Abstract Expressionism and the American Color Field Painters
The contemporary movement known as Abstract Expressionism greatly affected all three major American Color Field artists: Helen Frankenthaler (1928- ), Morris Louis (1912-1962) and Kenneth Noland (1924- ).
In fact, many art historians refer to the Color Field painters in general as "second generation" Abstract Expressionists.
The movements do share two fundamental characteristics: the overall composition and a notably large scale.
However, the Color Field painters can be defined more clearly by what they rejected in Abstract Expressionism than by what they utilized.
The Abstract Expressionists concentrated much of their energy on the gestural aspect of the individual brush stroke.
In contrast with this, the Color Field painters sought either to impersonalize their art by permitting the materials themselves to create the forms or by utilizing hard-edged shapes with relatively flattened tints.
Helen Frankenthaler worked in both modes.
Her painting Mountains and Sea possesses free-flowing elements that are at least partially self-generated, and The Human Edge utilizes hard-edged shapes with flatter tints.
The more amorphous forms and the somewhat varied tints within the shapes of her joyous work Tutti Frutti are somewhere in between.
Morris Louis adopted the approach of allowing the paint to create its own forms almost exclusively.
Even in his Unfolding Light, a more controlled, planned work in comparison with his earlier, free-flowing Veils, the paint has been allowed to run fairly independently of the artist's "brush" in parallel stripes down (or up) the canvas.
Kenneth Noland, on the other hand, employed the approach of utilizing hard edges in his work.
His use of flat shapes and tints is quite distant from the spontaneous, gestural emphasis of the Abstract Expressionists.
His almost mathematically executed geometric shapes, seen clearly in his painting Sunshine, consist of highly uniform tones.
And the slight variations present at the edges of the concentric circles result more from his system of taping than from his brush strokes.
The significance of the large size is also particularly apropos to the color emphasis and the staining techniques of the Color Field painters.
The colors gain in impact by displaying themselves broadly across the flat surfaces.
This aspect is at the crux of the concept of Color Field painting-the articulation of the surface of the painting as a "field".
This ambition stretched significantly beyond the historical boundaries of painting and the prior movement known as Abstract Expressionism.
In fact, many art historians refer to the Color Field painters in general as "second generation" Abstract Expressionists.
The movements do share two fundamental characteristics: the overall composition and a notably large scale.
However, the Color Field painters can be defined more clearly by what they rejected in Abstract Expressionism than by what they utilized.
The Abstract Expressionists concentrated much of their energy on the gestural aspect of the individual brush stroke.
In contrast with this, the Color Field painters sought either to impersonalize their art by permitting the materials themselves to create the forms or by utilizing hard-edged shapes with relatively flattened tints.
Helen Frankenthaler worked in both modes.
Her painting Mountains and Sea possesses free-flowing elements that are at least partially self-generated, and The Human Edge utilizes hard-edged shapes with flatter tints.
The more amorphous forms and the somewhat varied tints within the shapes of her joyous work Tutti Frutti are somewhere in between.
Morris Louis adopted the approach of allowing the paint to create its own forms almost exclusively.
Even in his Unfolding Light, a more controlled, planned work in comparison with his earlier, free-flowing Veils, the paint has been allowed to run fairly independently of the artist's "brush" in parallel stripes down (or up) the canvas.
Kenneth Noland, on the other hand, employed the approach of utilizing hard edges in his work.
His use of flat shapes and tints is quite distant from the spontaneous, gestural emphasis of the Abstract Expressionists.
His almost mathematically executed geometric shapes, seen clearly in his painting Sunshine, consist of highly uniform tones.
And the slight variations present at the edges of the concentric circles result more from his system of taping than from his brush strokes.
The significance of the large size is also particularly apropos to the color emphasis and the staining techniques of the Color Field painters.
The colors gain in impact by displaying themselves broadly across the flat surfaces.
This aspect is at the crux of the concept of Color Field painting-the articulation of the surface of the painting as a "field".
This ambition stretched significantly beyond the historical boundaries of painting and the prior movement known as Abstract Expressionism.