Abstract Expressionism emerged as a major art movement during the late 1940s in New York and remained influential into the 1950s and beyond. It marked the first American movement to achieve international influence and put New York City at the heart of the western art world, a role previously filled by Paris. This movement is characterized by its focus on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation. Abstract Expressionist artists sought to express their subjective emotions and perspectives through their artworks, emphasizing the act of painting itself as essential to the finished work. The movement encompasses a variety of styles and techniques but is most famous for its large-scale paintings featuring abstract forms, expansive colors, and expressive brushwork.
One of the hallmarks of Abstract Expressionism is its embrace of abstraction as a means of personal expression—hence the emphasis on "abstract" in the name. The artists associated with this movement sought to convey their innermost emotions through non-representational forms. They believed that through abstraction, they could communicate universal human feelings and ideas. A key component of this style is its gestural brushwork, which can be seen in the works of Jackson Pollock, who famously laid his canvases on the ground and dripped or threw paint onto them in a method he called "action painting." This technique emphasized the physical act of painting as an essential part of the artwork's meaning.
Another significant aspect of Abstract Expressionism is its variety in terms of technique and execution, which can be segmented into two basic categories: Action Painting, as represented by Pollock, and Color Field Painting, exemplified by Mark Rothko. While Action Painters focused on the drama of paint splashing and vigorous brushwork, Color Field Painters filled their canvases with large areas of a single color to evoke an emotional and contemplative response from the viewer. Rothko, in particular, is known for his ethereal layers of color, which appear to float on the canvas, creating a meditative or spiritual experience in the viewer.
Lastly, Abstract Expressionism was not only a significant movement in painting but also influenced other domains such as sculpture and photography. Artists like David Smith and Aaron Siskind, while not painters, adopted the intense emotional energy and focus on materiality that were central to Abstract Expressionism. Smith's sculptures, often large and abstract, used welded steel to similarly engage with space and scale, echoing the expansive works of his painter contemporaries. Meanwhile, Siskind's photography took cues from Abstract Expressionism's emphasis on surface texture and abstract forms, often capturing close-ups of peeling paint or crumpled paper to create abstract compositions. This movement, therefore, transcended traditional boundaries between mediums, reflecting a broader cultural shift toward abstraction and the elevation of the individual artist's experience and expression.