theartist, Author at David Charles Fox

Posted on January 1, 2021January 6, 2021 by theartist — Leave a comment

Frank Lloyd Wright – He Wore A Cape

Famous architect, writer, designer, and educator Frank Lloyd Wright was born in June of 1867. He was a pioneer for the architectural movement of the 20th century, and he was the founder of organic architecture.

He would create over 1,000 structures over 70 years. His work called Fallingwater in 1935 was considered “the best all-time work of American architecture.” He continues to inspire architects today.

“The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own, we have no soul of our own civilization.”

His Work

Wright has an extensive catalogue of impressive creations, but Prairie School, Taliesin Fellowship, Fallingwater Residence, and the Guggenheim Museum are among the most famous.

Prairie School Architecture

In 1888, Wright began working closely with Louis Sullivan at an apprenticeship with Adler and Sullivan’s Chicago architectural firm.

Louis Sullivan was known as the “Father of Skyscrapers,” and he preferred a cleaner aesthetic than the European styles that were popular at that time.

His maxim was “form follows function,” and Wright took inspiration and influence from this, and he would eventually carry on Sullivan’s dream of creating an American style of architecture.

He would work with Sullivan until 1893 when he ultimately breached their contract.

In 1889, the 22-year-old Wright would marry and develop a home in Chicago’s Oak Park community, and this is considered his first masterpiece.

In 1893, he designed the Winslow House in River Forest, which is considered the first example of his distinct organic architectural style.

He would go on to develop a series of residences and public buildings, which became known as the Prairie School of architecture.

The single-story homes had distinct features, like long rows of casement windows, locally-sourced materials, and low-pitched roofs.

The design emphasized natural beauty and was indicative of the style that would be what Wright is known for. Some of the most famous Prairie School buildings are the Unity Temple in Oak Park and Robie House in Chicago.

Taliesin Fellowship

After 20 years of marriage, Wright abruptly abandoned his wife and children and moved to Germany with the wife of one of his clients in 1909.

In 1913, he would return to the United States and create Taliesin, home on his ancestors’ land in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

It was his most acclaimed design out of all of his work, but it was short-lived, as in 1914, a servant of his set the home on fire, killing seven innocent people, including his partner.

While he was devastated, he immediately began to rebuild. In 1915, he was commissioned by the Japanese Emperor to design the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

This project took seven years, and he created a revolutionary building that was earthquake-proof.

Unfortunately, this was tested by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which devastated the city, but the hotel was left standing.

His rebuild of Taliesin was destroyed in 1925 by an electrical fire, which forced Wright to rebuild it once again.

In 1932, during a slow period for architectural commissions, he founded the Taliesin Fellowship, which was an architectural school based out of his home.

Five years later, his students began to create Taliesin West, a residence in Arizona for the school in the winter months.

Fallingwater Residence

Around the age of 70, Wright was essentially retired and teaching at the Taliesin Fellowship when he decided to create one of his career’s most celebrated works.

Fallingwater was designed for the Kaufmann family in Pittsburgh, and the building was incredibly designed with a waterfall that has cantilevered balconies and terraces over top of it.

It’s considered a national landmark and one of the most beautiful homes ever built.

Guggenheim Museum

The design of the Guggenheim Museum took Wright 16 years, and he started in 1943.

While it was controversial, the cylindrical while building that spirals upward into a dome is now considered one of the finest buildings in NYC.

“Every great architect is – necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.”

His Legacy

Wright’s legacy goes far beyond his death in 1959, as he is still an incredible influence in the art and architecture worlds.

Once he passed, his apprentices finished his remaining commissions, one of which was the County Civic Centre in California, which is considered one of his most notable works.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Trust are two organizations that work to preserve Wright’s extant buildings.

His archive of drawings has been divided between the Museum of Modern Art and the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University in New York City. His writings are stored at Taliesin West.

His legacy of being the most significant American architect has been cemented.

He created buildings of every different style, hundreds of homes, ten apartment buildings, seven churches, five apartment complexes, four schools, three hotels, three corporate headquarters, two banks, two gas stations, two doctors offices, a warehouse, an art museum, and a college campus.

His work has inspired young architects who have an incredible impact on the discipline and so much more. The Museum of Modern Art has dedicated more one-person shows to Wright than any other architect.

Wright has been depicted in several pop culture works. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand has a main character loosely based on Wright, and the subsequent movie starred Gary Cooper.

There are rumours of Fallingwater Rising by Franklin Toker becoming a feature film. The book documents Wright’s history and most famous building.

The novel Loving Frank, the Wright 3, and The Women, the opera Shining Brow are all connected to Wright.

Simon and Garfunkel produced the song “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright,” written by Simon upon request from Garfunkle even though he admitted to not being very aware of Wright and his work.

The song was included on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album.

While this part of his legacy is impressive, it’s uncertain how his personal legacy will be perceived. His works are still relevant, but his attitude about his work became a bit elitist over time.

His ego often got in the way of his relationships, including his most treasured ones, as he did not often view others as equals. Many biographers characterize Wright as a child who refused to grow up.

“Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.”

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/wright-frank-lloyd/life-and-legacy/

https://www.biography.com/artist/frank-lloyd-wright

Yves Tanguy – Psychoanalyzer

Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy was born in Paris on January 5th, 1900.

He attended lycée during the 1910s, which is where he would meet his future lifelong friend and dealer, Pierre Matisse. Tanguy befriended poet Jacques Prévert in 1920 during military service, and he returned to Paris in 1922.

This is when he began to sketch café scenes and progressed into painting in 1923 when he first experienced Giorgio de Chirico’s work. In 1924, he became interested in Surrealism when he saw La Révolution surréaliste, and he was welcomed into André Breton’s group in 1925.

While he possessed no formal training, he was a natural, and his talent developed quickly. He reached his mature style by 1927, and his first show was held that same year at the Galerie Surréaliste in Paris.

He was in the 1928 Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie au Sacre du Printemps with the likes of Max Ernst, André Masson, Jean Arp, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso. During the 1930s, he would be in many solo and group exhibitions all over the world.

“The painting develops before my eyes, unfolding its surprises as it progresses. It is this which gives me the sense of complete liberty, and for this reason, I am incapable of forming a plan or making a sketch beforehand.”

The Psychological Institute of Vienna contrasted the work of Tanguy against the creations of schizophrenic patients in 1950. The public could not distinguish between the two, which delighted Surrealists.

