Abstract Technique?
How abstract is too abstract? In an age where cynics slander abstract art – “My toddler could finger-paint better” – the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works exhibition would beg to differ. The exhibition, consisting of an impressive collection of fifty-five works from artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline, follows the abstract expressionism movement through the 50’s and 60’s. This stunning display of abstractionism’s evolution proves the inherent skills and artistic planning behind some of the world’s greatest work of abstract art.
Abstract painters, many of whom began emerging in the 1940’s, wanted to fracture and defy the traditional notions of painting. They rejected realism – portraits and landscapes that sought to capture the world as viewed by the human eye. Instead, they wished to capture a depicted object’s intrinsic qualities. For instance, Robert Goodnough’s 1952 “Landscape” does not appear to be a landscape at first glance. However his use of color, a pallet consisting of blue, white, red, brown, and black, captures the qualities of a landscape. The blue and white colors represent a cloud filled sky, while the brown, perhaps, portrays land or mountain terrain. Texture is also a main component in rendering his abstract landscape. The multi-layered paint creates a rough earth-like feel to further add to the landscape.
As abstractionism progressed into the 60’s, colors fused with geometry to further move away from traditional art. For example, Jack Tworkov’s 1949 “Athena” suggests the actual helmet and staff of the greed goddess of war. On the other hand, Mark Rothko’s “No.13,” which was painted in 1953, begins to utilize the philosophy that “color is an abstraction.” White is a mix of all the colors and his painting appears to only contain red, haze, brown and white. However, he uses multiple layers of colors to achieve his final product. The shades of gold and brown differ greatly based on the colors beneath them. The bottom of the paining, for instance, appears to have a golden halo coming through it due to his layered approach. Kenneth Noland’s “October” painted in the ’61 shows the complete transition of abstract art to geometry and cubism. His green, blue, gray and black circles overlap to create an optical illusion – a tunnel or vortex that consumes the viewer.
Although, abstract art moved from semi-interpretable to complete geometric shapes, the paintings still required the artists to use an array of techniques; they had to think. Five year olds may draw geometric shapes, but they can’t quite mimic the level of thought and preparation that these abstract art pioneers displayed.