Arshile Gorky: A Unique Approach to Color and Form

Arshile Gorky - Portrait of Master Bill - 1929-36 Oil on canvas - Private Collection (click photo for larger image)Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) was an Armenian-American painter, who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent most his life as a national of the United States. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. 

Gorky put the biomorphic  forms of the Surrealists through the process of emphasizing more lyrical color and personal content. He developed a unique approach to color and form. His work reflects both his past and the cultural and historical milieu of New York in the 1940s.

Robert Motherwell: Stream of Consciousness—in Paint

Robert Motherwell - Ulysses - 1947 - Oil paint on cardboard, on wood - 38 x 32 inches - Tate Modern, London (click photo for larger image)American Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) was among the first American artists to cultivate accidental elements in his work. His decision to become a serious artist came in 1941—and he embraced several different styles during the course of his career.

“Possessing perhaps the best and most extensive formal education of all the New York School painters, Robert Motherwell was well versed in literature, philosophy and the European modernist traditions. His paintings, prints and collages feature simple shapes, bold color contrasts and a dynamic balance between restrained and boldly gestural brushstrokes. They reflect not only a dialogue with art history, philosophy and contemporary art, but also a sincere and considered engagement with autobiographical content, contemporary events and the essential human conditions of life, death, oppression and revolution.”

Motherwell was also a successful and well-known teacher and writer. He taught art at Hunter College from 1951—58, and again from 1971-72. He directed the publication of the series “The Documents of Modern Art” (1944–52), and he wrote numerous essays on art and aesthetics. Motherwell was generally regarded as the most articulate spokesman for Abstract Expressionism.

The work featured here is named after James Joyce's famous modernist novel Ulysses (1922) which Motherwell first read while traveling though Europe in 1935. Joyce's style of writing, in particular his use of stream of consciousness, had a profound effect on Motherwell, who believed that art should be an expression of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the artist.

Elaine de Kooning: Making It Happen

Elaine de Kooning - Juarez - 1958 - Oil on masonite - 35 3/4 x 47 7/8 inches (90.8 x 121.6 cm) - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY (click photo for larger image)American Abstract Expressionist Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989) was a prolific artist, art critic, portraitist, and teacher. Although her early career was overshadowed by that of Willem de Kooning, her husband, Elaine's artistic range, vast knowledge of media, and influence on fellow artists was profound. Her success as an art critic largely contributed to a broader recognition and understanding of Abstract Expressionism—and its value.

Many of de Kooning’s so-called “pure” abstract paintings were produced during the 1950s. However, much of her later art fused abstraction with mythology, primitive imagery, and realism. A world traveler, she was exposed to and inspired by a wide variety of art that helped make her one of the more diverse artists among her colleagues.

Elaine de Kooning's work continues to receive increasing critical attention as she was, without question, one of the most important figures of the postmodern era—and beyond. You can read more about Elaine de Kooning right here on What About Art?.

Lee Krasner: Color and Graceful, Rhythmic Form

Lee Krasner - Imperative - 1976 - Oil, charcoal and paper on canvas - 50 x 50 in. (127 x 127 cm) - National Gallery of Art - Washington, DC (click photo for larger image)American artist Lee Krasner (1908-1984) explored and experimented with both painting and collage techniques, for over six decades. 

“An ambitious and important artist in New York City during Abstract Expressionism's heyday, Lee Krasner's own career often was compromised by her role as supportive wife to Jackson Pollock, arguably the most significant postwar American painter, as well as by the male-dominated art world.” And yet, it has often been observed many times that, “without Lee Krasner, there would have been no “Jackson Pollock”. Pollock’s vision was certainly his own. But it was Krasner’s thorough understanding of art theory and current trends that set Pollock on his path, and it was Krasner who propelled his career and ensured his legacy.

In terms of her own work, Krasner always explored the synthesis of abstract form and psychological content that was at the heart of Abstract Expressionism. She was remarkably versatile and possessed stellar skills, which, when coupled with her intensive training and knowledge, enabled her to revise her style and technique multiple times over the course of her career.

Six months after her death, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City held a retrospective exhibition of her work. A review of the exhibition in the New York Times noted that it "clearly defines Krasner's place in the New York School" and that she "is a major, independent artist of the pioneer Abstract Expressionist generation, whose stirring work ranks high among that produced here in the last half-century.” Krasner is now seen as a key transitional figure within abstraction, who connected early-20th-century art with the new ideas of postwar America.

Grace Hartigan: Changing the Narrative

Grace Hartigan - Grand Street Brides - 1954 - oil on canvas - 72 9/16 × 102 3/8 inches - Whitney Museum of American Art (click photo for larger image)A “Second-Generation” Abstract Expressionist, Grace Hartigan (1922-2008), developed a new form of painting based on bold gesture and experimental brushwork. She was highly regarded for her commitment to art, as well as for a hard-bitten toughness, embodied in her paintings. 

Although Hartigan built her early career upon complete abstraction, in 1952 she began incorporating recognizable motifs and characters from an array of sources into her art. This change was seen as a betrayal by some of her “first generation” colleagues—a rather paradoxical reaction from artists who struggled for the right to choose for themselves how and what to paint.

Hartigan’s inclusion of certain objects in her paintings also have identified her work as a precursor to Pop Art. However, she thoroughly disliked the mass manufacturing that movement embraced and celebrated. 

Hartigan moved between figuration and abstraction with ease throughout her long career. Indeed, her best known works combine the two. You can read more about here right here on What About Art?.