André Breton said of Tanguy’s work that one day they “will be made clear with a language which is not yet understood but which people are soon going to read, which they are going to talk, and which they are going to perceive is best adapted to the new changes.”

Tanguy suffered a fatal stroke in January 1955 at Woodbury. He was later cremated, and his ashes were kept until his wife’s death in 1963. Matisse scattered their ashes at the Douarnenez beach in Brittany.

His Work

Tanguy was obsessed with dreams, childhood memories, psychotic episodes, and hallucinations, making his artwork exceptionally personal. His work has many interpretations that evoke strong emotions from the viewers while allowing them to use their imagination.

While many Surrealists focus on the unconscious and dreams, Tanguy stood out because of his naturalistic precision and execution of his thoughts and vividly assigned the unconscious a real space.

He likely pulled inspiration from places he’s lived, like the bizarre rock formations he utilized were probably drawn from Brittany’s terrain, where his mother once lived. He produced over 150 pieces between the 20s and 50s.

“I believe there is little to gain by exchanging opinions with other artists concerning either the ideology of art or technical methods.”

Mama, Papa is Wounded! (1927)

One of his most known pieces, Mama, Papa is Wounded! has a post-apocalyptic landscape. Combined with the content, palette and light, the painting feels unsettling and uncomfortable.

“The picture is a fantastic landscape, illuminated by a grayish-violet unearthly light. Against the background of the desert space, there are several strange objects that are completely unconnected: a cactus, beans, a yellow figure and a peculiar “shaggy” stick.

A dark cloud occupying the right side of the canvas hangs menacingly over the field. The title of the work not only does not explain what is happening but, as is often the case with Surrealists, creates an even greater mystery, thereby making the audience curious.” – Sketchline.

Noyer Indifférent (1929)

The fascination that Tanguy experienced between Surrealism and psychoanalysis is illustrated in this painting. Carl Jung was the original purchaser of this piece in 1929 when Tanguy was relatively unknown.

It was kept in his study, where it helped influent his work. Jung described Tanguy’s genius as a “minimum of intelligibility with a maximum of abstraction.” The painting depicts four biomorphic forms against a totally dark background, surrounding a central cobweb image, casting shadows.

It’s unclear what exactly the objects are supposed to be in an ambiguous atmosphere. Jung’s interpretation of the work as a collective unconscious fantasy of the technological age and surveyed people he knew about what they thought the images were.

Many saw planets, creatures, cities, and bombs. He saw it as “cosmic inhumanness and infinite desolation” and an archetypal sign of the heavens. Paul Eluard spoke about the empty stillness in the piece in one of his poems dedicated to Tanguy, saying, “From the ends of the earth to the twilight of today/Nothing can withstand my desolate images.”

Indefinite Divisibility (1942)

Indefinite Divisibility has many conflicting shapes that all demand attention from the viewer. There are bowls of water, anthropomorphic shadows, and space where dreams and reality meet.

There are apparent objects like a clamp, propeller, and petal, among the other items. Tanguy explicitly intended to trigger emotions while leaving his work ambiguous.

Other notable works of Tanguy include:

Blue Bed, 1929

Death Awaiting his Family, 1927

Exquisite Corpse, 1938

Extinction of Useless Lights, 1927

I Came Like I Promised, 1926

Large Painting Representing a Landscape, 1927

Multiplication of the Arcs, 1954

Outside, 1929

Palace on windows rocks, 1942

Phantoms, 1928

Promontory Palace, 1931

Reply to Red, 1943

Slowly Toward The North, 1942

Storm(Black Landscape), 1926

The Hand in the Clouds, 1927

The Ribbon of Extremes, 1932

The Travelling Performers, 1926

Through Birds Through Fire But Not Through Glass, 1943

Tomorrow, 1938

Wind, 1927

His Legacy

Tanguy’s work is immediately recognizable, as his style is one-of-a-kind. His style is still an essential influence for Surrealism artists, but it directly coloured the work of artists like Wolfgang Paalen, Esteban Francés, and Roberto Matta in the 30s.

His paintings directly influenced the animated movie Le Roi et l’oiseau, by Paul Grimault and Prévert. While Tanguy’s work is Surrealism, his career is essentially the bridge between Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism.

His work with automatism impressed the likes of Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock and his early works paved the way for Salvador Dalí and inspired the sculptures of David Hare, Isamu Noguchi, and Hans Arp.

“Very much alone in my work, I am almost jealous of it.”

Sources:

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/yves-tanguy-quotes

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/yves-tanguy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Tanguy

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/tanguy-yves/

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/tanguy-yves/life-and-legacy/

Yves Tanguy Videos

Posted on October 28, 2020 by theartist — Leave a comment

Lee Krasner – Out of the Shadows

Lee Krasner may not be a name you immediately recognize, but her husband, Jackson Pollock, definitely is a staple in the abstract expressionist community.

Lee Krasner worked tirelessly for over 50 years, continuously pushing the boundaries and her work forward.

She was known for reinventing herself and creating various pieces that range from collage, cubist drawings, assemblage, and abstract expressionism.

While some believe Jackson Pollock overshadowed her, she was one of his biggest fans and one of the most essential crusaders in his legacy.

“I happened to be Mrs. Jackson Pollock, and that’s a mouthful. I was a woman, Jewish, a widow, a damn good painter, thank you, and a little too independent.”

Born in 1908 to Russian-Jewish refugee parents in Brooklyn, Lee knew that art was her passion from her early years. She would attend the Women’s Art School at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design.

The Museum of Modern Art opened in 1929, and she said, “It was like a bomb that exploded…nothing else ever hit me that hard until I saw Pollock’s work.” She would paint murals for the Works Progress Administration.

She studied with Hans Hofmann in 1937 when she joined the American Abstract Artists Group. She was in the middle of the exciting New York art scene.

In 1942, Krasner and Pollock were brought together by being included in a significant exhibition, French and American Painting for Graham.

When Krasner decided to knock on Pollock’s apartment door to view his work. This moment was the start of their relationship, which would impact her career.

Krasner introduced Pollock to many influential artists, like Hoffman, Janis, de Kooning, and art critic Clement Greenberg. The two married in 1945 and moved to Long Island.

Krasner spent her days working in her personal studio, creating the Little Images series, which would be her breakthrough work and collages made from discarded Pollock scraps and her admiration for Matisse.

Pollock tragically passed in a car accident in 1956 while Krasner was in Europe. The next year, Krasner moved into Pollock’s barn studio on their property, and she continued working on her craft.

The Seasons (1957) and Gaea (1966) were the beginning of her creations, where nature was an immersive and clear theme.

