Abstract Expressionism

Abstract expressionism emerged in New York in the 1940s-1950s and quickly turned into one of the most powerful and influential movements in the history of contemporary art. Drawing on the achievements of European avant-garde art, a group of artists known as "abstract expressionists" (or "New York school") developed a new abstraction that was simultaneously simple and complex.

Among the artists involved in the movement, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Barnett Newman, Clifford Still, Franz Kline, Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, William Baziotis, Barnett Newman, Adolf Gottlieb, Richard Puzett-Dart. Although some of the key figures of abstract expressionism were emigrants, among them Mark Rothko, Hans Hoffmann, Arshile Gorky, this was the first definitively American movement in art. New York became the new capital of artistic innovation for many years, "taking away" from Paris the mantle of the leader of modern art. In New York, the visual language was created, which very soon reached the remotest corners of the planet.

The name "abstract expressionism" is derived from a combination of emotional intensity, characteristic of German expressionism, with "anti-European" theories of European abstract schools (futurism, syncretic cubism).

In addition, it is described as anarchistic, very special, even with a certain feeling of nihilism movement. In practice, the term is applicable to any number of artists who worked in New York in completely different styles, none of which, in any way, can be described as classical abstractionism or expressionism.

The painting of these artists, who created more large-scale works, does not have to do with conventional conventions and in technology and thematically. It is a reflection of their individual subconscious, so they tried to find universal internal sources. Spontaneity and improvisation were the most important factors in the creative process. Although the works of abstract expressionists "resist" any stylistic classification, they can be combined around two main preferences: the emphasis on a dynamic and energetic gesture; Reflection, focused attention to the open color areas. In any case, images, above all, abstractions. Even when images are based on visual realities, abstract expressionists prefer a way "immersed in one's thoughts".

Abstract expressionism developed in the context of diverse, overlapping sources. Many artists made their first steps back in the early 1930s. The Great Depression stimulated the emergence of two artistic trends: Ridgialism and Socialist Realism. But none of them satisfied these artists in their search for artistic content with a strong meaning, which leads to thoughts about social responsibility, but at the same time free from provincialism and overt political overtones. This is one of the many paradoxes of the movement, whose roots lie in the figurative painting of the 1930s. Almost all abstract expressionists were "minted" in the experience of the Great Depression, their art ripened under the influence of Ridgialism and Socialist Realism. Also paved the way for the most advanced American art the impact and assimilation of European modernism. In those years in New York, many exhibitions of European avant-garde art were organized, in addition, there were training courses for modernism. The most influential teacher of contemporary art in the United States was Hans Hoffmann, who moved from Germany permanently to the United States in 1932.

The crisis of the First World War and its consequences are key to understanding the problems of creativity of abstract expressionists. Young artists, worried about the dark side of humanity, with alarm perceived the illogical actions and vulnerability of people, considered it their duty to express these problems in art, but in its new content.

Direct contacts with European artists increased during the Second World War, which forced many, including Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Andre Breton, Pete Mondrian, Fernand Leger, to seek asylum in the United States. Surrealists, with their emphasis on identifying the "subconscious", opened up new opportunities. One surrealistic method for getting rid of the "conscious" is psychic automatism, in which automatic gesture and improvisation gained freedom of action.

At first, abstract expressionists in search of timeless and dramatic themes turn to inspiration for myths and archaic art. Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollack, Robert Motherwell, Adolf Gottlieb, Barnett Newman, William Baziotis sought inspiration in ancient or primitive cultures for their expressive means. Early works of artists show pictographic and biomorphic elements, transformed into individual codes. Intriguing was Jung's psychology with its statement of the "collective unconscious". Immediate expression was of paramount importance, and it was best achieved without prior deliberation (planning).

At the stage of mature abstract expressionism, in 1947, Jackson Pollock created a unique technique - dripping or splattering (on a huge canvas laid directly on the floor, he sprayed paint from his hands).

Willem de Kooning also developed his own technique of gesture style - violent, pastoral "strokes-strokes" in the creation of so-called "figurative abstractions."

Lee Krasner and Franz Kline were equally engaged in organizing the art of dynamic gesture, in which each piece of the painting was filled (Lee Krasner called the style "hieroglyphic" painting).

For abstract expressionists, the value of the work consisted in the ease of expression. Painting was the discovery of the artist's true identity. A gesture or "signature" of the artist is evidence of the very process of creation.

Another way in the era of mature abstract expressionism lay in the search for expressive possibilities of color. Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman created the art of large formats of color planes - "simple expression of complex thought," according to Mark Rothko.

The continuing interest in abstract expressionism reflects the boundless striving of his practitioners to interact with the key intellectual currents of his time, including the existentialism and psychology of Jung (it is worth remembering, which had an important influence on expressionism in architecture at the stage of its formation). Although existentialism did not have a decisive influence on abstract expressionists, it contributed to the rhetoric of anxiety and alienation that permeated a comprehensive discussion of the issue.

For many art historians and art historians, the successes of abstract expressionists seem to be the apogee in the modernist movement, begun almost a century earlier.

Abstract expressionism continues to occupy an outstanding place not only in books on the history of art and in museum collections, but also in the public consciousness. So long its attractiveness, without a doubt, is a sign of profound achievements.