Abstract Expressionism / Barbara Hess / publishing house Taschen

Painterly Gestures of Personal Feelings

Proclaimed as the first American art movement to influence the entire world, Abstract Expressionism denotes the non-representational use of paint as a means of personal self-expression. It emerged in America in the 1940s, and its leading representatives included Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning.

Abstract Expressionism gave rise to many different stylistic directions, but two particularly notable subcategories: Action Painting, represented by de Kooning and Pollock, and Color Field Painting, which gained the most fame thanks to Rothko. Throughout their work, Abstract Expressionists sought to convey emotions and ideas through the application of marks, forms, textures, shadows, and the unique quality of brushstrokes. The movement favored large-format canvases and embraced the role of chance or accident.

This book, featuring the works of 20 key Abstract Expressionist artists, introduces us to the movement that shifted the center of gravity of art from Paris to New York and remains for many the golden age of American art.