Abstract Expressionism was a post-World War II art movement developed by American painters in New York in the 1940s-1950s. It emphasized spontaneous, emotional expression and the unconscious through gestural brushstrokes and pouring paint onto large canvases. Leading artists included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman. Their works, such as Pollock's No. 5, 1948 and de Kooning's Woman II, had a significant impact and established New York as the new center of modern art. Filipino artists like Jose Joya and Frederick Agustin also participated in the abstract expressionist movement.

1. Abstract Expressionism

2. Antonio Feredo
Francis Mutuc
David Pangulayan

3. INTRODUCTION:
- Term applied to new forms of
abstract art developed by
progressive American painters in
the 1940s-50s.
- Often characterised by gestural
brush-strokes or mark-making, with
an impression of spontaneity.

4. INTRODUCTION
- Mostly based in NYC- expressionists
became known as the New York
school.
- Aim was to make art abstract,
but also emotional in its effect
- Inspired by surrealist idea
that art should come from
unconscious mind.

5. INTRODUCTION
- Also by automatism of artist
Joan Míro
- Automatism: method of art
making in which artist
suppressed conscious control
over making process .
Joan Míro

6. KEY IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
- Movement comprised of many
different painterly styles varying
in both technique/ quality of
expression. Thus, they share
various broad characteristics
- Abstract- depict forms not drawn
from visible world
- Emphasize free, spontaneous,
personal emotional expression
- Exercise considerable freedom of
technique and execution to attain
a goal, with particular emphasis
laid on the exploitation of variable
physical character of paint- evoke
expressive qualities
- “sensuousness, dynamism,
violence, mystery, lyricism”

7. KEY IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
- “ They show similar emphasis on the unstudied and intuitive application of
that paint in a form of psychic improvisation akin to the automatism of the
Surrealists, with a similar intent of expressing the force of the creative
unconscious in art.” -Britannica
- Abandonment of conventionally structured composition- replaced with
single, unified, undifferentiated field that exists in another space

8. Leading artists and their styles
Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning-
worked in a spontaneous improvisatory
manner, using large brushes to make
sweeping gestural marks. Pollock placed
canvas on the ground and danced around
it, pouring paint from the can or trailing
it from the brush or stick.
Jackson Pollock Willem de Kooning

9. Examples
Woman II by Willem de Kooning
(1952) Oil on Canvas 1.5 x 1.9m
Mural by Jackson Pollock
(1943) Oil on Canvas 8 x
19 ft

10. Leading artists and their styles
- Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman,
Clyfford Still- deeply interested in
religion and myth.
- Created simple compositions in large
areas of colour needed to produce a
contemplative or meditational
response in the viewer

11. Examples
FOUR DARKS IN RED By: Mark Rothko
1958

12. Examples
CANTO VII By: Barnett Newman
Lithograph on Paper 37 x 39 cm

13. Examples
PH-118 By: Clyfford Still 1947
Oil on Canvas 69 x 53

14. Leading artists and their styles
In a 1948 essay, Newman said:
“Instead of making cathedrals out of Christ, man, or
‘'life'’, we are making it out of ourselves, out of our own
feelings”

15. Popular Works
The Liver Is the Cock's Comb by Arshile Gorky (1944)

16. Popular Works
Woman II by Willem De Kooning (1952)
Oil on Canvas 1.5 x 1.9 m

17. Popular Works
Orange and Yellow, by Mark Rothko (1956)
Oil on Canvas 91 x 71 inches

18. Popular Works
“Back View,” by Philip Guston (1977)
Oil on Canvas 69 x 94 inches

19. Popular Works
No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pullock
Oil on Fiberboard 8ft x 4ft

20. Popular Works
Door to the River by Willem de Kooning (1960)

21. Popular Works
She-Wolf by Jackson Pollock (1943)
Oil Paint 106 x 170 cm

22. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Jose T. Joya
A mixed media artist and the
former dean of the University of
the Philippines' College of Fine
Arts. He was best known for his
utilization of various techniques
which include controlled drips,
impasto strokes, and transparent
layering.

23. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Woman’s Head (1956)
Mixed Media on Paper 25 x 18 cm

24. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Frederick Agustin
Another Filipino abstract
expressionist artist. His artworks
are described as “free from
objects and forms that define the
physical world”. They are also
defined by layers of colors, lines,
and textures.

25. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Desperate Joy
Oil on Canvas 4 x 5 feet

26. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Alfonso A. Ossorio
A Filipino American abstract
expressionist artist. He was close friends
with Jackson Pollock who also served as
his inspiration. He often experimented
with diverse mediums and he often tried
to avoid the use of oil paint.

27. Filipino Abstract Expressionist Artists and their Artworks
Beach Comber (1953)
Oil on Canvas 84 x 144 in

28. Further developments+Influence and legacy
- Had great impact on both American/European art scenes during 1950s.
Movement marked shift of creative centre of modern painting from Paris to
NYC in postwar decades.
- In course of 1950s, movement’s younger followers increasingly followed the
lead of colour-field painters ---> by 1960, participants generally drift away
from the highly charged expressiveness of action painters.

29. Insights and Evaluations
- The art movement was monumental in it’s own right, transcending all
bounds of spontaneity and subverting current norms, redefining what we
regard today as actual art. Through this innovation, the art form of abstract
expressionism has propelled the evolution of art mediums as a whole.
Though the credibilty of expressionist art forms are still debated to this day,
there is no doubt that this form was one word- different.

31. RESOURCES:
Tate. (n.d.). Abstract expressionism – Art Term. Retrieved from
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-expressionism
Britannica, T. E. (2016, December 16). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/art/Abstract-Expressionism
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abex/hd_abex.htm