abstract expressionism
Feelings without figures
Abstract expressionism is an art movement that emerged in New York in the 1940s, characterized by large-scale canvases, gestural brushwork, and emphasis on spontaneous emotional expression over representational imagery.
Artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko are its central figures.
The movement marked America's first major contribution to avant-garde painting: The museum's abstract expressionism collection draws visitors from around the world. (Capitalized Abstract Expressionism treats the movement as a formal historical category.)
Relating to body movements
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- spontaneousArising without external cause
- dripLiquid falling slowly
- splatterScatter in drops
palette knife · layering · brushwork · impasto · pouring · scraping · freeform · automatism
Spontaneous, physical mark-making
- color fieldArt of saturated expanses
- gesturalRelating to body movements
- nonrepresentationalNot depicting reality
- nonfigurativeNot depicting reality
Below conscious awareness
- instinctualDriven by natural impulse
- primalFirst in origin
- visceralArising from deep instinct
- intuitiveKnown without reasoning
automatic · existentialism · individualism · authenticity · freedom · rebellion · unconscious mind · Jungian
gestural
Relating to body movements
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- spontaneousArising without external cause
- dripLiquid falling slowly
splatter · palette knife · layering · brushwork · impasto · pouring · scraping · freeform · automatism · unplanned
action painting
Spontaneous, physical mark-making
- color fieldArt of saturated expanses
- gesturalRelating to body movements
- nonrepresentationalNot depicting reality
subconscious
Below conscious awareness
- instinctualDriven by natural impulse
- primalFirst in origin
- visceralArising from deep instinct
intuitive · automatic · existentialism · individualism · authenticity · freedom · rebellion · unconscious mind · Jungian · mythic
anguish
Intense mental suffering
- ecstasyOverwhelming intense delight
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- furyIntense violent anger
serenity · passion · grief · despair · anxiety · sublime · tragic · existential · intensity · catharsis
- art worldartist, painter, painting, paintings, sculpture
- paintingoil painting, watercolor, acrylic paint, oils, oil paints
- 1950sEisenhower, poodle skirt, Elvis Presley, Rosa Parks, baby boom
- Modern Artcubism, Cubism, Fauvism, dadaism, Dadaism
- abstract artnon-figurative, abstractionism, color field, nonobjective, nonrepresentational
- art movementsPop Art, pop art, Impressionism, impressionism, Surrealism
abstract expressionismphotorealism
Art imitating camera accuracy
realism · figurative art · hyperrealism · naturalism · trompe l'oeil
abstract expressionismpop art
Mass culture as canvas
minimalism · conceptual art · hard-edge painting · op art · photomontage
abstract expressionismneoclassicism
Movement emulating antiquity's forms
folk art · decorative arts · craft traditions · Renaissance painting · beaux-arts
abstract, abstraction, abstracted, abstracting, abstractly, expressionism, abstractness, abstractedly, abstractions