Her first solo exhibition would come in 1965 at Whitechapel Gallery in London and then in 1975 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She passed away in 1984, months before her retrospective opened at MoMA.

“I never violate an inner rhythm. I loathe to force anything. I don’t know if the inner rhythm is Eastern or Western. I know it is essential for me. I listen to it, and I stay with it. I have always been this way. I have regard for the inner voice.”

Her Work

Krasner is identified as an Abstract Expressionist because of her expressive works using a variety of mediums.

She has been known to cut apart her pieces, consistently revising and destroying works because she was so critical of herself. Due to this, it resulted in her body of work being small compared to other artists from the same time.

In the 1940s, she was so profoundly impacted by seeing Pollock’s work. She immediately rejected the cubist style she was embarking on under Hofmann.

During this time, the work she produced was referred to as “grey slab paintings,” and she was frustrated with these works. These works were eventually destroyed, and only one work survived this time in her career.

Little Images was her first series, which is 40 small paintings that she created from 1946 to 1949. They’re typically categorized as webbed, hieroglyphs, and mosaic, depending on the image.

The early collage images era was the beginning of her first series of collage paintings. This period was marked by her moving from the easel to the floor.

She would cut and tear shapes onto color field painting used in the 1951 Betty Parsons Exhibition. She would gravitate to a more symbolic manner during this time.

The Earth Green Series was started before Pollock passed away, but she completed the work after his death, reflecting both nature and her feelings of grief. Her intense feelings caused a shift in her art to push more boundaries and her concepts of art.

The Umber Series was developed from 1959 to 1961 when she dealt with insomnia, the grief of her husband’s loss, and the loss of her mother.

She worked during the night, having to use artificial light, so her color story was made up of dull, monochrome colors. She used an aggressive style in this series.

The Primary Series were paintings using bright colors and mimicked a floral or plant-like shape. They were large, didn’t have a focal point and the palettes contrasted one another. Unfortunately, during this time, she suffered an aneurysm, fell, and broke her dominant wrist, so she began using her left hand.

She continued to work on large horizontal paintings with rigid edges with bright colors and a second collage series made up of old charcoal drawings she had done.

Her Legacy

After Pollock died, Krasner began to achieve recognition, like her first retrospective. In the 70s, she became part of the strong feminist movement that was occurring. The movement was quick to champion her story of living in her husband’s shadow.

The 1984 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art that took place months after her death was a big moment for her career. The New York Times said the retrospective “clearly defines Krasner’s place in the New York School.”

They also said that she “is a major, independent artist of the pioneer Abstract Expressionist generation, whose stirring work ranks high among that produced here in the last half-century.”

The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center at Stony Brook University is one way their legacy lives on.

Until 2008, Krasner was one of four women who had a retrospective show at the institution, the others being Louise Bourgeois in 1982, Helen Frankenthaler in 1989, and Elizabeth Murray in 2004.

Her papers were donated in 1985 to the Archives of American Art and have since been digitized and are located on the web.

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985, and it functions as the estate for both artists, but it also assists working artists of merit with financial assistance.

In 2003, her work Celebration sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art for almost $2 million. In 2008, Polar Stampede sold for $3.2 million.

“All my work keeps going like a pendulum; it seems to swing back to something I was involved with earlier, or it moves between horizontality and verticality, circularity, or a composite of them. For me, I suppose that change is the only constant.”

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/arts/lee-krasner-barbican-schirn-kunsthalle.html

https://www.moma.org/artists/3240

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/lee-krasner-more-than-a-muse-1854144

https://www.azquotes.com/author/8259-Lee_Krasner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Krasner

https://www.thoughtco.com/lee-krasner-biography-4178004

Videos To Watch

Posted on September 25, 2020January 7, 2021 by theartist — 2 Comments

The Evolution of Thorsten Lemke’s GraphicConverter – Interview September 2020

Quick story. I have been using GraphicConverter, a piece of software made by Thorsten Lemke of Lemkesoft, as my go-to graphic software since the mid-1990’s, for whatever incarnation of Mac computer I’ve used.

I’ve been using Mac computers since my dad brought one home in about 1990, since they were beginning to be used here in schools in Canada as a learning tool.

Prior to using GraphicConverter as an art tool, I was using MacPaint, which was another great piece of Mac-native software from back in the day.

Anyway, I’d like to say that GraphicConverter has always been there for my digital artistic needs, which have been many, over the years.

I am now 43, and, as I said, I think I started using it when I was 15 or so – a Mac Color Classic I think it was.

Part of the reason I initially got a hold of GraphicConverter back in the 1990’s was, as the name suggests, it has the ability to convert graphic files, from one to another, or simply open files that other programs may not recognize.

So, although I was using it mainly as a creative tool for doing digital draws, paintings, adding filters, and other edits, part of the appeal of GraphicConverter was that it had the ability to interpret all kinds of graphic files.

One cool thing about GraphicConverter as a piece of software is that it has always basically been free (though you can register the software if you wish), easy to use, and had lots of features to play with, even in the beginning. I do have some memory of Adobe Photoshop back in the 1990’s being a relatively small, free-to-use app as well, but that soon changed.

Speaking of Photoshop, I tried using Photoshop sometime in the 1990’s, and it was fine, but quickly became a fairly unlikeable UI, to the point where today, I still haven’t learned the in’s and out’s of it, and so I tend to avoid it, despite it being very popular and powerful. You literally need to take a course on Photoshop these days to know how to use it, which is fine, I guess.

GraphicConverter, on the other hand, is intuitive as soon as you open the app, and has always been super easy to use.

The basic design tools of the application have always been easily accessible via the “Toolbox” transport bar, and if I wanted to simply draw something, I could do so easily.

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This was all very natural with GraphicConverter, allowing me to express my artistry without having to fumble with Photoshop’s layering system that makes it tough out of the gate (I have possessed Photoshop as well now and then over the years too), I typically always boot up GraphicConverter rather than have to “deal” with Photoshop.

Even as far back as 2006, I remember the versatility to edit graphics with GraphicConverter to be incredible!

But this article is not intended as a “What is the best graphic design application for the Mac?” article. No sir or ma’am, I say to each their own.

That said, I’m quite happy that I got to chat with the creator of GraphicConverter – Thorsten Lemke, about his creation.

For an art nerd like me, this is quite the honour, since his software has been on my computer since puberty, and has been as stable a force in my life, more so than most other software, not to mention most people actually. 😀

Enjoy our little chat, where Thorsten talks about how far along GraphicConverter has come over the years, up until now – September 2020. Cheers!

