Proto-Abstract Expressionism

Proto-Abstract Expressionism was a transitional stage in the 1940s in which the developing Abstract Expressionists produced the works that led directly to the later movement. On the question of influences and development various art historians and critics hold differing views. A comparison of the views of several writers will clarify the manner in which various sources influenced Proto-Abstract Expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock and how their works, in turn, led to the development of Abstract Expressionism.

Proto-Abstract Expressionism was developmental in nature and critics and historians do not assign a role in this stage to works that did not take in influences that were later manifested in Abstract Expressionism. Thus, for example, a historian might judge that early Regionalist-influenced works by Pollock and others had little or no influence on the direction of their subsequent Abstract Expressionist work and would, therefore, exclude works that display this influence in considering Proto-Abstract Expressionism. Of the four writers considered here, David Anfam does, in fact, make an excellent case for the persistence of Regionalist influence in Pollock's work. In general he sees the 1940s as a time when the painters gathered their energies and worked through their influences in preparation for the explosion of the 1950s. Martica Sawin has thoroughly developed the thesis that Surrealism, especially the work of recent TmigrTs to

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to be holistic. Anfam studied the work that Pollock did under Benton's influence and demonstrates the clear line the work followed for three decades. Anfam and Fineberg do not dismiss Benton. Instead they note the impact that his rhythmic system, his basic compositional principle, had on Pollock (Fineberg 88). In a work such as Pollock's Going West (c. 1934-1938) (Anfam 30), it becomes clear that Pollock was unhappy with three-dimensional representation and was developing only the rhythmic aspect of Benton's lessons. The degree to which Pollock was willing to remove the subject in favor of swirling movement can be seen in another painting of this period, The Flame (c. 1934-1938) (Anfam 32). Here only vague signs of violent action emerge through the broad, slashing brushwork. Both the rhythmic lessons learned from Benton and the artist's own desire to reduce the primacy of the figure continue in the Mexican-influenced works such as Panel with Four Designs (c. 1934-1938). The study of the Mexican muralists introduced the notion of subdivision of the canvas into rectangular segments. The abstracted patterns, based on figures, that were contained within the dividing lines of the Panel were then given prominent places in the

Category: Arts - P