Abstract Expressionist Painters and Cold War America - Case Study Example

In what ways did the zeitgeist of cold war America actually influence the work of the Expressionist Painters Expressionist Painters– Definition Abstract Expressionism may be described as an art that gives importance not only to the final product but also to the process of creating the artistic product. In short, Abstract Expressionism may be termed as action painting which is the result of kineticism, energy, freneticism ad action. The theme of Abstract Expressionism is usually vague. The concept of Abstract Expression took shape towards the end of 1940’s and in the beginning of the 1950’s as a response to the war that killed several people and left two continents devastated and the disturbing social and political conditions in the aftermath of the war. Abstract Expressionism was inspired by the surrealists of Europe who adopted automatism in art, especially in painting. This advanced form of art painting was based on the instinct that art products are irrational and unpremeditated accidents that took a refined form in America during the Cold War. Abstract Expressionist Painters like Jackson Pollock separated themselves from contemporary paintings and invoked a reason to draw unrecognizable images that depicted a particular state of mind. Thus the art forms took shape from the chance and impulse of the person (creator) and created value for itself. This subconscious method of drawing was epitomized by Jackson Pollock by abandoning normal equipments for painting (Strickland, C. & Boswell, J. 1992 p.158). The evolution of Abstract Expressionism in Pollock’s paintings Jackson Pollock was of the view that Abstract Expressionism made energy visible through mural sized paintings that reflected the painter’s psychic state when the painting was created. Therefore new techniques were used to meet new demands by not using contemporary materials like paint brushes, easel, artistic method of pouring or the use of palette and believed in spreading paint on raw canvas or on the floor (Strickland, C. & Boswell, J. 1992 p.159). According to Jackson Pollock Abstract Expressionism paintings are done after a period of meditation and preparation. The painting is started soon after the thought by walking around the canvas and sometimes on the canvas and by dancing on them. The creation of art also included pouring of paint directly from cans or by dropping it on the canvas. The articles used to paint a picture sometimes included cigarette butts, keys, caps and combs that added to the private and dense character of the picture. Pollock’s strong personality, method of painting and innovative techniques is clearly evident in the film Namuth (portraiture of Jackson Pollock’s paintings) (Doss, E p.340). The influence of cold war America in Pollock’s paintings The paintings of Pollock reveal the dissatisfaction of artists subsequent to World War II. The Namuth and Pollock’s paintings reveal the mind of an agonized, tormented, self doubtful and victimized individual. The painting personifies the alienation of the painter that seeks freedom for existence. The painting of Pollock was interpreted by Allan Kaprow in the background of the Cold War as an art that envisage yearning real freedom. This is because life in America was constricting and stale after the Second World War. Pollock was treated as an icon since his paintings portray the ambition of the society to attain absolute liberation and the desire to overcome the conventional norms of the society. The Abstract Expressionism in Pollock’s paintings and the message of the painting remained a myth since there was a profound, unquenchable and relentless need in the post war America. Though there was economic abundance, the society experienced anguish and alienation during the cold war period. While critics responded to the Pollock’s paintings in a formal manner others found that the post war unease was depicted in his paintings. Most of the reviews on Pollock’s painting carried phrases and parts of phrases from the Cold War consciousness. Soon after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, Alfred Frankenstein, a writer of San Francisco Chronicle remarked Pollock’s paintings as a fury of movement, a grand swirling heave, tangled complexity and heated color. A literal observation by Henry McBride in a New York Sun article in 1950 comments the paintings of Pollock as having a resemblance to a war shattered, flat city like Hiroshima (Doss, E. 1995 p.345). The drip painting of Pollock with tormented and tangled lines with no central focus are a part of the revolutionary steps taken by the painter to liberate himself from the conventional methods of art creation and relate himself to accord contemporary culture and the demands of the society. Pollock’s objective was of the radical modernist who wished to use aesthetic policy that challenged conventional style of art to merge art and life. Pollock’s policy was action painting by drawing pictures on the floor where he was at ease and enabled him literally to be a part of the painting. By following this policy Pollock blatantly related his life with his