ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
"To us, art is an adventure into an unknown world of the imagination, which is fancy-free and violently opposed to common sense."
-Adolf Gottlieb, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko
Jackson Pollock, 'Untitled' 1948. (Online) Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27/
"Abstract Expressionism is a vague term which refers to a general movement of largely non-representative painting."
This movement developed in New York (1940-1950s) and felt the title "Abstract Expressionism" unfitting and not ideal ('Action Painting' was a considered title). The movement was rather trying to encompass both; painting with colour and abstract forms, alongside canvas filled with vigorous gestural expressionism.
Yet it seems Abstract Expressionism has become the accepted term for the group of artists that started it, for they were all committed to art as expression of self. Shaped by the legacy of Surrealism they transformed profound emotion and universal themes into a new style fitted to the post-war atmosphere of anxiety and trauma.
Jackson Pollock, 'Untitled' 1948. (Online) Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27/
Paul Jackson Pollock, known professionally as Jackson Pollock, was an American painter and major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was famously known for his unique style of drip painting. Pollock saw himself as an 'action-painter' and therefore his art involved dripping thinned paint onto raw canvases and using wide rhythmic sweeps to create his style (Often more than not brushes weren't used). Pollock worked in highly spontaneous improvised bursts, and was famously known for dancing around the canvas while throwing/pouring paint onto it. He claimed: "to be channelling his inner impulses directly onto the canvas, in a form of automatic or subconscious painting."
CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE
Aelita Andre, 'Painted violins' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/
Aelita Andre, 'Life in a aquarium' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/
Aelita Andre, 'Cover Picture' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/
Aelita Andre is a 9-year-old prodigy painter, who focuses her talents on Abstract Expressionism. "Life is a Mandelbrot Set, I paint life and I paint the universe" She incorporates sound and touch into her art pieces and ultimately paints what she feels.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Art Story, (2018) Abstract Expressionism Movement, Modern Art Insights. (Online) Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement-abstract-expressionism.htm [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
The Metropolitan Museum of Art , (2018) Untitled, Timeline of Art History. (Online) Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
Aelita Andre, (2018) Aelita Andre. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
IMAGES
IMAGE ONE
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
IMAGE TWO
Jackson Pollock, 'Untitled' 1948. (Online) Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.147.27/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
IMAGE THREE
Aelita Andre, 'Painted violins' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
Aelita Andre, 'Painted violins' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
IMAGE FOUR
Aelita Andre, 'Life in a aquarium' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
Aelita Andre, 'Life in a aquarium' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
IMAGE FIVE
Aelita Andre, 'Cover Picture' 2018. (Online) Available at: http://www.aelitaandre.com/ [Accessed: 30 August 2018]
