9 characteristics of abstract expressionism

The characteristics of abstract expressionism they are creative freedom, existentialism, they promote the use of color and the works are created automatically. In unProfesor we tell you in more detail.

He abstract expressionism Its most striking aspect is that it was the first artistic movement basically american, thus being the first time that Paris ceases to be the artistic capital par excellence to hand over the baton to New York. An art of its own that is believed to have even been promoted by the CIA to, and within the historical context of the Cold War, be the main artistic manifestation of the Western world of that time.

In this lesson of unPROFESOR.com we tell you what are the main characteristics of abstract expressionism.

He abstract expressionism it was a pictorial movement within abstraction post World War II. The post-war era with events as dramatic as the Holocaust or the cruel effects of the nuclear bomb launched in Hiroshima and Nagasaki spread fear and uncertainty in the world, leading artists to denounce the lack of morality and humanity of society.

The disenchantment and sadness of the abstract expressionists was evident in intimate works in which they leave behind all external reference and they reflect his way of being and his feelings. He highlights the materiality of the work of art and the artistic process becomes almost a ritual and improvisation and automatism are two techniques that allow the artist to show us his unaware of him.

Here we discover the main ones abstract expressionism artists.

Between the main characteristics of abstract expressionism stand out:

1. The creative freedom is one of the maxims of abstract expressionism.
2. Abstract expressionists, like expressionists, are existentialists and they look for inspiration and themes in their own existence and experience. Therefore, the psychoanalysis and theories about the collective unconscious serve as inspiration for these artists.
3. Expressionist artists are humanists and cosmopolitans.
4. One of the characteristics of abstract expressionism is that the form and drawing are left aside in favor of color as a way of showing reality and expressing the interior of the artist.
5. Another characteristic of abstract expressionism is that the abstract expressionists did not create manifestos as the European avant-garde did. His ideology is related to philosophical tendencies such as Existentialism and Phenomenology.
6. The works are created in a way automatic, without filters, to allow the artist's unconscious to emerge and for him to communicate directly with the viewer.
7. creation becomes a authentic rite and it is a singular and unique moment that also acquires greater relevance and speaks of the author and his unconscious. Thus, both painting and painting are the materialization of the unconscious of the artist. In this search to let out the unconscious and let it flow naturally, the artists of abstract expressionism will resort to alcohol and drugs.
8. As in Romanticism, Expressionism considers artists as a kind of demiurge who knows how to let his unconscious surface.
9. And the last of the characteristics of abstract expressionism is that its main artistic representation is the painting. The essence of the work is the very fact of painting since it shows the very essence of the painter.

Now that we know the characteristics of abstract expressionism, it is important that we take into account account that this way of understanding artistic creation did not reap the approval of all critics. Thus, they were also considered disorganized, chaotic artists and even a fraud as artists as artistic talent was left in the background and their unconscious prevailed.

Abstract expressionism would come to an end with the Jackson Pollock's death (1956), one of the main representatives, and the emergence and fame that Pop Art artists were acquiring.