Eight Special Abstract Expressionism Paintings

Abstract Expressionism is a style of art that rejects representational art. In the 20th century, this trend manifested itself in biomorphic abstractions by Kandinsky and the Surrealists, and geometric abstractions by Malevich and the Constructivists. Abstract Expressionism completely rejects all forms and uses color as the only tool for expression.

Abstract Expressionism has two sub-styles: Action Painting and Color Field Painting. Action Painting is based on a surrealist technique of automatic painting and ideas of Freudian Psychoanalysis. The artist is trying to express their unconscious without censorship from the conscious or superconscious. They do this by splashing paint on canvas in expressive gestures, also known as Gestural Painting. The painting becomes a spontaneous expression of the unconscious, visualized in chaotic forms. The second style of Abstract Expressionism is called Color Field Painting. The artist uses large areas of color that flow into each other.

In this article, we will introduce eight special abstract expressionism paintings in two sub-styles.

Action Painting

About the Artist: Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock was an American painter who was a major artist of abstract expressionist art in the 20th century. Pollock was expelled from two high schools during his formative years, the second one being Los Angeles Manual Arts School, where he was encouraged to pursue his interest in art. In 1930, he moved to New York to study art, and secured a job under the WPA Federal Art Project, a New Deal project, which allowed him to earn a living from his painting.

1.Full fathom five

Full Fathom Five is one of Pollock's earliest paintings that used the "drip" technique. The top layer consists of poured skeins of house paint, while the underlayer was built up using a brush and palette knife.

2. Composition with Pouring II

The composition design of this painting method had no center, and the structure was indistinguishable. It had distinct characteristics of abstract expressionism.

3.Number 3

In "Number 3," Jackson Pollock created an intricate web of interwoven colors by layering multiple strands of paint. The "all over" composition prevents the eye from focusing on any single point. Three years earlier, Pollock had his first creative breakthrough when he began to drip and splatter paint across unstretched canvas or fiberboard laid flat on his studio floor. This overturned the tradition of upright easel painting, which had remained firmly established for five centuries.

4.Yellow Islands

Yellow Islands is a large, horizontally oriented painting with abstract patterns achieved by pouring paint in layers onto an unprimed beige canvas. The first, thinner layer has seeped into the weave of the raw canvas, creating hazy lines. The subsequent layers of black paint have a comparatively glossy, impasto finish that creates a sense of texture, depth and movement. Highlights of crimson and yellow were added with a brush across the canvas in small patches.

Color Field Painting

About the Artist: Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko is a key figure in Abstract Expressionism, best known for his large color field paintings. Born in 1903 in Dvinsk, Russian Empire, Rothko and his family immigrated to the United States in 1913. He began his undergraduate studies at Yale University in 1921 but left two years later to move to New York. Rothko took classes at the Art Students League and was briefly a student of Jewish-American painter Max Weber, but he was mostly a self-taught painter. During his early years, he painted different scenes of the New York subway, like Entrance to the Subway (1938), that dealt with feelings of alienation in city life. Rothko also co-founded the art group The Ten in 1935, whose members included artists William de Kooning, Ilya Bolotowsky, William Baziotes, and Adolph Gottlieb. Members of The Ten rejected realist painting, which in its different forms dominated the American cultural landscape of the time.

1.Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea

Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea (1944) is representative of Rothko's Surrealist period. This artwork also has a personal dimension, as Rothko painted it shortly after meeting his soon to be second wife, Mary Ellen "Mell" Beistle. According to their son, the painting hung in the living room of their brownstone in New York. The image depicts two creatures, possibly Rothko and Mell, sitting side by side, between the sea and the sky.

2.No.3/No.13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange)

No. 3/No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange) is an oil on canvas painting of American artist Mark Rothko created in 1949. The painting is composed of symmetrical rectangular blocks of magenta, black and green colors on orange background. Rothko belonged to the New York School, was also known as Abstract Expressionist, shaped by the Great Depression and World War II. No.3/No.13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange) is one of the early Mark Rothko's works produced within the color field movement.