The exhibit on absract expressionism at the MoMA was absolutely superb. I learned a lot about origins and the development of the movement itself. Additionally, many of the key pioneers were introduced to me, many of whom I had never heard of before except for Jackson Pollock. Our tour guide, Agnes Berecz was not afraid to get up close and personal and ask pivotal questions about the paintings, which helped us too learn even more.
The first painter that we were exposed to was Hans Hofmann and his painting “Spring” painted in 1941. When we first approached the painting , I thought we were approaching a Jackson Pollock piece, but it was not. Hofmann was important in the expressionist movment because he was one of the first European artists to flee from Europe to America during WWII and helped start the movement. His painting was very similar to Pollock’s in that it involved the drizzling of paint on canvas with no real rhyme or reason to it. The key to his painting, however, was the use of “push and pull with red and blue colors”. Despite being a two-dimensional piece, he managed to create depth on the flat surface by using two contrasting colors that create illusions in the human eye. By placing blue and red next to each other, it seems as if the red is jumping out at you and the blue is pushing into the canvas. For this reason, Hofmann is one of the master expressionists.
Of all the artists that Mrs. Berecz showed us, my overall favorite is of course Mr. Pollock. His work just amazes me and has always stood out to me since childhood. His pieces might seem quite primitive, but as Mrs. Berecz demonstrated, there was actually a reasoning behind his method; It wasn’t just throwing paint at canvas. For instance, there was no up, down, left, or right in his painting style, leaving much up to the viewer in terms of interpretation. Similarly, this was revolutionary as he was one of the pioneers to take a canvas and place it on the floor . Aside from his unique style, the method to his paint throwing was very artistic in that it was very symbolic of the dancing movements he made while painting. Everything is rounded and smooth imitating the dance like movments he made while painting. Also, he actually layered his application of paint, creating depth to the image.
Now while Pollock was my favorite artist overall, the image above of Willem de Kooning’s “Painting” was absolutely my favorite piece in the exhibit. It has a graffiti like nature to it, and looks like an explosion that’s both violent yet gentle thereby combining the best of both worlds. It seriously stands out to me and was by far my favorite piece in the whole exhibit. If I had the money, I would buy it because I loved it so much. For this reason, my trip to the MoMA to see this exhibit will be unforgettable.
