Abstract Expressionism

Characteristics of Abstract Expressionism

Unconventional application of paint, usually without a recognizable subject (de Kooning's Woman series is an exception) that tends toward amorphous shapes in brilliant colors.

Dripping, smearing, slathering, and flinging lots of paint on to the canvas (often an unprimed canvas).

Sometimes gestural "writing" in a loosely calligraphic manner.

In the case of Color Field artists: carefully filling the picture plane with zones of color that create tension between the shapes and hues.

Example Paintings from Abstract Expressionism


Number 8, 1949 (detail) by Pollock, Jackson


Night Creatures, 1965 by Krasner, Lee

Source
Picture 1 Source
Picture 2 Source