Art histort 300-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Art histort 300-2 - Essay Example † that started in New York, where individuals frequently interacted with each other, and share a common approach to making art, even when the appearance of their paintings diverged in many ways (Carr, n.d.). This common approach married the forms, purposes, colors, and shapes of Expressionism and Abstract Art. After World War II, a small group of American painters who lived in New York developed an artistic innovation (Carr, n.d.). They were called the â€Å"Rebel Painters of the 1950s† and included Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Adolph Gottlieb, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still (Carr, n.d.). These artists rejected both social realism and geometric abstraction, two leading strains in American art in the 1930s (Carr, n.d.). Abstract Expressionists focused on expressing elusive ideas and experiences. For Pollock, Gorky, and de Kooning, their subjects were autobiographical and came from their sheer need to paint and express themselves. In Gorky’s â€Å"The Artist and His Mother† paintings, they were often compared to Ingress for simplicity of lines and to Picasso for color and structure. Pollock is known for his abstract expressionist paintings, such as Number 1, 1950 (Lavende r Mist), where his subconscious seemed to have controlled the flow of action in the painting. de Kooning’s Woman V (1952-53) has Gorkys surrealist style and Picassos form and shape. Mark Rothko fluently described their Abstract Expressionist art: â€Å"Art was not about an experience, but was itself the experience† (Carr, n.d.). Abstract Expressionism developed in the social setting of the Depression era. During this time, artists like Gorky and de Kooning, for instance, lived near each other and became good friends (Carr, n.d.). de Kooning also befriended Rothko, Philip Guston and Barnett Newman (Carr, n.d.). The friendships and solidarity among the Abstract Expressionists were strengthened by