Everything you need to know about Abstract Expressionism
An overview of the wide-ranging American painting movement that emerged in post-war New York, illustrated with works offered at Christie’s
From left to right: Helen Frankenthaler, 1969. Photograph by Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images; Franz Kline, 1961. Photograph by Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection via Getty Images; Jackson Pollock, 1950. Photo by Hans Namuth/Photo Researchers History/Getty Images
Abstract Expressionism was a uniquely American art movement
The term Abstract Expressionism refers to the American artists working in abstraction in the 1940s and 1950s. As the first movement developed in the US, it is characterised by a rejection of traditional artistic standards and a focus on spontaneity and gesture. Often monumental in scale and grounded in the subjective experiences of the individual, Abstract Expressionist paintings exude a classically American sensibility.
While Ab Ex developed on American soil, many of its participants were immigrants from Europe, fleeing the turmoil in their home countries. Hans Hofmann, a pioneering artist and influential painting teacher, was from Germany; while Willem de Kooning came from the Netherlands, Arshile Gorky from Armenia and Mark Rothko from Latvia.
The term ‘Abstract Expressionism’ was coined by Robert Coates, art critic for The New Yorker
These artists are also known as ‘the New York School.’ Some artists maintained that their work was not abstract but representative of the subconscious. The New York School encompasses the broad spectrum of styles and substantial artistic developments that emerged in New York City in the years following World War II.
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), Chord X, 1987. Oil on canvas. 102½ x 78⅝ in (260.4 x 199.7 cm). Estimate: $10,000,000-15,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
The movement was a response to the turmoil of the era
Abstract Expressionism came about on the heels of one of history’s most tumultuous eras, and was informed by the Great Depression and the devastation of the Second World War. ‘We felt the moral crisis of a world in shambles, a world destroyed by a great depression and a fierce World War,’ wrote Barnett Newman, ‘and it was impossible at the time to paint the kind of paintings that we were doing — flowers, reclining nudes, and people playing the cello.’
Franz Kline (1910-1962), Washington Wall, 1959. Oil on canvas. 43⅛ x 175 in (109.5 x 444.5 cm). Estimate: $10,000,000-15,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
Meanwhile, the American public was exposed to European modernism through groundbreaking exhibitions at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Living Art, New York’s first modern and contemporary art museum. Influenced by artists like Picasso and Matisse and seeking an apolitical medium of expression, the Abstract Expressionists created a revolutionary visual language based in interiority.
It was also used as a weapon of the Cold War
It was an expensive tour — one the host cities couldn’t afford to put on. While initially the public believed it was made possible through a donation from millionaire Jules Fleishmann, the British journalist Frances Stonor Saunders later uncovered that the money actually came from the Farfield Foundation, a front for CIA funding.
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), Crow Hill, 1966. Oil on canvas. 76¾ x 51 in (195 x 129.5 cm). Estimate: $7,000,000-10,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
It was an expensive tour — one the host cities couldn’t afford to put on. While initially the public believed it was made possible through a donation from millionaire Jules Fleishmann, the British journalist Frances Stonor Saunders later uncovered that the money actually came from the Farfield Foundation, a front for CIA funding.
The movement marked the rise of New York City as the global arts center
The United States was booming both economically and culturally, with New York at its heart. The founding of the Museum of Modern Art in 1929 paved the way for modernism to be supported institutionally throughout the city, and serious patrons like Peggy Guggenheim, a benefactor of artists like Pollock and Rothko, helped cement the shift.
Action painting is one of the central forms of Abstract Expressionism
Within this subset, each artist had a signature style. Pollock created his famous drip paintings by splattering and pouring paint directly onto a canvas arranged on the floor. He eschewed paintbrushes for tools like sticks and turkey basters, moving them across the surface of the painting in a rhythmic, fluid way.
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Man in Wainscott, 1969. Oil on paper and newsprint collage mounted on canvas. 60 x 48¼ in (152.4 x 122.6 cm). Estimate: $4,000,000-6,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
De Kooning’s favoured technique throughout the late 1950s, dubbed the ‘full arm sweep’ by the critic Thomas Hess, was characterised by wide strokes of paint resulting in total abstraction. Helen Frankenthaler, on the other hand, invented the ‘soak-stain’ technique, by which thinned paint was applied to an untreated canvas.
Like Pollock, Frankenthaler spread her canvases across the floor, allowing the paint to soak into the surface. She would then manipulate the paint with brushes, rollers or by tipping the canvas different ways.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), Elberta, 1975. Acrylic on canvas. 79 x 97 in (200.7 x 246.4 cm). Estimate: $3,000,000-5,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
Colour field painting is the other main variation
In his book Abstract Expressionism, the scholar Ivring Sandler characterised Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still and Barnett Newman as ‘colour field painters’. These artists used large swaths of colour to express emotion and elicit wonder.
