Abstract Expressionism
However
great a disaster World War II was, it did at least mean that artists such as
Piet Mondrian and Max Ernst, in leaving Europe for the safety of the USA,
greatly extended their artistic influence. It is impossible to estimate how
much they affected American art, but the fact remains that in the 1940s and
'50s, for the first time, American artists became internationally important
with their new vision and new artistic vocabulary, known as Abstract
Expressionism.
The
first public exhibitions of work by the ``New York School'' of artists-- who
were to become known as Abstract Expressionists-- were held in the mid '40s.
Like many other modern movements, Abstract Expressionism does not describe any
one particular style, but rather a general attitude; not all the work was
abstract, nor was it all expressive. What these artists did have in common were
morally loaded themes, often heavyweight and tragic, on a grand scale. In
contrast to the themes of social realism and regional life that characterized
American art of previous decades, these artists valued, above all,
individuality and spontaneous improvisation. They felt ill at ease with
conventional subjects and styles, neither of which could adequately convey
their new vision. In fact, style as such almost ceased to exist with the
Abstract Expressionists, and they drew their inspiration from all directions.
The
painters who came to be called ``Abstract Expressionists'' shared a similarity
of outlook rather than of style-- an outlook characterized by a spirit of
revolt and a belief in freedom of expression. The main exponents of the genre
were Pollock, de Kooning, and Rothko, but other artists included Guston, Kline,
Newman and Still. The term Abstract Expressionism was first used by Robert
Coates in the March issue of the New Yorker in 1936. The movement
was hugely successful, partly due to the efforts of the critics Harold
Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg who also originated the terms Action Painting
and American Style.
Список литературы
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