Abstract Expressionism

What happened

In New York after the Second World War, artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning made large, wholly abstract paintings meant to convey raw emotion and the act of painting itself. Pollock famously dripped and poured paint onto canvases laid on the floor.

Why it matters

Abstract Expressionism was the first American movement to achieve worldwide influence, shifting the centre of the art world from Paris to New York.

Sources

• Tate. Abstract Expressionism · Reputable source