Art Movement In The 1950's-1970

Art Movements 1950’s - 1970’s

War had altered the consciousness of the developed world in subtle but profound ways. The Nazi genocide machine had taken human cruelty to a new low, and the atomic bomb gave humankind terrifying new powers: People were now living in a world they had the power to destroy in minutes. These conditions formed the background for art and life in Europe and the United States for most of the postwar period. (Prebles Artform, 422) The devastation of lives lost due to war and concentration camps perhaps depression and economic success as well?, led artists to rethink the relationship between art and life. American artists explored new ways of expression in their artwork, getting away from the representational

Abstract Expression is a movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious. Jackson Pollock is the leading innovator of Abstract Expressionism. Abstract Expression characteristics by Pollock are dripping, throwing, pouring, and flinging pigment on a canvas. Yet Pollock exercised control and selection by the rhythmical, dancing movement of his body while applying paint to the canvas. The term ‘action painting’ came from this approach of applying paint by Pollock and many of his colleagues that had similar approach in their work. Pollock was influenced by Thomas Hart Benton - also European artists relocating to the United States - also NY is now the center of the art world Mark Rothko’s developed ‘color field’ which is a new style of painting. ‘Color field’ is where large areas of color with no objective structure, central focus, or dynamic

Events and Happenings is a movement were artists pushed the realm of aesthetic with traditional painting and sculpture, new movements emerged with performance, installation, site specific, and earthworks. The artist that is primarily involved with development of this movement is Jean Tinguely. His ‘happenings’ are cooperative events in which viewers become active participants in partly planned, partly spontaneous performances that combine loose scenarios and considerable improvisation. (Prebles Artform, 433) Tinguely’s art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in advanced industrial society. (Ask Encyclopedia) Pop Art challenged cultural assumptions with the definition of art, often presenting ironic comments on contemporary life. Pop Art movement is influenced by commercial art and the artists used similar techniques of mass production for comparable surface qualities. Pop Art is art that is mass produced imagery of advertisements, food labels, and comic books. The artists that were primarily involved with developing this movement are James Rosenquist, Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg. Characterized by bold, simple, everyday imagery, and vibrant block colors, it was interesting to look at and had a modern "hip" feel, and where the medium is as important as the message.