art. Artists like Kaprow emphasized that Pollock’s paintings had an attempt to redirect and redefine post war culture by going beyond the collective unconscious of America towards the creation of a new world. Motherwell has described Pollock’s artistic expressionist paintings as a felt experience that is immediate, subtle, intense, unified, direct, rhythmic, vivid and warm. It was also noted that if the expressions on the canvas is due to strong personal reasons, Pollock was envisaged to have created a new method of possibility and rebellion for others. However, critical observes have documented that Pollock’s painting appeared to comprise the disintegration of post war America and the resultant alienation from the society (Doss, E. 1995 p.347). The influence of Cold War in the Abstract Expressionism paintings of Rothko The paintings of Rothko comprised the aspect of myth. The mythical method of expression was used to rekindle communication with the audience about cold war America. Myth helped the artist to move away from the ideological inclination of the society which was opposed by the radical left when the Cold War started. The myth in Rothko’s painting is defined as a peculiar work that arise out of various intense situations of rationalism which is an outcome of moral, political or aesthetic issues that have conflicting ideas and the need of the painter to communicate the issue to other people in the society. The myth in Abstract Expressionist paintings have always represented and communicated that literally does not exist but exist in the myth. Myth was a method to initiate a communication with the public to solve alienation. Mark Rothko desired to put an end to the solitude and silence of people by communicating through his paintings. He sensed a need for people to relax and stretch their arms again after the war though they entered into a new phase of cold war. The intention of avant-garde artists was to resume a link between political action and art without immersing art in a sea of dogma. Abstract expressionist painting of Rothko was an attempt to liberate itself from contemporary art and thrive on the new concept of myth. The use of myth helped Rothko to move away from contemporary art and make a place above the common impression of an art. Rothko embraced this new form of painting due to his alienation towards modernity and the abstract modernism. Since Rothko could not act against the political changes or transform the society through his action, the painter found a new method to bring out new possibilities of hope and avoid the existing norms of the times (Guilbaut, S & Goldhammer, A. 1985 p.157). The avant-garde painters gave significance to the theme of paintings and were successful in preserving the art while continuing their effort to communicate issues of radical politics to the public. Therefore it was essential for the artist to liberate himself from contemporary society to prepare oneself for liberation and rebellion. Though the society was hostile to the abstract artist it was necessary for them to attain true liberation from false attitude of community and security. Alienation also indicated Cultural Revolution whereby an individual becomes knowledgeable. Alienation was a process through which the artist could communicate with the dark forces and gave possibility for new dynamism. The alienation of the painter later evolved into a matter of praise. Rothko’s paintings comprised of signs that were not directly related to the visible world, because he believed that the society is successful when the original meaning is twisted. Hence, he had to alienate totally from the society in order to be a free artist and alienation at the cost of alienating from society to indulge in genuine communication (Guilbaut, S & Goldhammer, A. 1985 p.158). The paintings of Pollock and Rothka had a compelling ideology that spoke the language of negativity. It was a protest against the American culture during the Cold War era (Marter, J.M. 2007 p.80). Color field abstractions used by these artists comprised inter image dialogue which was also seen in the zip paintings created by Barnett Newman. The acceptance of Abstract Expressionism during the cold war era was because it intertwined the political objectives of artists like Newman, Rothko and Pollock (Marter, J.M. 2007 p.81). The paintings of Barnett Newman during Cold War Barnett Newman along with Rothko epitomized an inclination to Abstract Expressionism in a method somewhat different from Pollock’s style of linear gestures in painting with huge expanses of color (Hopkins, D. 2000 p.15). Though Pollock, Rothko and Newman were Abstract Expressionist painters, there was a contradiction to their style of painting. Newman has widely used zip painting to communicate his thought. The basic concept of eliminating the conventional method of painting relates to Pollock’s drip painting, but Newman’s paintings indicate that there is a public to whom the message is given, probably due to the huge size of the picture. However, there was a question as to who formed the public. For this Newman has stated that his work emphasizes the termination of totalitarianism