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Lyrical abstraction is either of two related but distinct trends in
Post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...
Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
painting: ''European Abstraction Lyrique'' born in Paris, the French art critic Jean José Marchand being credited with coining its name in 1947, considered as a component of
Tachisme __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
when the name of this movement was coined in 1951 by Pierre Guéguen and Charles Estienne the author of ''L'Art à Paris 1945–1966'', and ''American Lyrical Abstraction'' a movement described by Larry Aldrich (the founder of the
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The Aldrich has no permanent collection and is the only museum in Connecticut that is dedicated solely to the exhibition of contemporary art. The museum presents the first ...
, Ridgefield Connecticut) in 1969.Aldrich, Larry. Young Lyrical Painters, Art in America, v.57, n6, November–December 1969, pp.104–113. A second definition is the usage as a descriptive term. It is a descriptive term characterizing a type of abstract painting related to Abstract Expressionism; in use since the 1940s. Many well known abstract expressionist painters such as
Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of hi ...
seen in context have been characterized as doing a type of painting described as lyrical abstraction.


Origin

The original common use refers to the tendency attributed to paintings in Europe during the post-1945 period and as a way of describing several artists (mostly in France) with painters like Wols,
Gérard Schneider Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...
and
Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...
from Germany or
Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...
, etc., whose works related to characteristics of contemporary American abstract expressionism. At the time (late 1940s), Paul Jenkins,
Norman Bluhm Norman Bluhm (March 28, 1921 – February 3, 1999), was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter. Biography He was born on March 28, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Henry Bluhm was of Polish ...
,
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
,
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
,
Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...
,
Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...
, and numerous other American artists were, as well, living and working in Paris and other European cities. With the exception of Kelly, all of those artists developed their versions of painterly abstraction that has been characterized at times as lyrical abstraction,
tachisme __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
, color field, Nuagisme and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
. The
art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...
''Abstraction lyrique'' was born in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
after the war. At that time, the artistic life in Paris, which had been devastated by the Occupation and
Collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
, resumed with numerous artists exhibited again as soon as the Liberation of Paris in mid-1944. According to the new abstraction forms that characterised some artists, the movement was named by the
art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogu ...
, Jean José Marchand, and the painter, Georges Mathieu, in 1947. Some art critics also looked at this movement as an attempt to restore the image of artistic Paris, which had held the rank of capital of the arts until the war. Lyrical abstraction also represented a competition between the
School of Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importan ...
and the new New York School of
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
painting represented above all since 1946 by
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splas ...
, then
Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...
or
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
, which were also promoted by the American authorities from the early 1950s. Lyrical abstraction was opposed not only to the
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
and
Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
movements that preceded it, but also to geometric abstraction (or "cold abstraction"). Lyrical abstraction was, in some ways, the first to apply the lessons of
Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj;  – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
, considered one of the fathers of abstraction. For the artists, lyrical abstraction represented an opening to personal expression. Finally, in the late 1960s (partially as a response to
minimal art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or co ...
, and the dogmatic interpretations by some to Greenbergian and Juddian
formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scien ...
), many painters re-introduced painterly options into their works and the Whitney Museum and several other museums and institutions at the time formally named and identified the movement and uncompromising return to painterly abstraction as 'lyrical abstraction'.


European ''abstraction lyrique''

Just after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, many artists old and young were back in Paris where they worked and exhibited:
Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...
, Serge Poliakoff,
André Lanskoy André Lanskoy (31 March 1902 – 24 August 1976) was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s. Biography He w ...
and Zaks from Russia;
Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...
and Wols from Germany;
Árpád Szenes Árpád Szenes (also french: Árpád Szenès; 6 May 1897, Budapest – 16 January 1985, Paris) was a Hungarian-Jewish abstract painter who worked in France.Endre Rozsda and
Simon Hantaï Simon Hantaï (7 December 1922, Biatorbágy, Hungary – Paris, 12 September 2008; took French nationality in 1966) is a painter generally associated with abstract art. Biography After studying at the Budapest School of Fine Art, he traveled th ...
from Hungary; Alexandre Istrati from Romania; Jean-Paul Riopelle from Canada;
Vieira da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and c ...
