Painting Terms

 

• Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866-1944)-Russian painter/art teacher, inventor of modern abstract painting. Major influence on artists of the "New York School."
• The New York School- an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City. Featured action painting, abstract expressionism, Jazz, improvisational theater, experimental music.
• Abstract Expressionism- Term first used in 1929 in relation to works by Kandinsky, brought back in the late 1940's to describe an American artistic movement comprising diverse styles and techniques and emphasizing especially an artist's liberty to convey attitudes and emotions through nontraditional and usually nonrepresentational means.
• Jackson Pollack (1912-1956)- A "Jack the Dripper," originally from Wyoming, died in a drunk driving accident.
• Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)- Painted abstract women with palette knives. Illegally immigrated from Holland
•  Mark Rothko (1903-1970)- "Multiform," or color-field paintings.