Dripping, flinging, rolling, soaking—the Abstract Expressionists did everything academic tradition said not to do with paint.
1945 - 1980
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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.
The Painting Techniques of Barnett Newman
Newman called the lines in his paintings “zips.” Learn how they’re made and how they work.
The Painting Techniques of Franz Kline
Kline’s gallerist broke into his studio and replaced cheap paint with fine art paint—but Kline didn’t thank him.
Conservation: Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950
Radiography and historic photographs helped conservators uncover what this painting looked like before restoration.