Express yourself: Abstract Expressionism

1. Express yourself: Abstract Expressionism Jackson Pollock, Ocean Greyness, 1953, oil on canvas, 146 x 229cm In our recent sessions we have looked at Conceptual art, Minimalism and Pop Art. These movements were to a certain extent all responses to Abstract Expressionism, which came immediately prior to these, in the 1940s-50s in the US. We’ll look again today at Abstract Expressionism and the ‘colour field’ work of Mark Rothko.

2. What do we mean by Expressionism? Expressionism (capital ‘E’) was an art movement at beginning 20th century, mainly in Germany and Austria. We have seen a couple of examples of Expressionist art: Kathe Kollwitz, and Egon Schiele. Broadly, they had in common a desire to express strong emotions and psychological states through strong colours, tonal contrasts, and often simplified or coarse brushwork or line. People then refer to work as being ‘expressionistic’ (small ‘e’) meaning that it has some of these qualities. Kathe Kollwitz, Mother and dead child, 1903, etching. Egon Schiele, Self portrait, 1911, pencil, gouahe, watercolour on paper.

3. Abstract Expressionist was a term used (by art critics) to describe a group of artists who had differing styles and ideas but were grouped together anyway. Also known as the New York School, as they were all based there. When: 1940s and 50s in New York, after many Surrealist artists fled to US to escape Nazism. In the mid 1930s, a massive Federal Art Project employed thousands of artists on a modest wage to create employment and get American cultural practice rolling after the Depression. This included artists who became part of the New York School, including Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko and others. What: Painters and sculptors influenced by Surrealism, in particular automatism – the spontaneous, free association of ideas, or stream of consciousness, without the censorship of reason. A connection with your unconscious in some way – an inner reality. Also like some Surrealists, some of these artists were interested in myths and legends and ancient symbols. Jackson Pollock US 1912-1956, Pasiphae, 1943, 142.6 x 243.8cm Pollock was the best known of the Abstract Expressionist group, and famous for his break with traditional practises with his drip paintings. This is an earlier piece, named after the mythic figure Pasiphae, who gave birth to the Minotaur (half man, half bull.)

4. Abstract Expressionism was the result of many influences coming together:Surrealist influence – automatism; link with unconscious;Expressionist influence – intensely personal expression; use of colour.Cubist influence – distortion of figure; destruction of perspective.Other influences include psychology, Freud and Jung, and traditional indigenous practices. Pollock was influenced by traditional Sand painting, which he saw in the 1940s. These are ephemeral artworks involving sand poured out of the hand, used for religious and ritual purposes. Navajo sand painting demonstration

5. Jackson Pollock’s work was important for many reasons, including use of new materials within his artworks – liquid paints; house paints, broken glass; sand. Also the techniques he used to apply the paint: hardened brushes; sticks; turkey-baster syringes; and famously, DRIPPING the paint from the can onto the canvas. To manage this , he took his paintings down from the easel and laid the canvas on the floor. This meant he could approach the canvas from any direction and use his body in new ways. He felt he ‘entered into’ the painting. This was a huge break with Western tradition. Blue Poles, No 11 212 x 488cm, paint and glass on canvas, 1952

6. The media loved to promote the idea of Pollock as a heroic and tortured individual, throwing all his passions into his artwork in this radical new technique – (called ‘Action painting’ by the critic Harold Rosenberg.) His work was used in fashion shoots by Cecil Beaton in Vogue magazine. What might this say about the relationship between artwork/artist/world? Cecil Beaton, silk taffeta dress in front of Pollock painting, Vogue Magazine, 1951

7. Did all Abstract Expressionist work look alike? Well….no. Actually. Not at all. Some was expressive and the hand of the artist was obvious, like Pollock’s. However some artists produced work that was more like a ‘field of colour’, such as Mark Rothko (Latvian, worked in US, 1903-1970) Rothko’s later works (such as this one pictured) Are his most famous. They create an awe – inspiring atmosphere and power. They are similar to medieval religious paintings in a way… WHOA, what??? Really? Says who, and why? Mark Rothko, Untitled, oil on canvas, 207 X 167cm, 1949.

8. Rothko was influenced by Surrealist imagery, myths and symbols of ancient peoples in his early work. He felt he could not use the human figure after the War however– it failed to describe the ‘tragedy of the human condition’ adequately. His work became progressively more abstract. He was trying to convey deep and profound meanings that went beyond words. Unlike the expressive hand of Pollock’s work, these abstract works had thin washes of paint, like veils. They sometimes ‘throb’ or vibrate when you look at them. The colour, lack of perspective, horizontals and verticals, frontal presentation, and scale was what we respond to. Basic principals of human existence and especially death, were what Rothko was concerned with. He felt people got distracted by what critics said about his colour though, and may fail to really appreciate the deeper meaning of his works. Rothko, 1957 #120, 1957, oil on canvas, 233 x 193cm

9. He didn’t want titles and he worried that the things that were written about his work may lead people away from an understanding, instead of helping. Untitled, 1953, oil on canvas, 195 x 172cm Quote: "small pictures since the Renaissance are like novels; large pictures are like dramas in which one participates in a direct way.” Like minimalist work, the artist was interested in an interaction between audience and artwork.

10. Interior, Rothko Chapel, Texas. The chapel paintings were a commission of 14 very large works, all in sombre tones and lit by natural light. Rothko committed suicide before he saw the completion of the chapel. It is used as an inter-faith space.

11. How does this work with our frames? SubjectiveYes yes and more yes. This is all about the personal; the individual, and an ‘internal reality’, (as the Surrealists and German Expressionists had been, earlier in the century.) The works tend not to tell a story as such, but reflect a mood, atmosphere, feeling. Cultural: Arose in post WW2 USA, a nation very proud of it’s democracy and the idea of individual freedom. The New York School artists worked in well politically with these ideas, and their work was sent on International tours that served to promote the American way. Pollock in particular was sensationalised in the popular press (known as ‘Jack the Dripper.’) Rothko’s work was concerned with the tragedy and sacredness of being human, in a post WW2, modernist world. He felt figuration was impossible and an abstract expression somehow could get to the heart of things.

12. Postmodern: Like other avant-garde movements we’ve seen, Abstract Expressionists created new forms of expression in their search for authenticity. Pollock’s artmaking techniques were a big break with Western tradition, though as we’ve seen, are linked to his experience seeing indigenous sand painters. Structural: Pollock used house paints rather than traditional oils, as well as new tools: turkey basters; sticks. His paintings had a new effect, involving the body of the viewer in a more ‘immersive’ experience than with traditional painting. There was no particular focus on the canvas, and the scale was huge. Scale, too was a feature of Rothko’s work, and a stillness and simplicity which in some way harked back to art from before the Renaissance. Both artists were involved with describing something that words or stories were inadequate to do. “…This American movement influenced a generation of European and Australian painters who identified the act of creation as being of the greatest importance….” (NGA website.)

13. Resources Fineberg, Jonathan, Art since 1940: strategies of being. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995 National Gallery of Art, Washington DC: http://www.nga.gov/feature/pollock/artist18.shtm National Gallery of Art, Washington DC: http://www.nga.gov/feature/rothko/intro1.shtm National Gallery of Australia: http://nga.gov.au/COLLECTIONS/EUROPEAMERICA/GALLERY.cfm?DISPLAYGAL=2C