Abstract Expressionism is an art concept, which flowered just after the Second World War. It was centered primarily in New York City. Abstract Expressionism is an outgrowth of Expressionism from the first half of the century. Expressionism reached its height in Germany between the world wars. In Expressionism color is intensified, contrast increased, and spontaneous brush strokes admired. The result is close to caricature in figures, but the intent is usually sardonic.

In Abstract Expressionism an artist creates images through the use of blocks of color, high contrast, simplified forms, and spontaneous brush strokes. But with Abstract Impressionism the artist's intent should be to move beyond representation to pure form. In reality, and far more often than is recognized, abstract expressionist painters were inspired to create by patterns, shapes and colors they found in life.

Abstract Expressionism is primarily an American artistic movement of worldwide importance. It was originally used to describe the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock, but now it describes an extensive movement both in the United States and in Europe.

Two approaches characterize the movement: 1. Action Painting, typified by artists such as Pollock, de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Philip Guston. who focus on the physical action involved in painting. This was derived from the German Expressionists' interest in uninhibited brush work, which in turn had its origin in the French Impressionist and Post Impressionist painters like Gauguin. 2. Color Field Painting, a technique use by Mark Rothko and Kenneth Noland, and their followers. They explored the effects of color interrelations and the color relationship between the color and the medium. Color field painting evolved from earlier predecessors like Mattisse and the German Expressionists.

A virtual museum has both a down side and an upside trying to reproduce art from this era. Recreating the interaction between the paint and the medium on the web is impossible. So one can only really see these pictures in a real museum and then use the virtual museum as a clue to remember what you saw. However when effects the painter wanted are pure color effects these may be enhanced when viewed on a video display and the artists intent realized even more fully in web reproduction.

Homage to the Square
1964