The root concepts behind Abstract Expressionism developed around the 1930s. The United States was still recovering from the great depression of 1929. The government recommitted itself to providing welfare to the unemployed. Many artists were also rendered unemployed at the time. The security provided by the welfare schemes allowed them to focus on their art. The depression eased only to lead to World War II. This period between 1930 and 1940 saw the advance of a new form of art in New York. A possible outcome of troubled minds cocooned from the chaos and violence in the world, Abstract Expressionism became a means to just that—expressing artists’ emotions to the fullest. The Abstract Expressionist movement also came to be known as the New York School.
During World War II, the United States saw an increase in interaction with European nationalities. Many artists migrated from European nations to the United States. New York had already earned a reputation of being an art center. The influx of the European modern art form and the developing expressionism in New York catapulted the movement of abstract expressionism into unforeseen territories.
Many renowned artists led this movement. Artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, and Barnett Newman represented this movement. Each artist brought something of their own expression in their style of art creation. Jackson Pollock spearheaded the style of action painting where he dripped color on a canvas laid on the floor rather than applying it with a brush. Artists such as Mark Rothko and Barnet Newman worked on a new style, “Color Field” painting, where they utilized the power of color as an element in their work.
The Abstract Expressionist movement spanned the 1940s and 1950s, which in turn led to a new form of expressionism altogether.
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