1940s

Context: Social, Political, Cultural, Economic

New York in the 40s:  European Abstraction | American Originality

“No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Art Terms
Cubism
Dada
Abstract Art
Avant Garde 

Jacob Lawrence with a panel from the Frederick Douglass series, c. 1939.
Jacob Lawrence
b. New Jersey 1917
d. Seattle 2000
Jacon Lawrence, "The Migration Series", 1941
Jacob Lawrence,  #46 Industries attempted to board their labor in quarters that were oftentimes very unhealthy. Labor camps were numerous, Migration Series, 1941
Jacob Lawrence, One Way Ticket, Migration Series, 1941
Maya Deren
b. Ukraine 1917
d. New York 1961
Maya Deren, "Meshes of the Afternoon," 1943
Laura Ivins: Maya Deren's Film Philosophy, 2017
Aaron Siskind
b. Manhattan 1903
d. Providence 1991
Aaron Siskind, [Jerome] Arizona, Gelatin Silver Print, 1949
Hans Hofmann
b. 1880 Germany
d. 1966 New York
Hans Hofmann, The Wind, 1942.
Oil, automotive lacquer, gouache, and India ink on board, 43⅞ x 27¾ inches.
Frank Stella on Hans Hofmann, Peabody Essex Museum, Dec. 2019
Hans Hofmann's Teaching

more on Hofmann's Push Pull approach

Arshile Gorky
b. Turkey 1904
d. Connecticut 1948
Hedda Sterneb. Romania 1910d. New York 2011
Hedda Sterne, Airport #1, Oil on canvas, 1948
Alexander Calderb. Pennsylvania 1898d. New York 1976
Alexander Calder, Little Parasite, heet metal, wire, and paint, 1947
Alexander Calder, Parasite, sheet metal, rod, wire, and paint, 1947
Alexander Calder performs his Cirque Calder, 1926-31 | Whitney Museum of American Art

Abstract Expressionism

"Breaking away from accepted conventions in both technique and subject matter, the artists made monumentally scaled works that stood as reflections of their individual psyches—and in doing so, attempted to tap into universal inner sources." Stella Paul

 Art Terms
New York School
Abstract Expressionism

What Is: Abstract Expresisonism?
Paul Stella, Abstract Expressionism, 2005 Heilbrunn Timeline
PROCESS:  Enamel Paint  MoMA
Lee Krasner
b. New York 1908d. New York 1984
"Lee Krasner From the Depths of Despair to the Height of Her Career"
Lee Krasner, Abstract No. 2, 1947
Robert Mapplethorpe, Lee Krasner, 1982

more on Lee Krasner

Lee Krasner, Painting as Life, Google Arts & Culture

Jackson Pollock
b. Wyoming 1912
d. New York 1956

Jackson Pollock, Number 28, enamel on canvas, 1950

Jackson Pollock by Hans Namuth
Conservation of One, Number 31, 1950, MoMA
Bill de Kooning
b. Netherlands 1904
d. New York 1997
Bill de Kooning, Woman 1, oil and metallic paint on canvas, 1952
Process: Painting Like DeKooning  MoMA 

more on Alexander Calder

Eleonora Nagy, Joan Simon, and Anita Duquette, "Calder’s Circus," in VoCA Journal, October 27, 2017, https://journal.voca.network/calders-circus/.

Europeans at Mid Century

Art Terms
Art Brut
Abstract Art
COBRA

Jean Dubuffetb. France 1901d. France1985
Jean Dubuffet, Will to Power, oil, pebbles, sand, glass, and rope on canvas, 1946
Jean Dubuffet, Jean Paulhan, oil, pebbles, sand, glass, mixed media on canvas, 1946
Alberto Giacomettib. Switzerland 1901 d. Switerzerland1966
Alberto Giacometti, Man Pointing, 1947
Louise Bourgeoisb. Paris 1911d. New York 2010
Louise Bourgeois,Quarantania, 1947-53
Louise Bourgeois – 'I Transform Hate Into Love'

more on Louise Bourgeois

Tracy Emin, BBC Film with Tracy Emin, 2014 BBC

Francis Baconb. Dublin 1909d. Madrid 1992
Francis Bacon Reveals the Inner Turmoil in his Art
Francis Bacon, Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, oil on canvas, 1953
Bacon, Triptych - August 1972
 banner photo:  Jacob Lawrence, Migration Series,