists had arrived as refugees, and American painters took ideas from Surrealism, such as the unconscious and automatic marks.
Two main strands are usually described: action painting, with Pollock and de Kooning, and colour field painting, with Rothko and Newman. The movement was supported by critics, galleries and, during the Cold War, by institutions that promoted American culture.
Visual characteristics
Scale: very large canvases that surround the viewer.
Action painting: energetic gestures, drips and slashes that record the act of painting.
Colour field: wide, soft areas of colour meant to create a contemplative or emotional response.
Related movements
Sources and further reading
Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.