Find out what you can about the Abstract Expressionists and, in particular, the style of painting called Tachism or ‘Action Painting’. Look at the work of those artists who developed this style of spontaneous, expressive painting which worked by the artist making large gestures and exploiting accidental effects. Look at the work and ideas of Hans Hartung, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, amongst others.
Although Kandinsky condemned abstraction as a form of art for its own sake, it is widely considered by art historians that he was the pioneer of abstract painting; his work from 1910-13 would certainly suggest this as his images sank into near-illegibility in the general saturation of their colour. (Selz, Taylor and Chipp, 1968 p.559) (Hughes, 1991)
Although the term ‘abstraction’ had been used in Kandinsky’s native Germany, it was first used in America by the art historian Alfred Barr in 1929, also in reference to the work of Kandinsky. It wasn’t until 1949 that the term abstraction was popularised by Robert Coates when refereeing to the works of other Abstract Expressionist artists’ such as Pollock, de Kooning and Gorky.
By 1951 it was widely referred to as an art movement and for most, Abstract Expressionism was (and is) synonymous with the style of such artists as Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock – but to name a select few. A year later in 1952 the critic Harold Rosenberg named this kind of painting as ‘Action Painting’, when referring to the works of Pollock, de Kooning and Kline. (Selz, Taylor and Chipp, 1968, p. 517)
Abstract Expressionism was influenced by Surrealism; personal belief and unconscious ideas, and Cubism; complementary colours and shapes to convey emotions. The psychological theme that resonated amongst Abstract Expressionist artist was one of unconscious thought, wishes and desires, self-expression in an often chaotic, two-dimensional form that had no focal point.
Abstract Expressionism arouse in America in a post-war error amongst artist who were very interested in abstract modes of expression. Characteristically, this style was distinguished through gestures or the Action Painting—epitomised by drips, drabs and smears of paint and brush strokes as the artist interacted with the material and canvas whilst expressing their emotions. No artist embodies this form of expression better than Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). Other Action Painters included Lenore “Lee” Krasner (1908-1984), Hans Hartung (1904-1989), Franz Kline (1910-1962), and Willem de Kooning (1904-1997).
Another type of Abstract Expressionism was more simplistic approach of using complementary coloured two- dimensional rectangles known as ‘colour field. This was a more intellectual approach, aiming to eliminate the artist from the idea (the thought process) and the idea from the viewer. Such artists included Barnett Newman (1905-1970), Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), Clifford Still (1904-1980) and perhaps the most notorious to the general public Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
Abstract Expressionism is by no means a revolution in painting alone. The Movement also included sculptors whose work challenged traditional conventions of the medium, such as David Smith (1906-1965) Australia (1951) and Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) Sky Cathedral (1958) and Conrad Marca-Relli (1913–2000) who produced large scale collages, and photographers such as Arras (1955). (See figure 1)
www.metmuseum.org
For this exercise I have focussed specifically on two lesser known Abstract Expressionist artists (lesser known to myself that was), or most certainly overlooked amongst those I mentioned previously. Fritz Bultman, a close friend and respected rival of Jackson Pollock, and Jon Schueler, a second-generation Abstract Expressionist. Each of whom used different styles in their approach to Abstract Expressionism.
Fritz Bultman (1919-1985)
Fritz Bultman was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor, collagist and a member of the New York School. He was also one of the artists in the group known as the Irascibles. His early paintings could be described as painterly, such as Tree (1953) or Maize Bird (1947) (see figure 2) which appear more gritty, impasto like paintings rather than the gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism for which he is perhaps better known.
(Artsy.net, n.d.)
Whilst Bultman may not be as familiar to most it is likely that most will have seen his work. During my own research into Abstract Expressionism, I was drawn to his use of sculpture and geometric shapes that bring an element of order and structure to his compositions whist at the same time explores a compositional freedom beyond the realms of painting. His work reminds me of Matisse’s cut-outs which I was fortunate to see when exhibited at the Tate Liverpool in 2014.
Bultman’s use of primary colour dominates his collages. Paper has been torn from spiral-bound pads with the perforations retained and used compositionally with an element of symmetry, geometry and repeating curves.
(Edelman Arts, n.d.)
Jon Schueler (1916 – 1992)
Jon Schueler was an American painter known for his large-scale, abstract compositions who’s early worked evoked nature’s atmospheric and rhythmic force. At the height of the Movement Schueler work was remanisant of fantasy; sea and sky, storm and fog, sun and land, which set his work apart from mainstream Abstract Expressionism (Schueler, Salvesen and Cousineau, 1999, pp. 63-65, 201 -204)
From1962-67 Schueler produced a group of paintings of the female figure, which may have been a response to his struggle between the need for solitude and his desire for human intimacy (Schueler, Salvesen and Cousineau, 1999) and underscores his autobiographical writings of that year. (AttendNYC, 2016) It was this expression of this struggle, and arguably resolution, in his work that I found most fascinating.
The product of Schueler’s work is like a personal autobiograpgh as he explores the concept of the female figure with an openness of sexuality. I personally like the way he seems to have mastered a fine balance between observation and abstraction. As the figure became more elusive, as he gradually pushed it back into the sky, there is a real sense that he has found equilibrium between the figure and nature. In The Soft Brenda (1966), the curvature of one breast is among the few elements that distinguish figure from the ground, as Schueler conveyed his response to the subject with painterly spontaneity. (Campbell, 2016)
Phyliss, 1965 
The Soft Brenda, 1966
References
Artsy.net. (n.d.). Fritz Bultman | Maize Bird (1947) | Artsy. [online] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/fritz-bultman-maize-bird [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
ATTENDNYC. (2016). Women In The Sky: Jon Schueler Masterpieces at Berry Campbell 530 West. [online] Available at: https://www.attendnyc.com/2016/11/10/nov-17-thu-6-8pm-women-in-the-sky-jon-schueler-masterpieces-at-berry-campbell-530-west-24-st/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Campbell, B. (2016). [online] Jonschueler.com. Available at: https://www.jonschueler.com/pdf/SchuelerIssuu.pdf [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Edelman Arts. (n.d.). Fritz Bultman — Edelman Arts. [online] Available at: http://www.edelmanarts.com/works-available/fritz-bultman [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Hughes, R. (1991). The Shock of the New : Art and the Century of Change. London: Thames and Hudson.
Kingston, A. (2016). Female abstract expressionists get their due. [online] Macleans.ca. Available at: https://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/the-missing-painters-in-the-history-of-abstract-expressionis/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2019].
Lynton, N. (1980). The Story of modern art. Oxford: Phaidon, pp.231-282.
Moma.org. (2019). MoMA | Abstract Expressionist Sculpture. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/abstract-expressionism/abstract-expressionist-sculpture/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].
Rumsey, S. (2013). Abstract Expressionism Reconsidered at Nassau County Museum of Art. [online] Long Island News from the Long Island Press. Available at: https://www.longislandpress.com/2013/03/19/abstract-expressionism-reconsidered-at-nassau-county-museum-of-art/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2019].
Schueler, J., Salvesen, M. and Cousineau, D. (1999). The Sound of Sleat. New York: Picador.
Selz, P., Taylor, J. and Chipp, H. (1968). Theories of modern art. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.501-519.
Thompson, J. (2008). How to read a modern painting. London: Thames & Hudson.
OCA BA(Hons) Painting Degree - Level 1 