from Portugal;
Gérard Ernest Schneider Gérard Ernest Schneider (1896–1986) was a Swiss painter. A major pioneer of Lyrical Abstraction, a gestural and personal form of abstraction, along with Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages, Gérard Schneider was shown in Paris at the Galerie ...
from Switzerland; Feito from Spain;
Bram van Velde Bram (Abraham Gerardus) van Velde (19 October 1895 – 28 December 1981) was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme, and Lyrical Abstraction. He is often seen as me ...
from the Netherlands; Albert Bitran from Turkey;
Zao Wou-Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Fang Ganmin and Wu ...
from China; Sugai from Japan;
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
, John Franklin Koenig, Jack Youngerman and Paul Jenkins from the U.S.A. All these artists and many others were at that time among the "Lyrical Abstractionists" with the French:
Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...
,
Jean-Michel Coulon Jean-Michel Coulon (1920-2014) was a French painter from the School of Paris who had the particularity of having kept his work – over 600 paintings – almost secret over his artistic lifetime. Exhibits took place in Paris at the Jeanne Bucher ...
, Jean René Bazaine,
Jean Le Moal Jean Le Moal (30 October 1909 – 16 March 2007) was a French painter of the new Paris school, designer of stained glass windows, and one of the founder members of the Salon de Mai. Biography Jean Le Moal enrolled at the "Ecole des Beaux-Arts ...
,
Gustave Singier Gustave Singier (11 February 1909, in Warneton – 5 May 1984, in Paris) was a Belgian non-figurative painter active in France as part of the new Paris School of Lyrical Abstraction and the Salon de Mai. Early life He spent his childhood in ...
, Alfred Manessier, Roger Bissière,
Pierre Tal-Coat Pierre Tal-Coat (real name Pierre Louis Jacob; 1905–1985) was a French artist considered to be one of the founders of Tachisme. Life and work He was born the son of a fisherman, in the village of Clohars-Carnoët, Finistère in 1905. He attend ...
, Jean Messagier,
Jean Miotte Jean Miotte (1926-March 1, 2016) was a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work was preserved and studied by the Miotte Foundation and is in the collections of museums including: MoMA and the Guggenheim in New Yor ...
, and others. Lyrical Abstraction was opposed not only to "l'Ecole de Paris" remains of pre-war style but to
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
and
Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
movements that had preceded it, and also to geometric abstraction (or "Cold Abstraction"). For the artists in France, Lyrical Abstraction represented an opening to personal expression. In
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, Louis Van Lint figured a remarkable example of an artist who, after a short period of geometric abstraction, has moved to a lyrical abstraction in which he excelled. Many exhibitions were held in Paris for example in the galleries Arnaud, Drouin, Jeanne Bucher, Louis Carré, Galerie de France, and every year at the "Salon des Réalités Nouvelles" and "Salon de Mai" where the paintings of all these artists could be seen. At the Drouin gallery one could see Jean Le Moal,
Gustave Singier Gustave Singier (11 February 1909, in Warneton – 5 May 1984, in Paris) was a Belgian non-figurative painter active in France as part of the new Paris School of Lyrical Abstraction and the Salon de Mai. Early life He spent his childhood in ...
, Alfred Manessier, Roger Bissière, Wols and others. A wind blew over the capital when
Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...
decided to hold two exhibitions: ''L'Imaginaire'' in 1947 at the
Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...
which he would have prefer to call ''abstraction lyrique'' to impose the name and then ''HWPSMTB'' with (
Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...
, Wols,
Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...
, François Stahly sculptor, Georges Mathieu,
Michel Tapié Michel Tapié (full name: Michel Tapié de Céleyran; 26 February 1909 – 30 July 1987) was a French art critic, curator, and collector. He was an early and influential theorist and practitioner of "tachisme", a French style of abstract painti ...
, and Camille Bryen) in 1948. In March 1951 was held the larger exhibition ''Véhémences confrontées'' in the gallery Nina Dausset where for the first time were presented side to side French and American abstract artists. It was organised by the critic
Michel Tapié Michel Tapié (full name: Michel Tapié de Céleyran; 26 February 1909 – 30 July 1987) was a French art critic, curator, and collector. He was an early and influential theorist and practitioner of "tachisme", a French style of abstract painti ...