and state capitalism (Hopkins, D. 2000 p.16). The 1940’s was a decade of decision for the Abstract Expressionist painters like Barnett Newman in the aftermath of the second world war and the political policies of the cold war. The singular abstract in Newman’s painting perplexed his friends and cast an inspiration for younger artists. The abstinence of Newman from creating any piece of work for a duration of five years was expalined as a matter of morality and self imposed exile. Newman also stressed the moral crisis during the cold war and the effect of the great depression and the devastation caused by the world war. These were some of the reasons that Newman stressed that it was impossible for him to continue with contemporary paintings like reclining nudes, flowers or people playing cello. Newman has also stated that painters cannot create unorganised form, shapes or color relations also. The shambles of the war is depicted in his paintings and express terror and mystery. Paintings like tragic myth, chaotic origins, primeval critters and plants and ritual sacrifice signals his attitude toward freedom of antiquity and modernity presented in velvety black and fiery red (Rushing, W.J. 1995 p.1). Barnett Newman signified that the horror of the cold war era could not be described through painting and therefore he resorted to nonobjective abstraction with expressive qualities. This method was followed to avoid sentimentalism in his paintings. But Rothko was against nonobjective abstractionist and relied on realist paintings (Erickson, J. 1995 p.97). The paintings of Rothko revealed a clear vision of the state of world through the dark expressions. The size of Barnett Newman’s paintings increased over the years with monochromic fields divided by vertical lines which was known as zips. The nonobjective paintings of Newman demonstrate a desire and rational attitude for spirituality with titles that indicated an exalted state as in Oneness, Cathedral, Vir hroicus sublimes and Primodial light. Though he was not an ardent Christian, Newman meant that painting is an emotion linked to the tragic circumstances of the world after the war. Newman explains that he did not choose to paint cathedrals or life or man but he drew mankind out of his own emotions. This has enabled Abstract Expressionist painters like Newman to liberate from the society constrained by the reality and explore a new world where he could fully participate and depict his thoughts in universal forms (Erickson, J. 1995 p.98) The cold war was in the aftermath of the high amounts of inhumanity that existed during the Second World War. It was a period when much importance was given for art, culture and human values by a group of Abstract Expressionist painters that led to the creation of significant art. The world of art then resonated with the paintings and reviews of Rothko, Newman and Pollock. American art rose above the European art and communism. Art was used as a weapon against Russia. However some critics viewed Abstract Expressionism as cold war propaganda of the US by exhibiting it in Europe to gather emotional support. But the political side of it becomes insignificant since the audience is convinced that the paintings are an expression of freedom of art. The paintings of Jackson Pollock take the viewer from personal freedom and the manifestation of self to a larger thought of socialism, capitalism and doomed expressions. Abstract Expressionism in fact was a visual language that communicated the dread and chill of the cold war. Thus the Cold war had increased the depth of art through Abstract Expressionist painters like Pollock, Rothko and Newman (Jones, J. 2008). Conclusion It may be concluded that the zeitgeist of the Cold War increased the profoundness of art in America through Abstract Expressionist painters who connected art with socio political circumstance of the nation to communicate freely with the public. Reference Doss, E. 1995 Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism: From Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism Chicago: University of Chicago Press Erickson, J. 1995 The Fate of the Object: From Modern Object to Postmodern Sign in Performance, Art, and Poetry Michigan: University of Michigan Press Guilbaut, S & Goldhammer, A. 1985 How New York Stole the Idea of Modern Art: Abstract Expressionism, Freedom, and the Cold War Chicago: University of Chicago Press Hopkins, D. 2000. After Modern Art, 1945-2000: 1945-2000 New York: Oxford University Press Jones, J. September 18, 2008. The giant awakes (The Guardian) Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/sep/18/art.coldwar Accessed on February 18, 2009 Marter, J.M. 2007 Abstract Expressionism: The International Context New Jersey: Rutgers University Press Rushing, W.J. 1995 The Sublime is Now: The Early Work of Barnett Newman, Paintings and Drawings 1944-1949. - book reviews. Art Journal. Available: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0425/is_n1_v54/ai_17012120 Accessed on February 18, 2009 Strickland, C. & Boswell, J. 1992 The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-modern Kansas: Andrews McMeel Publishing Read More