Famous Abstract Expressionists

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‘Abstract Expressionism,’ also known as ‘AbEx’ in its abbreviated form, and Gestural Abstraction, was an art movement which started in New York in the 1940s. Since most of the abstract expressionists lived in New York, this art form was, at times, also known as The New York School. The movement was initiated by Jackson Pollock who unusually splattered paint onto the canvas, kept in a vertical position, resulting in dripping of the paint. He was, for this reason, known as Jack the Dripper. He believed that this technique extended an opportunity to express the artist’s version of reality existing in the subconscious. Abstract Expressionism is subdivided into two main categories; the action painting like that of Jackson Pollock and Color Field Painting like the work of Mark Rothk.This mode of painting was characterized by freedom of technique and spontaneity or impulsiveness of expression. Distinguishing features of Abstract Expressionist paintings are their being non-figurative, not focusing on a particular figure, having a large canvass, having an even focus though the canvas is contrary to the conventional focus upon a selected center of attraction. The subject of an abstract expressionist’s painting is not identifiable, and it is the process or technique which replaces the subject in this art form.

1. Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko

Marcus Yakovelevich Rothkowitz, better known as Mark Rothko, was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province of the Russian Empire on September 25, 1903 and died in Manhattan, New York, U.S. on February 25, 1970 at the age of 66. He attended Lincoln High School in Portland and Grand Central School of Art in New York. He was a Russian-American painter classified as an Abstract Expressionist although he didn’t quite agree with this label. He was initially inclined towards his surrealism which focused on the subconscious, fantasy, and interpretation of dreams. Shifting from his earlier trends, he settled with abstract expressionism. ‘Slow Swirl at Edge of Sea’ is Rothko’s 1945 masterpiece. The painting shows almost unidentifiable whirling, human figures floating in an atmosphere of delicate grays and browns.

2. Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock

Paul Jackson Pollock, better known as Jackson Pollock, was born to Stella May and Le Roy Pollock in Cody, Wyoming, U.S. on January 28, 1912 and died in Springs, New York, U.S. on August 11, 1956 at the age of 44. He was one of the founding members of the Abstract Expressionist Movement. He is portrayed as an alcoholic recluse of unpredictable personality. His work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and The Tate in London. In 2002, Ed Harris directed the Academy Award winning film Pollock; about him. His drip paintings are among the best paintings of the 20th century. He used synthetic, resin-based paints in order to get desired fluidity for dripping on canvas. Haftman described his paintings as seismographic which recorded the energies and states of the painter.

3. Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning, the Dutch-American painter, was born on August 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, Netherlands and died on March 19, 1997 in Long Island, New York. He belonged to the New York School and is known as an abstract expressionist. His paintings were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He is considered among the leaders of the Abstract Expressionist Movement, and he was one of the 17 famous painters who signed an open letter in 1950 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for its hostility against advanced art. Kooning’s famous paintings include: ‘Pink Angels,’ ‘Excavation,’ ‘Woman’ series, ‘The Stations of the Cross,’ ‘Pink Landscape’ and ‘Elegy.’

4. Barnett Newman

Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman – Onement

Barnett Newman was born in New York City, New York on January 29, 1905 and died on July 4, 1970 at the age of 65. He is among the most prominent abstract expressionists and best known for his color field paintings. He studied at City College of New York. His color field paintings are characterized by zones of colors separated by thin, vertical lines which called ‘Zips.’ Primarily the color fields were variegated, but his later paintings have solid, pure, and flat colors. He used Zip constantly in his painting as in his painting ‘The Wild,’ which is eight feet tall and only one and one-half inches wide.