, whose role in the defense of this movement was of the highest importance. With these events, he déclared that « the lyrical abstraction is born ». It was, however, a fairly short reign (late 1957), which was quickly supplanted by the
New Realism New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
of
Pierre Restany Pierre Restany (24 June 1930 – 29 May 2003), was an internationally known French art critic and cultural philosopher. Restany was born in Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda, Pyrénées-Orientales, and spent his childhood in Casablanca. On retur ...
and Yves Klein. Starting around 1970, this movement has been revived by a new generation of artists born during or immediately after the Second World War. Some of its key promoters include Paul Kallos, Georges Romathier, Michelle Desterac, and Thibaut de Reimpré. An exhibition entitled "The Lyrical Flight, Paris 1945–1956" (''L'Envolée Lyrique, Paris 1945–1956''), bringing together the works of 60 painters, was presented in Paris at the Musée du Luxembourg from April to August 2006 and included the most prominent painters of the movement:
Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...
,
Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...
,
Gérard Schneider Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...
,
Zao Wou-Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Fang Ganmin and Wu ...
, Albert Bitran, Serge Poliakoff.


Artists in Paris (1945–1956) and beyond

*
Geneviève Asse Geneviève Asse (Vannes, France, 24 January 1923 – 11 August 2021) was a French painter. She died in August 2021 at the age of 98. She was awarded the Grand-Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour. Geneviève Asse is one of the m ...
(1923–2021) *
Mino Argento Mino Argento (born January 5, 1927) is an Italian painter, mainly depicting abstract themes on canvas and paper. Life and work Mino Argento was born in Rome, Italy. He began as an architect, and first exhibited paintings at a 1968 exhibition at ...
(1927– ) * Jean René Bazaine (1904–2001) * Roger Bissière (1888–1964) Flight lyric, Paris 1945–1956, texts Patrick-Gilles Persin, Michel and Pierre Descargues Ragon, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris and Skira, Milan, 2006, 280 p. . * Albert Bitran (1931–2018) *
Norman Bluhm Norman Bluhm (March 28, 1921 – February 3, 1999), was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter. Biography He was born on March 28, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Henry Bluhm was of Polish ...
(1921–1999) *
Alexander Bogen Alexander Bogen ( he, אלכסנדר בוגן; born 24 January 1916 – 20 October 2010) was a Polish- Israeli visual artist, a decorated leader of partisans during World War II, a key player in 20th century Yiddish culture, and one of the trail ...
(1916–2010) *
Jean-Michel Coulon Jean-Michel Coulon (1920-2014) was a French painter from the School of Paris who had the particularity of having kept his work – over 600 paintings – almost secret over his artistic lifetime. Exhibits took place in Paris at the Jeanne Bucher ...
(1920–2014) *
Olivier Debré Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter. Biography It was following a visit to Pablo Picasso’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figura ...
(1920–1999) * Piero Dorazio (1927–2005) * :fr:Joe Downing (1925–2007) *
Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...
(1901–1985) * Endre Rozsda (1913–1999) *
Bracha Ettinger Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger (born March 23, 1948) is an Israeli artist, painter and writer, visual analyst, psychoanalyst and philosopher, living and working in Paris and Tel Aviv. She is regarded as a major French feminist theorist and promin ...
(1948– ) *
Jean Fautrier Jean Fautrier (May 16, 1898 – July 21, 1964) was a French painter, illustrator, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the most important practitioners of Tachisme. Early life Jean Fautrier was born in Paris in 1898. He was given his unwed ...
(1898–1964) *
Pierre Fichet Pierre Fichet (10 August 1927 – 8 January 2007) was a French painter. Biography Pierre Fichet belongs to the second generation of post second world war abstract painters and is a Lyrical Abstraction artist. His first abstract work was ...
(1927–2007) * Francois Fiedler (1921–2001) *
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
(1923–1994) *
Annick Gendron Annick Gendron was a French abstract painter, (1939 Châtin, Nièvre - 22 October 2008 Saint-Cloud). Art In the 1970s Gendron’s innovative way of using and manipulating industrial material and tools as plastic, glass, hydraulics press an ...
(1939–2008) * Marc-Antoine Goulard (1964– ) *
Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...
(1904–1989) *
Simon Hantaï Simon Hantaï (7 December 1922, Biatorbágy, Hungary – Paris, 12 September 2008; took French nationality in 1966) is a painter generally associated with abstract art. Biography After studying at the Budapest School of Fine Art, he traveled th ...
