Abstract
Expressionism was the first major art movement in America. It brought the
international art scene from Paris to New York City. Despite being created by
many European immigrants, Abstract Expressionism is thought of representing
America and it’s ideals.
Abstract
Expressionism is hard to categorize. One of the most famous painters, Jackson
Pollock, is known for his technique of action painting. Pollock’s canvases were
taken off of their easels and instead placed on the ground where he would pour
or splash paint on them. Often times, things like cigarettes would get caught
into his paintings but Pollock would continue painting over them. His work was
less about what the end product looked like but instead about the process of
making it. This particular style and technique caused Pollock’s creations to
look chaotic and almost aggressive.
Jackson Pollock Action Painting
However, there were many other abstract
expressionist techniques. Mark Rothko is known for his paintings that utilized
Color Field techniques. At first glance, his work seems simple. He painted
giant shapes in seemingly solid colors. Yet, the work was very complex. Rothko
wanted to evoke big picture ideas through the usage of color. The more that the
viewer looked at the paintings, the more they could experience different
emotions from the different colors and how they work together.
Mark Rothko Number 7
Unlike
work from past art movements, both Pollock and Rothko’s work lacked subject
matter. This was evident in most abstract expressionism but, having a subject
matter did not mean that the work was not abstract expressionist. Willem de
Kooning’s series Women obviously
depicted women. However, the way that he showed women was unlike any previous
art movement. His broad and angry brush strokes, which are a sign of abstract
expressionism, made the paintings of women look angry and less idealized than
most artistic portrayals of women. There was something angry and evocative of
this series. All abstract
Expressionist paintings were emotional and evocative which was most likely an
effect of the time period they were created in.
Willem de Kooning Two Women in the Country
Post
World War II and early Cold War was an anxious time for Americans. The tension
between the U.S. and the USSR caused a lot of fear among their people. Cold war
politics involved a lot of arguments between the two countries. They became
involved in arguments over nuclear weapons, the space race, and proxy wars in
Korea, Vietnam, and other countries. These disagreements between the countries
were not just over military and economic power but also because each country
felt threatened by the other’s ideology. The U.S. was afraid of communism
spreading around the world and making it difficult for a democratic nation. The
USSR was afraid of the same thing. Both countries believed that the other was
working to take down their own country, so they continued to fight and disagree
with each other until the Soviet Unions fall in 1990.
During
the Cold War, propaganda was used to draw people in to certain ideologies. The
U.S. primarily used radio and movies to showcase American ideals. However,
Americans saw another place to spread their democratic capitalist ideals when they
noticed Soviet Realism. Soviet Realism was the major artistic movement of the
Soviet Union. It was painted realistically and depicted anything that glorified
communism. Most often it portrayed
working class people doing something that could portray their rise to
prominence and power in Soviet society. Despite the mixed reaction some Americans
had about Abstract Expressionism, they often viewed as being too radical, the
United States Information Agency realized that this major art movement could be
used to spread American ideas abroad. The work between Pollock, Rothko, de
Kooning, and a plethora of other abstract expressionists was incredibly varied
and used unusual techniques that had never been used before this movement. This
variation perfectly captured the American idea of freedom to do whatever you
wanted. The American artists who painted on the floor and did not even have a
subject matter was a drastic contrast to the Soviet artists who were only
allowed to portray things that made Stalin look good.
The
USIA and International Council of the Museum of Modern Arts began to coordinate
exhibits with American Abstract Expressionist art to portray these American
ideologies around the world. One
of the three major exhibits was centered on Pollock it was called Jackson Pollock 1912-1956. This exhibit
portrayed Pollock as a Europeanized painter in the hopes of getting Europeans
to appreciate American artists and feel closer to American ideals. Both this
and another major exhibition, The New
American Painting, circulated around eight European cities. The New American Painting was a large exhibit
that included many American and European abstract expressionists. The
combination of the different artists was supposed to show how close their works
are and therefore how similar Western ideals were. These and the many other exhibitions
were a success for America. People who viewed the exhibitions easily saw the
similarities between American ideals of freedom and independence and the
European philosophy of existentialism.
Jackson Pollock Number 8
As
the Cold War ended, the need to use Abstract Expressionism as propaganda also
ended. Propaganda did not really affect the end of the Cold War. It really was
the USSR’s economy that ended the war. However, American art and politics
continued on in separate directions, American ideals remained the same but now
politics were slightly more optimistic and focused on new problems while Pop
Art replaced Abstract Expressionism as the major avant-garde art movement.
