Abstract Expressionism

abstract expressionism movement in painting that emerged in New York City in the mid-1940s and attained prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York School. Given impetus by the work of Arshile GORKY, abstract expressionism is marked by an attention to surface qualities, i.e., brushstroke and texture; the use of huge canvases; the harnessing of accidents that occur while painting; and the glorification of the …

…of nature revealed the character of God. For Barnett Newman, the colour field of Abstract Expressionism showed that 'The Sublime is Now', to quote the title of one of his essays. The point was that the sublime no longer needed a subject matter in order to be depicted. As Newman writes: 'Instead of making cathedrals out of Christ, man, or "life", we are making it out of ourselves, out of our own feelings.'