Washington Color School Movement

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The Washington Color School is a modern art movement that was in Washington D.C. from the 1950’s to 1960’s. It was a group of artists that loosely knew each other through their variety of teaching expertise (The Art Story, “Washington Color School”). This movement came about in rejection of gestures and the use of flat color to express meaning. At this time, there was a movement called New York School that focused on gestural abstraction (Artsy). Washington Color School focused on the use of vibrant colors as abstract art. Hilda Shapiro Thorpe was strong influence from his movement and has taught over half of artist living in Washington D.C currently (The Art Story, “Washington Color School”). Her work not only inspired artist during the Washington Color School movement, but year after as well. …show more content…

His works were considered the “most focused and consistent art produced in mid-twentieth century America” (The Art Story, “Kenneth Noland”). He used geometric forms to show meaning in his abstract work. His work invented a signature style with simplified abstract figures such as stripes or targets (The Art Story, “Kenneth Noland”). Nolands’ pieces created depth with his uses of shapes even though the vibrant color is flat. Another artist from the Washington Color School is Morris Louis. He was known for using drips of color or mirror images and would alienate large areas of a canvas. (Art Net). His paintings were normally in neutral coloring except when using drips of color and they were vibrant. Louis’ art was abstract and convey symbolic messages to the viewer. His paintings were deconstructed images with the use of flatness (Art Net). His works are predominately in museums in New

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