Art

What is abstract expressionism? – Sarah Rosenthal



View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/could-just-anyone-make-a-jackson-pollock-painting-sarah-rosenthal

If you visit a museum with a collection of modern and contemporary art, you’re likely to see works that sometimes elicit the response, “My cat could make that, so how is it art?” But is it true? Could anyone create one of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings? Sarah Rosenthal dives into the Abstract Expressionist movement in hopes of answering that question.

Lesson by Sarah Rosenthal, animation by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.

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49 thoughts on “What is abstract expressionism? – Sarah Rosenthal
  1. For an art trip, I went to see these 'Abstract Expressionism' paintings. Yeah, they're really not that great. One of them was literally just a photograph of one of the painters painting, which somehow was in itself art? It wasn't even a good photograph. And despite how much the exhibition likes to remind you of the art's power to elicit emotions, that really isn't the case. Well, besides confusion.

    And on a quick aside, I find it funny that this style of art is praised for how little effort was put in. Like, he didn't even put in any conscious thought. I get that that is the point but… It's stupid none the less.

  2. This was the worst Ted Ed video I've ever seen! Their for "contemporary art"?! Jackson Pollack came up with the idea to make some scribbles and then add his definition of his work to it after the fact. That's all fine untill it basically became a genre, well it did! it's called "contemporary art" but it shouldn't be because nobody can do it the same as Jackson, therefore this can only be one persons thing. Not everybody's cheap copy. And this stupid video should be giving them the benefit of the doubt! sure a cat can't do it, obviously not! Nobody even says "my cat could make that", they say "I could make that" and yeah, yeah they could, all they'd have to do is practically write a book about why their so great for making it. So shut the hell up and go back to explaining why real talented artists are so great.

  3. It honestly takes a specific type of mind to appreciate this kind of art. It's a mind that majority of people simply don't have. Many artists, throughout the ages had some kind of mental illness and it showed through their art. Jackson was an alcoholic for most of his life.

  4. Just like the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" People think other people ACTUALLY feel emotions but they don't but want to appear abnormal or unwise

  5. Can't help but notice that many of the people in these comments sound just as snobbish and "elitist" against these paintings as the people they criticize for buying them. People spend their money on what they want. That's the point of it being THEIR MONEY. Some people like unstructured, abstract art. Some people prefer art that is more concrete. You don't have to be a jackass about somebody else's opinion just because it's not something that you prefer. If you're bothered about how these people chose to spend their money, use any extra money you might have to fund an area that you feel needs financial assistance. If you're mad that someone made tons of money splashing paint onto a canvas, make your own painting and sell it at an art festival. And most importantly, if you don't like modern art JUST DON'T BUY IT. You bitching about how "shitty" it is will not stop people from making it and it won't stop people from buying it.

  6. It's understandable why people are mad that Pollock's work has given rise to poor contemporary artists, but I don't think it's fair to bash him for it. It's not like he intentionally set out to destroy modern art by making improvisational compositions, which were just so idiosyncratic and esoteric that when people tried to emulate it they ended up dumbing down commercial art in the process.

  7. Sorry to all the ones complaining but no you could not have done that. Just look at some real Pollock paintings, they are extremely complex in color and composition. Just because something isn't realistic that doesn't mean, that it doesn't take any effort. Just try to do some good abstract compositions for yourself once…

  8. If one of art's purposes is to inflict emotion inside the viewer, then contemporary and modern art has successfully done that by confusing and angering the hell out of you haha

  9. Does anyone know the answers to these questions:

    What characterizes Abstract Expressionism (list at least three)?
    "Tangled messes of lines of paint bouncing around in every direction on the canvas" best describes the paintings of who?
    What are some of the “conventions of painting” that stood for centuries that the New York School artists challenged?
    Compare and contrast 3 things between surrealism & abstract expressionism.
    What innovations did Pollock bring to painting?
    Reflect and respond to the statement: “Anyone can do what Jackson Pollock did.”