Who are you, where are you from, and what is it you do?

TL: My name is Thorsten Lemke. I live in Peine in the north of Germany. I develop software.

What is Graphicconverter, basically, and who is it aimed at?

TL: The development of the GraphicConverter software started in 1992 with the first main purpose being the conversion of image formats from Atari and Windows to MacOS.

The functionality has been continuously developed over the years. So the software now has an image browser, various image processing functions, batch conversion, slide show and much more.

When did you first start developing software / coding?

TL: I learned coding with my first computer a C64 in 1982 at the age of 13.

What drew you into the graphic designer software market?

TL: I bought my first Mac – a IIsi in 1992. I had a lot of graphics from my previous computer ATARI ST. But I found no software to convert them to the Mac. So, I began the developing of GraphicConverter.

When did you first develop Graphicconverter?

TL: In 1992 – see above

What did the graphic design software scene look like then, as in, what else was out on the market and how did it influence you?

TL: There were some tools for image conversion at that time. But I did not like them or they were too expensive.

When you first developed Graphicconverter, what did you have in mind as a vision?

TL: The first version was mainly to open image formats from ATARI, C64 and Window on the Mac and save them in typical Mac formats.

Did you have any other software you modelled it after, or were you going for originality?

TL: The Lemke Software GmbH has some more products:

CADintosh is a 2D CAD program for technical drawing.

FontBook is a small tool to create catalogs of fonts.

ExifSync allows the synchronization of images from different cameras.

iCalamus is a slim DTP solution.

What do you think made Graphicconverter stand out when it was first launched?

TL: It was a fast image conversion tool.

What features did it have that set it apart from other software?

TL: The GraphicConverter now offers a wide range of functions, which are very useful for professionals and private users.

Some examples are: multiple conversion, metadata editing, image browser

How did it develop over the years and what were some of the benchmarks along the way?

TL: The widespread availability of the Internet has had a major impact on distribution and sales. Before that, a lot was done by slow mail.

How did Graphicconverter stand the test of time to still be around now?

TL: I react quickly to user requests and adapt the software to new operating systems immediately.

The current version 11.2.2 is already compatible with Big Sur.

A native version for the Apple Silicon is available as BETA.

What has changed in the past 30 years with regards to these programs?

TL: The entire user interface of the software was modernized.

The software itself has undergone several processor changes: Motorola, PowerPC, Intel and soon Apple Silicon.

The development environment has also changed several times.

Do you have any pet peeves about graphics software that Graphicconverter solves?

TL: After importing photos from the iPhone, I use the image analysis to automatically assign keywords. This way the photos can be found quickly later.

Furthermore I like to use the serial renaming, so that the filename corresponds to the date of taking the photo. This further simplifies organization and filing.

How big is the Graphicconverter team these days?

TL: Our team consists of me as developer, Hagen as manual author, Philippe as French translator and idea provider. In addition there are many other translators for the different languages.

What do you see for this software in the future?

The use of artificial intelligence will occupy a larger space in the future.

In addition, there will certainly be many more functions that will be developed based on the wishes and suggestions of the users.

I would like to thank the many users here for their constant suggestions and requests for improvement. Without them the GraphicConverter would not exist in its current form.

Thanks for reading!

Visit Thorsten’s Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiKBpG_G904RE3oEJp7lrNw

Watch an interview (in German) with Thorsten Lemke here:

Posted on September 16, 2020 by theartist — Leave a comment

Grace Hartigan – Fast Train

While Grace Hartigan started her art career later than many of her counterparts, her impact on the abstract expressionist genre was not diminished by this.

Hartigan was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Born in 1922, She was the eldest of four, which meant that she was not afforded the privilege of attending post-secondary, but she trained in mechanical drafting in the 1940s and studied with painter Isaac Lane Muse.

At 17, she married her first husband, who encouraged her to pursue art. She would divorce him in 1947 and get married three more times.

Hartigan moved to New York as she became serious about painting, and joined the likes of Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. Pollock became a mentor to Hartigan, and by the late 50s, she was named “the most celebrated of the young American women painters” by Life magazine.

Hartigan lived to be 86, as she passed away in 2008 of liver failure. She left behind an incredible legacy of impressive artwork and being an iconic woman in the abstract expressionist genre.

“I cannot expect even my own art to provide all the answers – only to hope it keeps asking the right questions.”

Her Work

Grace Hartigan is known for her bold experimentation, gestural brush strokes, and emotional works. Her work suggests a sense of urgency.

Early works have an organic and curvilinear form, and older paintings have more distinct figures, symbols, and mythological references. The structures and figures in her work are emotional vehicles, and they’re painted in an expressionist manner.

In 1950, her career began when a painting of hers was selected for the “New Talent” show at the Kootz Gallery by Meyer Schapiro and Clement Greenberg. The show led to her first solo exhibition at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery.

In her career, these stepping stones pushed her to refine her style, as she felt she was lacking distinction and relied too heavily on Abstract Expressionism.

Goya, Velázquez, and other Old Master painters inspired her, along with Henri Matisse and Paul Cézanne.

Many of her peers did not approve of her new direction, but ‘The Persian Jacket,’ a painting she completed in 1952, became a permanent fixture in the Museum of Modern Art.

She used a Frank O’Hara poem to create a series of paintings in a collaborative effort with one of his friends.

“I don’t see how you can create and not have the feeling that it is the most important, all-consuming thing.”

Other established museums followed suit. The Whitney Museum bought the 1954 ‘Grand Street Brides,’ the Museum of Modern Art bought the 1953 ‘River Bathers,’ which was influenced by Matisse.

In 1956, she began working on the ‘City Life’ painting series, which features interlocking colour planes that reflect her neighbourhood’s streets.

Later that year, she would go on to be the only woman represented in the “Twelve Americans” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

In 1958, ‘The New American Painting’ exhibition included her work, and she was the youngest artist and only woman to be included; and the exhibition travelled around Europe.

When she married her fourth husband, she moved to Baltimore in 1961. She initially regretted her move from the heart of the art scene in New York, so she tried to replicate her former studio in an abandoned factory.

Her 1957 work ‘Billboard’ was where she began to incorporate pop culture imagery into her work.

In the early 1960s, she was fascinated by Marilyn Monroe’s death and the Barbie doll launching into the mainstream. She drew upon these for her later works.

