Dripping, flinging, rolling, soaking—the Abstract Expressionists did everything academic tradition said not to do with paint.
1945 - 1980
videos + essays
We're adding new content all the time!
Jackson Pollock, Cathedral
Cathedral by Jackson Pollock is an enamel and aluminum paint on canvas on view at the Dallas Museum of Art and has been part of the collection for more than seven decades. Pollock is known for defining a new era of art by introducing the radical idea of placing his canvas on the ground and applying paint through movement. Works like “Cathedral” exemplified this new style—Abstract Expressionism—that captured the energy and complex emotions of post-World War II America. Learn more about this masterpiece with Agustín Arteaga, the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art.
Low Water by Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell’s Low Water is an abstract oil painting featuring vibrant colors, dynamic brushwork and dripping fields of paint that draw you in both physically and emotionally. Watch Eric Crosby, Director at Carnegie Museum of Art, explore what makes this a masterpiece.
Mark Bradford on Clyfford Still
"To use the whole social fabric of our society as a point of departure for abstraction reanimates it, dusts it off."
Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm
Looking closely at Jackson Pollock's great drip painting, Autumn Rhythm
The Case for Jackson Pollock
Pollock dripped, flung, scattered, and poured paint on canvases spread out on the floor—but why?
Mark Rothko, No. 210/No. 211 (Orange), 1960
Just because a painting isn’t full of angels doesn’t mean it isn’t spiritual and transcendent.
Willem de Kooning, Woman, I
De Kooning painted image after image on this canvas, continually wiping it down and starting again.
Lee Krasner, Untitled
Krasner severed the link between art and the everyday world, making important breakthroughs in abstraction.
Mark Rothko (at MoMA)
Rothko wanted his paintings hung as low as possible, so the viewer could enter the painting.
Restoring Rothko
What happens when a painting is vandalized? See how conservators at Tate leapt into action to save a painting.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!