(1922–2008) * Alexandre Istrati (1915–1991) * Paul Jenkins (1923–2012) * Antoni Karwowski (1948– ) * John Franklin Koenig (1924–2008) *
André Lanskoy André Lanskoy (31 March 1902 – 24 August 1976) was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s. Biography He w ...
(1902–1976) * Alfred Manessier (1911–1993) *
René Marcil René Marcil (May 29, 1917 – September 25, 1993) was a Canadian '' Québécois'' artist, painter and fashion illustrator from Montréal, Québec. He spent most of his professional life in New York, Paris, on the French Riviera and in Londo ...
(1917–1993) *
Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...
(1921–2012) * Jean Messagier (1920–1999) *
Jean Miotte Jean Miotte (1926-March 1, 2016) was a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work was preserved and studied by the Miotte Foundation and is in the collections of museums including: MoMA and the Guggenheim in New Yor ...
(1926–2016) *
Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
(1893–1983) *
Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...
(1879–1953) * Serge Poliakoff (1906–1969) * Thibaut de Reimpré (1949– ) *
Seund Ja Rhee Seund Ja Rhee (also transcribed as Seongja Lee; June 3, 1918 – March 8, 2009) was a South Korean painter, printmaker, engraver, draughtswoman, and illustrator. She also designed tapestries and mosaics. She was a prolific artist with more than 1 ...
(1918–2009) * Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923–2002)artnet
retrieved May 24, 2010 *
Emilio Scanavino Emilio Scanavino (Genoa, 28 February 1922 – Milan, 28 November 1986) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Early life Scanavino was born in Genoa. In 1938 he enrolled to the Art School Nicolò Barabino where he met Mario Calonghi, who was teach ...
, (1922–1986) *
Vieira da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and c ...
(1908–1992) *
Gustave Singier Gustave Singier (11 February 1909, in Warneton – 5 May 1984, in Paris) was a Belgian non-figurative painter active in France as part of the new Paris School of Lyrical Abstraction and the Salon de Mai. Early life He spent his childhood in ...
(1909–1984) *
Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...
(1919–2022) *
Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...
(1914–1955) *
Árpád Szenes Árpád Szenes (also french: Árpád Szenès; 6 May 1897, Budapest – 16 January 1985, Paris) was a Hungarian-Jewish abstract painter who worked in France.Gérard Ernest Schneider Gérard Ernest Schneider (1896–1986) was a Swiss painter. A major pioneer of Lyrical Abstraction, a gestural and personal form of abstraction, along with Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages, Gérard Schneider was shown in Paris at the Galerie ...
(1896–1986) *
Michel Tapié Michel Tapié (full name: Michel Tapié de Céleyran; 26 February 1909 – 30 July 1987) was a French art critic, curator, and collector. He was an early and influential theorist and practitioner of "tachisme", a French style of abstract painti ...
(1909–1987) *
Bram van Velde Bram (Abraham Gerardus) van Velde (19 October 1895 – 28 December 1981) was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme, and Lyrical Abstraction. He is often seen as me ...
(1895–1981) * François Willi Wendt (1909–1970) * Wols, pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze (1913–1951) *
Zao Wou-Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Fang Ganmin and Wu ...
(1921–2013) * Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901–1991)


United States

American Lyrical Abstraction is an
art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...
that emerged in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
,
Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...
, and then
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and
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during the 1960s–1970s. Characterized by intuitive and loose paint handling, spontaneous expression, illusionist space, acrylic staining, process, occasional imagery, and other painterly and newer technological techniques. Lyrical Abstraction led the way away from
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
in painting and toward a new freer
expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it ra ...
. Painters who directly reacted against the predominating Formalist,
Minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
, and Pop Art and geometric abstraction styles of the 1960s, turned to new, experimental, loose, painterly, expressive, pictorial and abstract painting styles. Many of them had been Minimalists, working with various monochromatic, geometric styles, and whose paintings publicly evolved into new abstract painterly motifs. American Lyrical Abstraction is related in spirit to
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
, Color Field painting and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an
Tachisme __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
of the 1940s and 1950s as well.
Tachisme __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
refers to the French style of abstract painting current in the 1945–1960 period. Very close to
Art Informel Informalism or Art Informel is a pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the abstract and gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during the World War II, similar to American abstract expressionis ...