She began teaching at the Hoffberger School of Painting in 1964, becoming a part-time professor for the graduate program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

She was known among students for her relentless critiques. The following year, she would become the director of the school, and she encouraged expressivity over everything else. She was becoming ill as she was a recovering alcoholic and suffered from osteoarthritis, but she refused to retire.

“Action/Precision: The New Direction in New York, 1955–60” and “The Figurative Fifties: New York Figurative Expressionism” were two major shows that exhibited her work in the 80s.

The last exhibition was titled “Hand-Painted Pop: American Art in Transition, 1955–62,” and it was held in LA, Chicago, and New York.

“I feel that we are living a very fragmented life, the whole world — you too. So I perceive the world in fragments. It is somewhat like being on a very fast train and getting glimpses of things in strange scales as you pass by.

A person can be very, very tiny. And a billboard can make a person very large. You see the corner of a house, or you see a bird fly by, and it’s all fragmented.

Somehow, in painting, I try to make some logic out of the world that has been given to me in chaos. I have a very pretentious idea that I want to make life, I want to make sense out of it. The fact that I am doomed to failure — that doesn’t deter me in the least.”

Her Legacy

Grace Hartigan was the recipient of numerous awards and honours over her lifetime. Six universities and colleges in Maryland and Pennsylvania chose Hartigan to be the recipient of honorary degrees.

She was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Neuberger Museum in 2002 and the Governor’s Award in Baltimore, MA, in 2006.

Aside from her contributions to the American painting world, she was an incredible example of a fierce and independent female influence in art.

This era in art is often looked at by historians through a narrow and patriarchal lens, but she breaks through that lens. She was an extremely talented artist that demanded the attention away from her male counterparts.

She embraced the abstract expressionist movement while incorporating her own style, and it ensured her art remain relevant decades later, and it paved the way for future artists and the New Figuration and Neo-Expressionist movements.

Sources:

http://www.artnet.com/artists/grace-hartigan/

https://www.azquotes.com/author/23193-Grace_Hartigan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hartigan

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Hartigan

Videos About Grace Hartigan

Posted on September 5, 2020October 20, 2020 by theartist — 1 Comment

Clyfford Still – Thrusts of Joy

Born in 1904, Clyfford Still would become one of the most influential and unique artists to come out of the abstract expressionist movement.

Clyfford Still would be unwavering in his commitment to his craft and refused to ‘sell-out’ or be swayed by money or fame.

Throughout his career and the evolution of his technique, he began with ideas and images that were recognizable and gradually became more abstract. His goal was for the viewer of his work to become lost in the art and create their own conclusions about the meaning and themes.

“I never wanted color to be color. I never wanted texture to be texture, or images to become shapes. I wanted them all to fuse into a living spirit.”

He was born in Grandin, North Dakota, but spent a lot of his childhood in Spokane, Washington, and Alberta, Canada.

Abstract expressionism is linked to New York and Eastern Coast but Still was entrenched in the earliest days of the movement on the West Coast, including Washington State and San Francisco.

Clyfford Still was one of the initial abstract expressionists, and the generation of artists he belongs to is credited with developing a new and powerful approach to art.

Artists like Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Barnett Newman, Grace Hartigan, Robert Motherwell, Lee Krasner, Norman Lewis, and Jackson Pollock were of the same generation immediately after World War II.

These artists are all very different from another, but they all contribute to the abstract expressionism movement in impressive ways.

Between the abstract form, large scale, brushwork techniques, and other methods, the pieces that come from this time period handle heavy and universal issues about life, love, struggle, the human condition, and death.

Still is considered by many as the most anti-traditional artist to come out of the abstract expressionists, and this trait is considered the groundwork for the movement.

Between 1938 and 1942, a major shift in Still’s style occurred, which was earlier than his contemporaries, who followed suit later in the 1940s.

“I do not intend to oversimplify—in fact, I revel in the extra complex.”

Still obtained his Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1935 at Washington State College, and he became faculty there, taught at Richmond Professional Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University until 1945, and then visited New York.

He became associated with the Art of This Century and Betty Parsons galleries in New York, and he lived there for most of the 1950s, while the abstract expressionist movement was growing and peaking.

During this time, his reputation for being anti-traditional and critical of the art world flourished. He completed severed ties with all the commercial galleries he had been involved with by 1961 and decided to move to Maryland, placing himself as far away from the art establishment as he could. He stayed in Maryland with his wife, Patricia, until he passed away in 1980.

Just before his passing in 1979, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art organized the largest sampling of his work, and it was the largest by the organization to celebrate the work of a living artist.

Once he had passed, his work that was not in the public domain was immediately sealed off, which closed off access to one of the most incredible influences on the American art world of the 20th century.

His work

Clyfford Still is considered one of the first color field painters. Unlike his peers Rothko or Newman, who’s pieces were organized in a simple manner, Still’s abstract works are focused on juxtaposing colors, surfaces, and forms.

Rothko focused on nebulous rectangles and Newman on thin lines among colors, Still used jagged flashes, color being ‘torn’ from the work, and other irregular techniques.

Still applied his paint in a different way than Rothko and Newman, where they tended to use flat colors and thin paint, Still used a thick impasto, where brush and knife strokes are still visible, creating texture, depth, and variety.

His mature works involved forms of nature like foliage, caverns, lightness, and darkness. By the late 40s, his color field works became prominent, and he would continue to refine through the rest of his career.

His most famous works include 1957-D No. 1, which exhibits black, yellow, and white patches with small red patches. These four colors stay prominent throughout the rest of his work.

The peak of his abstract expressionism produced 302 paintings dating from 1944–1960, and 350 paintings dating from 1961–1979 were created during his time in Maryland.

“A great free joy surges through me when I work… with tense slashes and a few thrusts the beautiful white fields receive their color and the work is finished in a few minutes.”

Legacy

In 1972, Still was awarded the Award of Merit for Painting from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Skowhegan Medal for Painting in 1975.

The Clyfford Still Museum is located in Denver’s art district, and the building that houses the museum was specifically designed for Clyfford Still’s work and was developed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture.

Still is considered an integral part of the art community, and the museum’s collection represents around 95% of his creations, which is around 3,100 pieces.

The museum’s mission is to: “preserve, exhibit, study, and foster engagement with its unique collections; generate outstanding exhibitions, scholarly research, educational and other cross-disciplinary programs that broaden the definition of a “single-artist” museum; and be a gathering place for the exploration of innovation and individual artistic endeavour.”

In 2013, the Clyfford Still Museum Research Center was established and launched.

