Abstract Expressionism

Hailed as the first American-born art movement to have a worldwide influence, Abstract Expressionism denotes the non-representational use of paint as a means of personal expression. It emerged in America in the 1940s, with lead protagonists including Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning.

Abstract Expressionism spawned many different stylistic tendencies but two particularly prominent sub-categories: action painting, exemplified by de Kooning and Pollock, and color field painting, made most famous by Rothko. Throughout, Abstract Expressionists strove to convey emotions and ideas through the making of marks, through forms, textures, shades, and the particular quality of brushstrokes. The movement favored large-scale canvases, and embraced the role of accident or chance.

With featured works from 20 key Abstract Expressionist artists, this book introduces the movement which shifted the center of art gravity from Paris to New York and remains for many the golden moment of American art.

About the series

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Genre series features:

approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions

a detailed, illustrated introduction

a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist

Abstract expressionism refers to the non-representational use of form and color as a means of expression that emerged in America in the 1940s. These artists had striven to express pure emotion directly on canvas, via color and texture.
Barbara Hess (b. 1964) is an art historian, critic, and translator and resides in Cologne. Her numerous articles on contemporary art have been featured in Camera Austria, Flash Art, Kunst-Bulletin, and Texte zur Kunst. She co-curated the touring exhibition Ready to Shoot: Fernsehgalerie Gerry Schum/videogalerie schum at the Kunsthalle D�sseldorf and the Mus�e d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.