5. Grace Hartigan

Grace Hartigan
Grace Hartigan

Grace Hartigan was born in Newark, N.J. on March 28, 1922 and died in Baltimore on November 15, 2008. She belonged to the New York School and was a well-known artist of her time. Her friends included Jackson Pollock, Willem, Frank O’Hara, Elaine de Kooning, and many other renowned abstract painters of the 1940s and 1950s. Her paintings were displayed at prestigious museums like the Metropolitan museum and Whitney Museum of Art. Life magazine, May 13, 1957 named her the ‘most celebrated of the young American Painters’¦’

6. Franz Kline

Franz Kline
Franz Kline

Franz Jozef Kline, better known as Franz Kline, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on May 23, 1910 and died in New York City, New York on May 13, 1962 at the age of 51 years. He attended Girard College and Boston University. On account of lack or absence of figures or imagery in his painting and stress upon the technique and spontaneity, he was known as an Action Painter like Jackson Pollock and other abstract expressionists. Kline practiced spontaneity prior to realizing it. His best known paintings like ‘High Street’ on display in the Harvard Art Museum are in black and white. They are, at times, suggestive of Japanese calligraphy while sometimes they indicate a connection with bridges, tunnels, and architecture.

7. Jay Meuser

Jay Meuser
Jay Meuser

Jay Meuser was born in San Francisco, California on September 28, 1911 and died in San Pedro, California on August 19, 1963 at the age of 51. He was an abstract expressionist known for his prolific work as an illustrator, portrait painter, and cartoonist as well. His near death words to his wife were ‘I’ve led a most full life.’ He won numerous awards for his different performances. He had painted portraits of many world-renowned figures of the 20th century including; President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. His portrait of Roosevelt hung in the White House, and he received a personal letter of thanks from the President.

8. Clyfford Still

Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still

Clyfford Still was born in Grandin, North Dakota on November 30, 1904 and died in New York on June 23, 1980 at the age of 75 years. He studied at Spokane University in Washington and Washington State College. He is one of the leading abstract expressionists. His contemporaries include renowned painters like: Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. He was a professor at the California School of Arts. He received the Skowhegan Medal for Painting in 1975. The American Academy of Arts and Letters honored him with an Award of Merit for Painting in 1978.

9. James Brooks 

James Brooks
James Brooks

James Brooks was born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 18, 1906 and died in Brookhaven, New York on March 9, 1992 at the age of 85 years. He was a friend of the famous artist Jackson Pollock. His paintings were exhibited in many renowned galleries and museums including: Peridot Gallery in New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington; and Tate Gallery of London. He was a famous muralist, and the murals he executed from 1936 to 1942 include locations as: Queens Public Library, New York Marine Air Terminal, and Post Office, Little Falls, New Jersey.

10. Joan Mitchell 

Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell was born to James Herbert and Marion Strobel Mitchell in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on February 12, 1925 and died in Vetheuil, France on October 30, 1992 at the age of 67 years. She studied at The Art Institute of Chicago and Smith College in Massachusetts. Although she lived mostly in France, she was considered an essential member of the American Abstract Expressionist Movement. She was one of the few, famous female painters of her time, others being; Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, and Helen Frankenthaler. Her paintings are displayed throughout Europe and America. She was influenced by Vincent van Gogh.

Conclusion:

All sorts of unconventional painting techniques like; dripping, smearing, spreading thick layers of paint, or splashing it violently onto the canvas, were included in abstract expressionist paintings. This art form emphasized overview rather than a perfect view. According to the renowned American artist and art historian William C. Seitz, ‘Abstract expressionists value expression over perfection, vitality over finish, fluctuation over repose, the unknown over the known, the veiled over the clear, the individual over society, and inner over the outer.’

 

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One Response

  1. philthum

    November 18, 2016 5:08 pm

    . The movement was initiated by Jackson Pollock who unusually splattered paint onto the canvas.

    WRONG HE DIDN’T START THE MOVEMENT HE WAS GROUPIE THAT GOT LUCKY ENOUGH TO
    BE TAKEN UNDER THE WING OF THE LEADING GALLERY PROMOTER OF THE TIME.
    POLLOCK WAS A COPIER, A DRUNK AND LOSER. HE JUST KNEW THE RIGHT PEOPLE.
    THAT WERE STABBING IN THE DARK FOR SALES.

    Reply

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