The center explores the abstract expressionist period in history, artwork as a whole, and how the painters worked. The programs offered include a fellowship program, research symposia, and cross-disciplinary scholarly publications.

“These are not paintings in the usual sense; they are life and death merging in fearful union. As for me, they kindle a fire; through them, I breathe again, hold a golden cord, find my own revelation.”

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyfford_Still

http://www.artnet.com/artists/clyfford-still/

https://www.artsy.net/artist/clyfford-still

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/clyfford-still-quotes-birthday-370748

https://clyffordstillmuseum.org

Videos About Clyfford Still

Comparing Abstract Expressionism And Pop Art

Who Are The Best Abstract Expressionist Painters?

Posted on June 18, 2020 by theartist — Leave a comment

Joan Mitchell – To Define A Feeling

A massive part of the second generation of abstract expressionists, Joan Mitchell was a bold and innovative artist who had a powerful impact and continues to inspire artists today. Most of her career was in France, but she was a large part of the American movement.

Born in Chicago in 1925, to a dermatologist and poet, Joan was an athletic child, and her determination and competitive nature were foundational in her artwork as well. She was known to approach her work as if it were a competitive sport.

She became one of the paramount figures in American abstract expressionism and one of the few female artists in the movement.

“Abstract is not a style. I simply want to make a surface work.”

Her Work

In the 1950s, Mitchell really developed as an artist, and her signature style became more defined. She had an uncanny ability to infuse her work with emotion.

In her own words regarding her work, she said, “That particular thing I want can’t be verbalized. . . . I’m trying for something more specific than movies of my everyday life: To define a feeling.” Layered fields of colour and counterposed lines that seem rhythmic in nature are aspects of her signature style.

Her process was not spontaneous or impulsive. She relied heavily on her memories and emotions to create, utilizing both freedom and restraint simultaneously.

“Sometimes, I don’t know exactly what I want [with a painting]. I check it out, recheck it for days or weeks. Sometimes there is more to do on it. Sometimes I am afraid of ruining what I have. Sometimes I am lazy, I don’t finish it, or I don’t push it far enough. Sometimes I think it’s a painting.”

Her paintings often covered multiple canvases and were quite expansive. She was heavily influenced by van Gogh, even paying homage to his “Wheatfield with Crows” piece with her own work called No Birds. Her subject matter’s primary influence was landscape, and she worked on unprimed canvas using violent brushwork.

During the early 1960s, she moved away from the bright colours that made up her previous works and started using dark colours for a more sombre tone in her compositions. She has compared the emotions that she felt having an impact on her work as poetry.

Shortly after she was comfortable in her style, her work was exhibited in the Ninth Street Show in 1951. Alongside the work of Jackson Pollock, Hans Hofmann, and Willem de Kooning, who were her mentors.

de Kooning and Franz Kline admired her work. She had her first solo exhibition at the New Gallery in 1952. In 1957, her methodology was featured in ARTnews.

At the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY, she staged her first major exhibition in 1972. In 1988, her first retrospective exhibition was held, and it featured 54 of her paintings that were produced from 1951 to 1987.

During the 80s and 90s, her health began to fail as she was diagnosed with advanced oral cancer, and it was recommended that she have her jaw removed.

Upon treatment from a doctor who gave her a second opinion, it left her jaw immobile, and she became anxious and depressed. She was advised to quit smoking, which she did successfully, but continued to drink to excess. During this time, her artwork shifted in a different direction.

Her post-cancer works reflected the psychological change she endured while battling the diseases. She created six Between paintings, as well as Faded Air I, Faded Air II, the A Few Days cycle, the Before, Again cycle and the Then, Last Time group of four paintings.

In the last years of her life, she revisited sunflowers as her primary subject matter, painting Sunflowers, which depicted the flowers in various stages of decomposition. She then developed hip dysplasia and underwent hip replacement surgery. During her recovery, she began dabbling in watercolour painting, which was called the River cycle.

As a huge fan of Matisse, even saying that if she could paint like him, she would be in heaven, in 1992, she flew from Paris to New York for his exhibition, and while she was there, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She returned to Paris on October 22nd, and she passed away on October 30th in the morning.

In 2019, her work was included at the Katonah Museum of Art in the Sparkling Amazons: Abstract Expressionist Women of the 9th St. Show in Westchester County, NY. It ran until January 2020.

Legacy

In 1993, the Joan Mitchell Foundation was established. It’s a not-for-profit that awards stipends and grants for aspiring painters, collectives, and sculptors.

Some of the recipients in the past have included Sarah Morris, Mark Dion, and Akio Takamori. The Joan Mitchell Foundation is also one of the sponsors of the Artist-in-Residence Program at the Joan Mitchell Centre in New Orleans.

Joan Mitchell was a commercially successful artist, as her earnings between 1960 and 1962 were around $30,000, which was impressive for a woman painter during that time.

In 2007, Ste. Hilaire, 1957 sold from the Art Institute of Chicago for $3.8 million.

In 2012, an untitled 1971 painting sold for $7 million at an auction at Christie’s Paris, and her work was among the most expensive works by any woman painter sold by auction.

Through 2013, Mitchell’s work has brought in over $230 million in sales. Another untitled work from 1960 has sold for $11.9 million, which stole the title of her highest selling work. In 2018, nine more paintings were expected to sell for around $70 million at Art Basel, the world’s largest art fair.

Joan Mitchell has left quite an impression on the art industry, and although she spent many of her years in Paris, the North American market has a special place for Mitchell’s work. As a female artist in a time where many weren’t commercially successful, Mitchell paved the way for future women in art.

“I’m happy when I’m painting. I like it.”

Sources:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/joan-mitchell-quotes-for-birthday-426788
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Mitchell
https://www.moma.org/artists/4026

Who Are The Best Abstract Expressionist Painters?

What Is Expressionism In Art?

Comparing Abstract Expressionism And Pop Art

Posted on April 9, 2020 by theartist — 3 Comments

The Iconic Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock has had a tremendous impact on the art world during his tumultuous 44 years of life. The youngest of five, Jackson grew up to be an influential pioneer in the abstract expressionism movement.

Jackson Pollock struggled in his life with addiction, and he had a volatile personality, coupled with a need for reclusion.

He married artist Lee Krasner in 1945, who ultimately became a massive influence on his career and his work.

Pollock died in 1956 at the age of 44 in an alcohol-related car accident. He was honored after his death with a memorial exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Tate in London.

