Abstract expressionism was a new and exciting movement. It evolved during the beginning of World War II when a group of artists decided that it was impossible to paint the normal still lifes and nudes of the times. The artists of this movement were opposed to all forms of social realism and wanted to explore their intellectual thought through their art. There were two main types of art produced during this time. Although the artists of this movement were a diverse group, they shared similarities in their technique. Gestural painting or action painting was popular at this time. This is a form of technique where the artist moves with the paint and can feel "in the painting." The other type of paintings produced were Color Field paintings. These consisted with an abstract statement in terms of a large color shape or area. Three great artists of this movement include Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb.
JACKSON POLLOCK.
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Jackson Pollock, Black and White, 1948.
There was much controversy about why Pollock chose the method of painting that he did. When questioned about this he stated, "My opinion is that new needs need new techniques. And the modern artists have found new ways and new means of making their statements. It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture. Each age finds its won technique." Pollock painted not from a specific thing or source, instead, he painted from within, dripping his emotions onto his canvas. "The modern artist is living in a mechanical age and we have a mechanical means of representing objects in nature such as the camera and photograph. The modern artist, it seems to me, is working and expressing an inner world - in other words - expressing the energy, the motion and other inner forces.".
ADOLPH GOTTLIEB.
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Adolph Gottlieb, Dream, 1948.