Art history: Understanding abstract expressionism – Part 1

Abstract expressionism, an American Art movement that sprang up in the wake of World War II, is one of the most misunderstood and ridiculed of all the styles of art; “It looks like a child could’ve painted that!” is one response that I’ve heard from several of my less cultured friends, upon seeing a particular Abstract Expressionist masterpiece for the first time. However, snooty, artsy types like myself recognize the amount of talent and ability that it took for Jackson Pollock to get belligerently drunk on wine and drip several colors of paint haphazardly across a giant canvas.

Well, okay, maybe it didn’t take a whole lot of ability for Jackson Pollock to drizzle the paint, but it did take some creative thought and innovation. Immortalized in the year 2000 film, “Pollock”, he is undoubtedly the most recognized Abstract Expressionist painter.

Abstract Expressionism was not about technical ability. In fact, the Abstract Expressionists sought to abandon representation altogether. Where Impressionism has blurred lines, and Cubism has fractured picture planes, there is no cohesive look to Abstract Expressionist works, except for the fact that they are not depicting any specific thing. Part of this is due to the artists wanting to avoid dialog on the heavy political climate of the time, for fear of government persecution.

Whereas anyone can easily feel the friendly warmth of the Mona Lisa’s slight smile, or gaze deeply into Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, the Abstract Expressionists challenged themselves to communicate feelings and emotions with only combinations of colors. In Abstract Expressionism, there was no subject to be painted; The painting itself was the subject.

Another Abstract Expressionist painter, who is more up my alley, is Mark Rothko. Rothko is notable for his large paintings consisting of, basically, two rectangles of differing colors, such as maroon butted up against a block of black, or orange laid on top of yellow. In actuality, the pictures are very painterly, without the clean edges of some earlier minimalist styles such as “De Stijl”; In the brushstrokes the colors mix together, but, essentially, the paintings are two colors.

Other important Abstract Expressionists include Willem De Kooning, Mark Tobey, and Franz Kline, to name but a few.