Pollock was well known for his techniques used in his most famous works. Pouring and splashing paint onto a large surface, called action painting and the drip technique, allowed for his work to be viewed from any angle.

He used his whole body to create his work and incorporated a dancing style into his work. His work was met with divided responses from the critics, which was loved by some and hated by others.

One of his paintings, called Number 17A, was sold for $200 million USD in 2016 to a private seller.

“It doesn’t make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.” – Jackson Pollock

Influences

In 1929, he studied in New York at the Student’s League under Thomas Hart Brenton.

During his time there, he worked with the regionalist and surrealist styles. He was influenced by Mexican muralist work by painters like Digo Rivera. In 1939 during a Picasso exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, it inspired Pollock to change his style.

Jackson Pollock had some notable influences in his work. Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Thomas Hart Benton were among the most significant, but Ukrainian-American artist Janet Sobel was a direct influence on his technique development. He has admitted that her work made an impression on him.

His Work

Pollock used sticks, basting syringes, hardened brushes, and other random items as applicators for household paints. He suggested that his use of these paints were a natural part of his growth in a time of need, rather than using typical artist paints.

Jackson Pollock is thought to have coined the action painting style. His style allowed him to create immediate art, without regard for small details or time-consuming techniques. He broke boundaries by applying paint to the canvas from all directions.

Here is some old footage of Pollock doing painting in his “action” style.

“My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor, I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.

I continue to get further away from the usual painter’s tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added.

When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing. It is only after a sort of ‘get acquainted’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise, there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.” — Jackson Pollock, My Painting, 1956

The technique he used to create his drip paintings helped steer the direction of American art in a new direction and was one of the most individual styles of the century.

His style was a large piece of the abstract expressionist pie; his creations evoked emotion, demonstrated mood, and expression while giving a sneak peek into the mind of the creator.

Another technique Pollock used was the All-over Method. There is no real emphasis in the piece, and the canvas is covered corner to corner.

When he reached a super-stardom level, he abandoned his signature style, and this era produced paintings darker in nature. They’re referred to as his black pourings, and they were not well received by the masses.

Pollock was giving his work traditional names until eventually, he decided to number them because they were more neutral than conventional titles. He didn’t want to influence his viewer’s opinion of his work in any way.

His work has been both highly criticized and adored by many. Over the years, his paintings have been the subject of various debates trying to deem his paintings as iconic or meaningless.

His Legacy

Jackson Pollock quickly rose to fame, but he continued to question the relevance of his artwork, and the height of his career peaked in the early 1950s.

Jackson Pollock is still known as an innovator in the art community in the abstract expressionism movement. He has inspired countless artists to abandon boundaries and take risks.

Artists like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, and Arshile Gorky, Pollock’s style, and fame helped draw attention to these artists at this time.

He single-handedly changed the trajectory of a whole genre of art during his lifetime, and his premature death cemented his legendary status. His paintings still sell for millions of dollars, and he is still tremendously influential to artists who are still finding their signature style.

The home that Pollock shared with his wife Lee is now a museum. People travel from all over the world to see Pollock’s studio, where the floor still looks like one of his many creations. This is a place that helped bring a new style of art into popularity.

“The strangeness will wear off and I think we will discover the deeper meanings in modern art.” – Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock Videos

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock

https://www.jackson-pollock.org

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/jackson-pollock-quotes

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-23-2005-10-15-voa2-83123777/123976.html

Posted on March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 by theartist — Leave a comment

Meet Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko was an academic. He skipped grades, spoke four languages, and received a scholarship to Yale. He was a self-taught, diligent creator, and his ability to learn drove him to become an artist.

His skills were intrinsic, as he had very little training in the discipline. Once he realized his art could be a tool of religious and emotional expression, he embraced it.

He wanted to bring you to tears. He would even withhold selling you a painting if you didn’t respond in a genuine way, and you were only purchasing from him to be fashionable.

Seeing an art student sketch a model while visiting a friend at the Art Students League of New York was what started it all for Rothko. Something inside him immediately responded and prompted him to find a way to express himself through art.

He created 863 pieces over his career, and some of them reside in New York, Madrid, and Daugavpils.

Tragically, he died by suicide in 1970 at 66 years old.

“I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on, and the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions….If you…are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point.”

Influences

The artists he worked with and looked up to most included Max Weber, Paul Klee, and Georges Rouault.

Much of Rothko’s work came from intellectual influences. His interpretation of the work of Friedrich Nietzsche heavily influenced him.

What was happening in Nazi Germany at the time, and the aftermath took a toll on him as well. He was a dedicated socialist, so many of his works had political themes and social circumstances littered throughout.

He also drew inspiration from mythology, stating the “archaic artist … found it necessary to create a group of intermediaries, monsters, hybrids, gods, and demigods…without monsters and gods, art cannot enact a drama.”

His Work

There were three main phases in Rothko’s style of art: Realist work, Abstract Expressionism, and Colour Field.

Realist Work

The Realist style he adapted was early on in his career before he was a full-time artist. Surrealism and artists like Joan Miro primarily influenced him.

The way that surrealism promoted psychologically compelling ideas inspired some of his best work. His style quickly moved in a more abstract direction.

Abstract Expressionism

His work was entirely abstract by the 1940s, and he was part of the abstract expressionist movement, along with Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, and Willem de Kooning.

While there weren’t many similarities between these artists, their goals of creating pieces that expressed raw emotion and their free spirits. They preferred to avoid the label “abstract expressionism,” because they wanted their work to speak for itself.

“I do not believe that there was ever a question of being abstract or representational. It is really a matter of ending this silence and solitude, of breathing, and stretching one’s arms again, transcendental experiences became possible.” – Mark Rothko

Colour Field

Ultimately becoming his signature style, his colour field pieces are his most well-known. He didn’t use aggressive techniques to portray his concepts but was more deliberate and contemplative in his application of the colours in his work.

Comprised of large blocks of colour, typically horizontal rectangles, he aimed to display the rawness of human emotion on the canvas.

His peers and friends weren’t sold on the methods of his work, and they expected the general public and critics to reject them, but that couldn’t be further from what really happened.

The underlying concepts were well-received because his techniques were organic, emotional, and luminescent.

His genius punctured the viewer right in their heart, and this would be the medium he would use to create his art until he passed.

“I would like to say to those who think of my pictures as serene, whether in friendship or mere observation, that I have imprisoned the most utter violence in every inch of their surface.” ― Mark Rothko

His most famous works are the Scenes in the Subway series, The Seagram’s Murals, and The Rothko Chapel.

