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Abstract Expressionism - More Colour,
No More Geometry
Although post-war European artists maintained
their interest in abstract art through the Salon des Realites Nouvelles
in Paris, by 1945 the centre of modern art had shifted to New York, where
the major new force was Abstract
Expressionism. Arising from the uncertainty of the Great Depression
and World War II, this movement, never associated with a coherent program
as such, was led by Mark Rothko
(1903-70), Clyfford Still
(1904-80), Barnett Newman
(1905-70) and Adolph Gottlieb (1903-74). The next generation included
painters such as Robert
Motherwell. The name of the movement was coined by Robert Coates,
art critic of the New Yorker. Offshoots include 'Action Painting'
founded by Jackson Pollock
and Rothko's 'Colour Field Painting'. In Europe Abstract Expressionism
was paralleled by the Art Informel movement (formless art) under such
artists as Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908-92).
Abstract Expressionism remains a vague
term - often confusingly applied to artists who are neither truly abstract,
nor expressionist - which describes a form of abstract painting (non-figurative,
non-naturalistic) in which colour takes precedence over form; the latter
being no longer geometric. Early works in this style typically filled
large scale canvases, whose size was designed to overwhelm spectators
and draw them into another world. The preoccupation of abstract expressionists
with visual effects, especially the impact of colour,
was a reflection of their main goal to involve and explore basic human
emotions. Thus an abstract expressionist painting is best felt intuitively
rather than understood: the question posed being typically: 'what does
it make you feel?' - rather than, 'what is it saying?'
It must be emphasized that this was a wide
movement, encompassing differing styles, including (as mentioned) works
that were either semi- or non-abstract, as well as those characterized
by the way paint was applied, such as Jackson Pollock's method of 'Action
Painting.' The fact that it was the first major art movement born in the
USA, gave it added weight and significance: at least in the minds of critics.
Art Informel
In Europe, a new art movement known as
Art Informel emerged during
the late 1940s. Seen as the European version of abstract expressionism,
it was in reality an umbrella movement with a number of sub-variants.
These mini-movements included: (1) Tachisme,
a style of abstract painting marked by splotches and dabs of colour, was
promoted as the French answer to American Abstract Expressionism. Key
members included Jean Fautrier (1898-1964), Georges Mathieu (b.1921) and
Pierre Soulages (b.1919), as well as the American abstract expressionist
Sam Francis (1923-94). (2)
CoBrA, a group which mirrored
the gestural or "action painting" style of American Abstract
Expressionism. It was founded by painters, sculptors and graphic artists
from the Danish group Host, the Dutch group Reflex, and the Belgian Revolutionary
Surrealist Group, including: Asger Jorn (1914-73), the Belgian writer
Christian Dotremont (1922-79), Pierre Alechinsky (b.1927), Karel
Appel (1921-2006) and Constant (C.A. Nieuwenhuys) (1920-2005). (3)
Lyrical Abstraction,
a quieter, more harmonious style of Art Informel. Leading members included:
Wols (1913-51), Hans Hartung (1904-89), Jean-Michel Atlan (1913-60), Pierre
Soulages (b.1919), Georges Mathieu (b.1921), and Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002).
Other sub-groups included Forces Nouvelles, and Art Non Figuratif.
Post-Painterly Abstraction
In America, abstract expressionism spawned
a number of individual styles under the umbrella of Post-painterly
abstraction, an anti-gesturalist trend. These individual styles included:
Hard-Edge Painting,
Colour Stain Painting, Washington Colour Movement, Lyrical Abstraction,
Colour Field Painting
and Shaped Canvas.
Op-Art
One of the most distinct styles of geometric
abstract painting to emerge from the modernist era, was the Op-Art
movement (an abbreviation of 'optical art') whose hallmark was the
engagement of the eye, by means of complex, often monochromatic, geometric
patterns, to cause it to see colours and shapes that were not actually
there. Leading members included the Hungarian painter and graphic designer
Victor Vasarely (1908-97),
and the English painter Bridget
Riley (b.1931). The movement disappeared by the early 1970s.
Postmodernist Period
Since the start of postmodernism
(since the mid-60s) contemporary art
has tended to fragment into smaller, more local schools. This is because
the prevailing philosophy among contemporary
art movements has been to distrust the grand styles of the early 20th
century. An exception is the Minimalism
school, a back-to-basics style of geometric abstraction dominated by sculptors,
although it also includes some great painters like Frank Stella (b.1936)
whose large scale paintings involve interlocking clusters of shape and
colours; Sean Scully (b.1945)
the Irish-American painter whose rectangular shapes of colour seem to
imitate the monumental forms of prehistoric structures; as well as paintings
by Jo Baer (b.1929), Ellsworth Kelly (b.1923), Robert Mangold (b.1937),
Brice Marden (b.1938), Agnes
Martin (1912-2004), and Robert Ryman (b.1930).
Irish Abstract Art
In Ireland, abstract art is exemplified
by the complex works of Anne Madden
(b.1932), the vivid acrylic paintings of Francis
Tansey (b.1959), the colourful canvases of Tony
O'Malley (1913-2003), the expressionism of Barrie
Cooke (b.1931), the abstract landscapes of John
Kingerlee (b.1936), the expressionist colourist landscapes of
William Crozier (b.1930), and the abstract still life paintings of
William Scott (1913-89).
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