-
1940:)
movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school. It was the first important school in American painting to declare its independence from European styles and to influence the development of art abroad. Arshile Gorky first gave impetus to the movement. His paintings, derived at first from the art of Picasso, Miró, and surrealism, became mor -
Period: to
abstact expressionism
-
1942:)
Beginning in the 1940s, a group of artists began to meet regularly, eventually forming the Club in a barebones space on 8th Street in Greenwich Village, where they discussed and debated art and other subjects of the day, ranging from modern music and Eastern philosophy to the relationship between art and poetry -
1943:)
Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre is published in France. Katherine Dreier loans Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (or The Large Glass) to the Museum of Modern Art. André Breton excommunicates Kurt Seligmann and André Masson. Jacqueline Lamba and André Breton split up. Robert Motherwell's father dies. Philip Guston and wife have a daughter. Mark Rothko meets Sidney Janis. Robert Motherwell makes his first collages. Barnett Newman meets Betty Parsons. Barnett Newman -
1944:)
Artists hang out at the Waldorf Cafeteria. André Breton meets Elisa Claro (née Binhoff). The Museum of Modern Art purchases Robert Motherwell's Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive. Adolph Gottlieb serves as President of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors. Jackson Pollock paints a mural for Peggy Guggenheim who later spreads a rumour that he urinated in her fireplace on the day of its installation. Peggy Guggenheim introduces Mark Rothko to Betty Parsons. Barnett Newman draws. Barnett Newma -
1945:)
The competition was organized by the Container Corporation of America which had established a corporate collection of art in 1937, the same year that IBM started a well publicized campaign of sponsoring artists. Early acquisitions by the Container Corporation included works by Léger, Henry Moore and Ben Shahn. In 1944 they announced a competition in which they would select work for their collection. De Kooning won in January 1945 for his painting The Netherlands which his biographers note is "mo -
1946:)
The competition was organized by the Container Corporation of America which had established a corporate collection of art in 1937, the same year that IBM started a well publicized campaign of sponsoring artists. Early acquisitions by the Container Corporation included works by Léger, Henry Moore and Ben Shahn. In 1944 they announced a competition in which they would select work for their collection. De Kooning won in January 1945 for his painting The Netherlands which his biographers note is "mo -
1947:)
Gorky, still in pain from the "haemorrhoids" he had been diagnosed with the previous year, consulted his old doctor, Harry Weiss, about his problem. Weiss had previously cured Gorky of lead poisoning contracted from grinding his own paint. After a rectal examination Dr. Weiss immediately sent Gorky to Mount Sinai without allowing him to return home for his clothes. Dr. Weiss then told Agnes that he was sure that Gorky had cancer of the rectum. The hospital confirmed the diagnosis. (MS306) Agne -
1948:)
Aside from the beautiful and remarkably modern-looking The Word I (1946), in which a pale ray cuts through a desert-like zone of yellows, browns and feathery greys, the paintings of the same period are less successful. Newman chokes them with lurid, overworked textures, and the tapering, predominantly yellow beams give them the look of cheap science-fiction covers. The breakthrough comes with the famous Onement I (1948), actually a semi-worked canvas that Newman scrutinised for eight months befo -
1949:)
Jackson demonstrated his painting process, including the addition of sand to his canvas. He also asked Newman if he could "borrow" $150, offering him a painting in exchange. Newman declined, explaining that he was saving his money for his marriage the next month. (JP193) Pollock was interviewed for the article at the offices of Life magazine. Dorothy Seiberling, the editor of Life, recalled, "He talked but you felt it was agony for him. He twisted his hands. Lee had to amplify whatever he said." -
1950:)
The three day symposium at Studio 35, "Modern Artists in America," was organized by Robert Motherwell and Ad Reinhardt. Among the people attending were Alfred Barr from the Museum of Modern Art, David Smith, Ralph Rosenborg, James Brooks, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, Willem de Kooning and Milton Resnick. One of the topics covered was what to call the bourgeoning abstract art movement in New York. Names suggested included Abstract-Expressionist, Abstract-Symbolist, Abst