His Influence and Legacy

Rothko’s final wishes were that his work would be left to his foundation. He wanted to have a school created as a place for new artists to learn and be inspired and encouraged.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of drama surrounding the provisions in his will, and greed came into play by his executors. Eventually, the rights were rightfully turned over to his son and daughter.

The impression he left on the world of art is a profound one.

He avidly worked against the “rules” of art and became a visionary. He continues to inspire up-and-coming artists from all over the world, and his impact is still lingering.

He was a risk-taker and was confident in his convictions, becoming a notable inspiration for generations to come. His work is still in museums across the globe today, and he is the face of modern art and walking your own path.

“When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors, no critics, no money. Yet, it was a golden age, for we all had nothing to lose and a vision to gain.

He continues, “Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity, consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large I shall not venture to discuss.

But I do know that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow. We must all hope we find them.” ― Mark Rothko

Rothko is featured in our article, “Who Are The Best Abstract Expressionist Painters?”

Who Are The Best Abstract Expressionist Painters?

The abstract expressionism art form sprung onto the scene in the 1940s and 1950s by some influential artists. Still, this genre can be traced back to having been popular for over a century.

The art form is denoted by its colourful spontaneity, gestural strokes and marks, and the ability to evoke emotion.

The types of abstract expressionism include action painting and colour field painting.

Spontaneous brush strokes and gestures characterize action painting, and colour field painting is characterized by artists working with a large area of a single colour.

Here are some of the best artists of the abstract expressionism art genre.

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock is the poster child for the Abstract expressionist movement in the 1940s and 1950s. He was well known for his drip paintings, and they were popular because of the unmatched creativity at the time.

His process coined the action painting title, and he achieved a level of fame that was comparable to what Andy Warhol would achieve decades later.

Pollock put his canvas on the floor, pouring paint, impulsively brushing and creating his masterpieces. Pollock was a leader in the genre, and he would go on to influence future artists in their work.

“The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.”

Here is an interesting video documentary on Jackson Pollock.

Read our article, “The Iconic Jackson Pollock“

Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell was part of the new wave of abstract expressionists who took the genre and softened it, giving it a lyrical and emotional direction.

Another action painter, she used her gestures to become a massive part of the American movement, even though she mostly worked and lived in France.

She was inspired by Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. She is one of the genre and eras few female creators, and she received massive critical acclaim and public recognition.

“My paintings are titled after they are finished. I paint from remembered landscapes that I carry with me – and remembered feelings of them, which, of course, become transformed. I could certainly never mirror nature. I would more like to paint what it leaves with me.”

Watch this documentary, “Lady Painter”, about Joan Mitchell.

Read our feature article, “Joan Mitchell – To Define A Feeling”

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Clyfford Still

Clyfford Still was lesser known than his New York School peers, but he was a pioneer in the genre, creating a style of work that had little to no clear concept or subject matter.

He worked in the colour field painting form, and the common theme in his work is the struggle between nature and the human spirit.

He was a bit controversial, being labelled as a complicated character to deal with in the art community, as he turned his back on the New York art scene.

Read our article, “Clifford Still – Thrusts of Joy” to learn more about the artist

Jacques Rosas

Jacques Rosas is a famous artist who works in many different genres, including abstract expressionism, pop art and street art.

He has become popular because of his work being placed in TV shows and films, so it reaches millions of viewers on a weekly basis.

He has been commissioned by many celebrities and continues to be a force in the genre.

Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler was a leading contributor to postwar American art. Her work has spanned and been exhibited for over six decades, and she continued to grow and adapt to an ever-changing art form.

She worked with the colour fielding technique, and she was inspired by Hans Hofmann, Greenberg, and Jackson Pollock’s work.

Her work has been studied and has been part of many retrospective exhibitions, and it is critically acclaimed and award-winning.

“One really beautiful wrist motion that is synchronized with your head and heart, and you have it. It looks as if it were born in a minute.”

Here is a video documentary featuring Helen Frankenthaler from 1993 that you might like to watch.

Willem de Kooning

One of the most well known and esteemed abstract expressionists, Willem de Kooning adopted the abstract technique while never letting go of the human form in his work.

He admired Rembrandt, Rubens, and Ingres, but was also inspired by Picasso and Matisse.

He embodied the reputation of an alcoholic, troubled painter, which ended up costing him much of his personal life and health.

“Art should not have to be a certain way. It is no use worrying about being related to something it is impossible not to be related to.”

Watch this documentary called “Willem de Kooning: A Way of Living” to find out more about the artist.

Vasily Kandinsky

Around the early 1910s, Vasily Kandinsky was one of the first abstract expressionists. Truly abstract artwork, he stated, should be “art independent of one’s observations of the external world.”

He believed and taught that colour could be separated from any external references for his artwork purposes.

“Colour is a means of exerting direct influence on the soul.”

Read our article, “Concerning Spiritual Art with Wassily Kandinsky”

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian’s name is closely connected to Modern Art. His geometric squares of bright, primary colours with thick, black borders are famously known and regarded in the community.

He started his art career heavily influenced by Seurat and Van Gogh. Still, he eventually settled into his unique style.

The goal of his work was to attain a spiritual connection with the divine, which forced it to become increasingly abstract.

“Abstract art is not the creation of another reality but the true vision of reality.”

Here is a cool video about Piet Mondrian called “A Life in 10 Snippets”. Worth a watch!

Mark Rothko

Along with Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko is one of the most famous abstract expressionists.

His style is much different than his peers, as he diffused paint over his canvas, versus the gestural brushstrokes that the genre mainly demonstrated.

His exemplary work consists of large blobs of paint stacked over each other and painted backdrops, with a bright contrast in colour. His goal was to evoke a range of emotions from his admirers.

“It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academic painting. However, there is no such thing as good painting about nothing.”

I recommend this documentary called “The Case For Mark Rothko” to learn more about the artist.

Read my article, “Meet Mark Rothko” to find out more about the artist

Agnes Martin

Agnes Martin was a Canadian-born artist who is considered an innovator of minimal art. However, she thought herself an abstract expressionist.

She was consistently seeking a level of perfection in her work, working with grids, bands and little colour to express her concepts.

“My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.”

Watch this great documentary about Agnes Martin called “Beauty is in Your Mind”.

Sources for this article:

https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-abstract-expressionism-artists/reference

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/best-abstract-artists-of-all-time

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/abstract-expressionism/

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/de-kooning-willem/

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-expressionism

https://www.saatchiart.com/jacquesrosas

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