  10. A year into watching this video, I'm still not convinced. Been to an art gallery earlier today and the abstract expressionism paintings are still, well, random scribbles to me. I don't know why they are worth millions. I think it's harder to draw anime, and they are more aesthetically pleasing. Just me though.

  11. The difference between a 3 y.o painting and a modern artists painting are the thoughts they were thinking while creating the piece. That's my view on it.

  12. Yes, I understand the specialness of their work. But don't don't don't you ever underestimate the power of cats!

  13. You can get such a deep level of honesty out of you through expressive strokes and colors that speak to you, it's amazing really. I've been painting like this for a few months now, never new it had a name

  14. Oh, please. Less of the lofty rhetoric, if you don't mind. Jackson Pollock was a hopeless drunk, and that "dance" you describe was the blind staggers. If you want to replicate Pollock you'll have to sacrifice your liver – and find out what he was drinking.

  15. yeah ,but can he make his "painting" for the second time following the exact same process and the order of the color he used first time without seeing his original painting?true that no one can recreate his "painting" or his "style", but he can do that ,right?he is an "artist"…

  16. It’s like you spit on canvas hang it in a gallery a and bunch of people come and do all this analysis and come up with all these fascinating words and ideas of there own to the define that piece of work….

  17. Appreciating Pollock is mostly a matter of exposure and education. If you don't really understand the art, the artist and the time in which it was made, it's impossible to really appreciate it. If you stand in front of MOMA's Pollock's "One: Number 31, 1950," which is a colossal 10×17 feet, you get a strong sense of the sheer physical effort required to pull off a gestural abstraction on this scale. It's the epitome of all-over mark-making and incredibly balanced, nuanced and full of almost balletic movement. Pollock's work holds a very special place in the history of modern art and no other artist can do this same style and be called original. That's a feat in and of itself. He was the first to make this exact type of drip abstraction and the last. That's one of the reasons his work fetches such high prices, not to mention the fact he died early and his output was relatively small. The "scribbles" you refer to are not just that; they are highly controlled marks that come from an experienced and dedicated person who had the audacity to do something new.

  18. It's definitely elitist, what Pollock did. And he wasn't a genius. He was more of a "right time, right place" type of guy–he invented this form of free expression after years of following everything the art world gatekeepers told him to do. Once he invented this "free form", the art world gatekeepers declared him a "genius" by acclaim, and then the rich bankers and other assorted assholes could buy his paintings for millions. Pollock became rich, the art world gatekeepers became rich, and the world declared Pollock a "genius." Great work if you can get it. As such, notice that almost all these "geniuses" are English-speaking white men. That's not a coincidence.

  19. To me art has to infuse meaning, look nice, and have effort put into it. I like abstract, but modern art is getting garbagey. I like all types of paintings though.

  20. Reminds me of the emperor's new clothes. No one wants to state the truth for fear of coming out offensive. I don't wanna state my opinion. My opinion is just that. If you want to laugh, laugh. If you marvel at it, go ahead. But maybe don't let people dissuade you without your consent. Idk if that made sense. ?

  21. Everyone talking about what art is and isn't. It's art because someone made it. It's art because you're talking about it. It's art because people love it and hate it. You don't have to like art for it to be art. It just is.

  22. Jackson Pollock was directly influenced by another artist, Janet Sobel. She's the one that started drip painting, and there's a clear progression in her work from figurative to abstract. Pollock saw it and made it big. It was much later in life that he begrudgingly admitted that she directly influenced his style.

    She could have been as big as Pollock – I personally find her colors and style more aesthetically pleasing. But Pollock had a better PR rep in his wife. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Sobel

  23. If you have not read my other comment I suggest you do because I'll tell you you will never look at any piece of art (music, dance, fashion, poetry, literature, cooking, etc.) the way you did before.

  24. There is a lot of people who are struggling in this life, trying to "get it". Are you one of them? Cos i was one of them…

  25. Art people must convince others that a new art form has arrived and significant people are creating these 'significant art', because if they don't they all die without anyone noticing them. So they talk like deep enlightened people, and if you don't understand them then you're not anything smart.

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