The Abstract Expressionists

Abstract Expressionism was a movement about midway through the 20th Century, the fundamental principle of which was the assertion of an individual's character through painting. As it is not confined to the limits of any one traditional style of representation, being rather a subjective branch of art, a wide range of styles exist within Abstract Expressionism. This movement is also therefore recognisable by its underlying ideas rather than specific styles or techniques applied in artworks.

Abstract Expressionism stems primarily from the work of German Expressionist Wassily Kandinsky and the Surrealists. It was inspired amongst American artists during World War II when experimental European painters such as Yves Tanguy, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp brought their works to New York. American painters also gained inspiration from Arshile Gorky and Hans Hofmann.

Despite there being a large quantity of styles within Abstract Expressionism (the styles being dependant on the diversity of the painter), two main branches of the movement emerged: action painting and colour-field painting. Action painters focussed mainly on paint texture and consistency, as well as the artistic gestures of the artist, whereas the colour-field painters used like colour and shape to distinguish their works. The most famous of action painters include Jackson Pollock, Franz Josef Kline and Willem de Kooning; one major colour-field painter is Mark Rothko. Influential artists in the movement who used combinations of both styles are Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston, Adolph Gottlieb and Bradley Walker Tomlin.

European Abstract Expressionists were influential on the use of colour (accentuating patches of colour within larger paintings) and rejected classical structure in the depiction of subject matter. Major European painters in the movement included Pierre Soulages, Jean Dubuffet and Nicolas de Staël.