Abstract expressionism

This movement began in the 1940’s and 1950’s and took place in New York. In this movement not only included those artists who filled their canvases with fields of colour and abstract forms, but also included those artists who attacked their canvases with vigorous flourishes of expressionism. In this movement the artists had a lot of ideas in common. They were influenced by the era’s leftist politics and came to value an art grounded in personal experience. Their art was championed because it was American in spirit, monumental in scale, romantic in mood and expressive of a rugged individual freedom. David Smith and Aaron Siskind – a sculptor and a photographer – help to unite the Abstract Expressionism movement.
 

References:

Abstract Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2013. Abstract Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-abstract-expressionism.htm. [Accessed 18 May 2013].