Abstract Expressionism
Exploring an unparalleled period in American art, this long awaited exhibition reveals the full breadth of a movement that will forever be associated with the boundless creative energy of 1950s New York.
In the 鈥渁ge of anxiety鈥� surrounding the Second World War and the years of free jazz and Beat poetry, artists like Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning broke from accepted conventions to unleash a new confidence in painting.
Often monumental in scale, their works are at times intense, spontaneous and deeply expressive. At others they are more contemplative, presenting large fields of colour that border on the sublime. These radical creations redefined the nature of painting, and were intended not simply to be admired from a distance but as two-way encounters between artist and viewer.
It was a watershed moment in the evolution of 20th-century art, yet, remarkably, there has been no major survey of the movement since 1959.
This autumn we bring together some of the most celebrated art of the past century, offering the chance to experience the powerful collective impact of Pollock, Rothko, Still, de Kooning, Newman, Kline, Smith, Guston and Gorky as their works dominate our galleries with their scale and vitality.
We will also acknowledge the lesser-known figures who contributed to the development of the movement. Finally, we will include photography and sculpture to complete an ambitious re-evaluation of the phenomenon that saw New York take over from Paris as the capital of the art world.
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Exploring an unparalleled period in American art, this long awaited exhibition reveals the full breadth of a movement that will forever be associated with the boundless creative energy of 1950s New York.
In the 鈥渁ge of anxiety鈥� surrounding the Second World War and the years of free jazz and Beat poetry, artists like Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning broke from accepted conventions to unleash a new confidence in painting.
Often monumental in scale, their works are at times intense, spontaneous and deeply expressive. At others they are more contemplative, presenting large fields of colour that border on the sublime. These radical creations redefined the nature of painting, and were intended not simply to be admired from a distance but as two-way encounters between artist and viewer.
It was a watershed moment in the evolution of 20th-century art, yet, remarkably, there has been no major survey of the movement since 1959.
This autumn we bring together some of the most celebrated art of the past century, offering the chance to experience the powerful collective impact of Pollock, Rothko, Still, de Kooning, Newman, Kline, Smith, Guston and Gorky as their works dominate our galleries with their scale and vitality.
We will also acknowledge the lesser-known figures who contributed to the development of the movement. Finally, we will include photography and sculpture to complete an ambitious re-evaluation of the phenomenon that saw New York take over from Paris as the capital of the art world.
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It is packed with thrilling works by Pollock, Rothko and the rest, but this major exhibition is also overloaded and erratic 鈥� with little space for female artists.
鈥淢agnificent鈥�; 鈥渟tunning鈥�; 鈥渉is single greatest painting鈥�. Such are the superlatives that greeted 鈥淏lue Poles鈥� by Jackson Pollock, one of America鈥檚 finest post-war artists, upon its arrival at London鈥檚 Royal Academy this month. The painting, on loan from the National Gallery...
The Abstract Expressionists emerged from obscurity in the late 1940s to establish New York as the centre of the art world 鈥� but some say they became pawns of US spies in the Cold War.
At London鈥檚 Royal Academy of Arts, a pantheon of the established who鈥檚-who of the movement.
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