Abstract Expressionism

A painting movement in which artists applied paint rapidly and forcefully to their huge canvases in an effort to show feelings and emotions. They painted gesturally (non-geometrically), sometimes applying paint with large brushes and/or dripping and throwing it onto canvas. Their work is characterized by a strong dependence on what appears to be accident and chance, but which is actually highly planned. Usually there was no effort to represent subject matter. Not all work was abstract, nor expressive, but it was generally believed that the spontaneity of the artists' approach to their work would draw from and release the creativity of their unconscious minds. This expressive method of painting was often considered as important as the painting itself. Abstract Expressionism originated in the 1940s, and became popularin the 1950s. A few artists who painted in this style include Hans Hoffman, Mark Rothko, Willem De Kooning, and Jackson Pollock.