These artists were the precursors to the more purely abstract American movement of Color Field painting that developed during the 1960s, as seen in the work of artists like Morris Louis and Sam Gilliam. These later Color Field painters focused on the formal as opposed to spiritual qualities of colour.
Frankenthaler is largely credited for playing a pivitol role in the transition from Ab Ex to Color Field painting.
Though diverse in styles, the artists of the movement were united by their location and interests
While the meditative feel of the so-called colour field painters may seem incongruous with the raw, gestural works of the action painters, these separate styles were related in their pursuit of depicting the subconscious. It is this desire to express the inner self and evoke emotion that unites them under the Ab Ex umbrella.
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Woman on the Dune, 1967. Oil on paper mounted on canvas. 48 x 54⅜ in (121.9 x 138.1 cm). Estimate: $3,000,000–5,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
They were also united by time and place. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, many Abstract Expressionists lived in New York City’s Greenwich Village. They would congregate at local watering holes like the Cedar Tavern, where they would unwind, socialise and discuss art.
These gatherings, which took place during what Elaine de Kooning once described as ‘a decade-long bender,’ would sometimes end in brawls, and Pollock was famously banned from the Cedar Tavern for life after ripping a door off of its hinges.
While Ab Ex is often defined by machismo, there were many influential women artists in the canon
While many of the best-known artists associated with Abstract Expressionism — Pollock, de Kooning, Franz Kline — were men, there was a significant contingent of female artists working within the movement. Though some, like Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning and Lee Krasner, achieved acclaim during their time, most were ignored by history, remaining obscure footnotes of the larger group for decades.
Lynne Drexler (1928-1999), Untitled, 1960. Oil on canvas. 33⅜ x 35 in (84.8 x 88.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-500,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 17 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
Early on, many of these women were studying and exhibiting alongside the men, but the gatekeepers of the increasingly commercial art world — even female gallerists like Betty Parsons — ultimately excluded them. It is only recently that these women’s contributions have been more widely acknowledged, such as in the 2016 exhibition at the Denver Art Museum entitled Women of Abstract Expressionism.
Abstract Expressionists drew inspiration from diverse movements across the history of art
The Surrealists’ interest in the subconscious and surrendering to the dream state had a direct effect on Abstract Expressionism’s spontaneous approach to creation. This is perhaps most obvious in Pollock’s ‘drip’ paintings, an offshoot of the surrealist notion of ‘automatism.’
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), A View No. 10, 1958. Oil and Magna on canvas. 69 x 85 in (175.3 x 215.9 cm). Estimate: $800,000-1,200,000. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 17 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
Other Ab Ex artists drew on various styles across eras. Mitchell, for instance, was greatly influenced by Post-Impressionist painters such as Matisse; whereas Kline cited Tintoretto, Rembrandt and Goya as inspirations. Rothko’s bands of colour were inspired by the horizontal designs of Greek vases, while Pollock’s ‘drip’ technique was conceived after viewing a demonstration of Navajo sand painting.
Jazz music was another major influence
Norman Lewis often depicted jazz clubs in his Harlem neighborhood through his signature gestural abstraction. De Kooning famously compared his technique to that of Miles Davis, saying, ‘Miles Davis bends the notes. He doesn't play them, he bends them. I bend the paint.’
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Sagamore, 1955. Oil, enamel and charcoal on paper laid down on board. 22⅝ x 27⅝ in (57.5 x 70.2 cm). Estimate: $1,500,000-2,000,000. Offered in 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May 2024 at Christie’s in New York
Pollock was also a noted jazz fan, and the lyricism of the genre appears in many of his works. His wife, the artist Lee Krasner, once said, he ‘would get into grooves of listening to jazz records — not just for days — day and night, day and night for three days running, until you thought you would climb the roof!’
Abstract Expressionism continues to hold a prominent place in the art world
Since MoMA’s The New American Painting, there have been myriad seminal shows dedicated to the exploration of the movement. From the Met’s Epic Abstraction that opened in 2018 to the Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London, it remains of interest across the globe.
Barnett Newman (1905-1970), Black Fire I, 1961. Oil on canvas. 114 x 84 in (289.5 x 213.3 cm). Sold for $84,165,000 on 12 May 2014 at Christie’s in New York
At auction, works by Abstract Expressionists continue to smash records, with several artists earning some of the highest prices ever seen. In 2012, Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) sold for $86.9 million at Christie’s, setting a record for the artist. The sale of Barnett Newman’s Black Fire I at Christie’s for $84.1 million set another record in 2014.
The highest price for this category belongs to Willem de Kooning, whose Interchange was purchased privately for $300 million, making it the second most expensive piece of art ever sold.
Today, Abstract Expressionism is not just hot on the market; it also continues to resonate with contemporary creatives. Popular artists like Cecily Brown, Anish Kapoor and Julian Schnabel have referenced the movement throughout their oeuvre, and Ab Ex motifs are even beginning to appear in the work of NFT artists, affirming its ongoing relevance.