In the Eye of the Beholder
Professor Bernstein of Baruch College explains, “The key to abstract expressionism is the pallet of a painter.” The pallet of a painter is the colors the painter uses. Some choose to use an array of colors, others choose to use limited colors that serve to embolden the image. Abstract expressionism serves to defy the traditional norm of expressionism through unconventional methods of using differing mediums, tools, and materials.
The Met Museum currently houses an abstract expressionist exhibit with artists such as Jack Tworkov, Robert Motherwell, and William de Kooning. One outstanding example of abstract expressionism is Jack Tworkov’s creatioin, Athene. Athene is an oil on canvas painting depicting the Greek goddess of war. The clear brush strokes bring out the image of a strong figure. The artist’s pallet consisted of a multitude of colors, from white, black, blue, orange, red, yellow and brown. From the orange and yellow, the spectators can grasp the form of Athene’s head. The black angled strokes bring out Athene’s shoulders and the long blue, white, and black form Athene’s long legs. The dark colors in the pallet of the painter served to bring out the war aspect of Athene. The bright colors bring out Athene’s feminine side.
Robert Motherwell is a very different abstract expressionist from Jack Tworkov. Motherwell’s painting, Elegy to the Spanish Republic, No. 35 consists of big blocks of colors. Motherwell uses oil and magna on canvas for No.35 to create the strong imagery. Within this huge canvas, there are two thick black borders on the left and right sides, which serve to symbolize the two fronts in a war. In between are oval shaped and bar shaped figures in black, which gives form to the men and machines of war. The background consists of white and golden brown to symbolize the blending of war environment. Finally, the gray symbolizes the battlefield. Aside from the colors, the artist also uses placement of the figures a to evoke the strong tension and resistance on both sides of the front. In fact, Motherwell said “the forms were ‘consecrated… to a Spanish sense of death.”
Robert Goodnough portrays landscape in his painting Landscape. This oil on canvas is vastly different from all the previously described paintings. It contains thick paint strokes instead of the smooth strokes on canvas that is present in most paintings. These thick paint strokes create a bumpy exterior conveying the violent stormy nature of the landscape. The entire painting is a convoluted compilation of thrashing brush strokes but from the confusion, mountains and clouds can be imagined from the brown peaked angles and the blue and white puffy creations. There is even an outline of a hand grabbing out at the viewer that brings a sense of darkness.
Finally, we arrive at William de Kooning’s prized, Attic. This painting is a compilation of layers of paint, enamel, oil, and newspaper transfers on canvas. This painting instantly creates the sense of enormity. Kooning described the title, Attic, to be derived from the idea that “you put everything in it.” The newspaper transfers show the old newspapers that are kept in the attic. The smudges of white, red, blue, yellow, and green form the old unidentifiable objects still lying around in the attic. There is even an image of a woman sitting possibly in memory of the past.
Abstract expressionism is about the viewers’ interpretation of the art. Abstract expressionism shown through the artists, Tworkov, Motherwell, Kooning, and Goodnough, truly revolutionized art. Instead of providing clear vivid images, artists began to use convoluted forms to force the viewers to look deeper. These artists ushered in a new era of art that revolutionized the definition of the interpretation of beauty.