, it presents the European equivalent to
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
. The
Sheldon Museum of Art The Sheldon Museum of Art is an art museum in the city of Lincoln, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. Its collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century art. History Sheldon Art Association In 1888, The Sheldon Art Assoc ...
held an exhibition from 1 June until 29 August 1993 entitled ''Lyrical Abstraction: Color and Mood''. Some of the participants included
Dan Christensen Dan Christensen, (October 6, 1942 – January 20, 2007) was an American abstract painter He is best known for paintings that relate to Lyrical Abstraction, Color field painting, and Abstract expressionism. Christensen was born in Cozad, ...
,
Walter Darby Bannard Walter Darby Bannard (September 23, 1934 – October 2, 2016) was an American abstract painter and professor of art and art history at the University of Miami Early life and education Bannard was born in New Haven, Connecticut and attended Ph ...
,
Ronald Davis Ronald "Ron" Davis (born 1937) is an American painter whose work is associated with geometric abstraction, abstract illusionism, lyrical abstraction, hard-edge painting, shaped canvas painting, color field painting, and 3D computer graphics ...
,
Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...
,
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
, Cleve Gray,
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
,
Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...
,
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
, Robert Natkin, William Pettet,
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
, Lawrence Stafford, Peter Young and several other painters. At the time the museum issued a statement the read in part: "As a movement, Lyrical Abstraction extended the post-war
Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
aesthetic and provided a new dimension within the abstract tradition which was clearly indebted to
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splas ...
's "dripped painting" and
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
's stained, color forms. This movement was born out of a desire to create a direct physical and sensory experience of painting through their monumentality and emphasis on color – forcing the viewer to "read" paintings literally as things." During 2009 the
Boca Raton Museum of Art Founded by artists, the Boca Raton Museum of Art was established in 1950 as the Art Guild of Boca Raton. The organization has grown to encompass an Art School, Guild, Store, and Museum with permanent collections of contemporary art, photography, ...
in Florida hosted an exhibition entitled ''Expanding Boundaries: Lyrical Abstraction Selections from the Permanent Collection'' At the time the museum issued a statement that said in part: "Lyrical Abstraction arose in the 1960s and 70s, following the challenge of Minimalism and Conceptual art. Many artists began moving away from geometric, hard-edge, and minimal styles, toward more lyrical, sensuous, romantic abstractions worked in a loose gestural style. These "lyrical abstractionists" sought to expand the boundaries of abstract painting, and to revive and reinvigorate a painterly 'tradition' in American art. At the same time, these artists sought to reinstate the primacy of line and color as formal elements in works composed according to aesthetic principles – rather than as the visual representation of sociopolitical realities or philosophical theories." "Characterized by intuitive and loose paint handling, spontaneous expression, illusionist space, acrylic staining, process, occasional imagery, and other painterly techniques, the abstract works included in this exhibition sing with rich fluid color and quiet energy. Works by the following artists associated with Lyrical Abstraction will be included:
Natvar Bhavsar Natvar Bhavsar (born 1934) is an Indian-American artist, based in Soho, New York City for nearly 50 years, noted as an abstract expressionist and color field artist. Bhavsar's paintings appear in more than 800 private and public collections, in ...
,
Stanley Boxer Stanley Boxer (1926-May 8, 2000) was an American artist best known for thickly painted abstract works of art. He was also an accomplished sculptor and printmaker. He received awards from the Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Endowment for t ...
, Lamar Briggs,
Dan Christensen Dan Christensen, (October 6, 1942 – January 20, 2007) was an American abstract painter He is best known for paintings that relate to Lyrical Abstraction, Color field painting, and Abstract expressionism. Christensen was born in Cozad, ...
,
David Diao David Diao (born 1943) is a Chinese American artist and teacher based in New York City. Background Diao 刁德谦 was born in Chengdu, in China. Several years of his childhood were spent in Hong Kong, at the moment of the revolution in October 19 ...
,
Friedel Dzubas Friedel Dzubas (April 20, 1915 in Berlin, Germany – December 10, 1994 in Auburndale, Massachusetts) was a German-born American abstract painter. Life and work Friedel Dzubas studied art in his native land before fleeing Nazi Germany in ...
,
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
, Dorothy Gillespie, Cleve Gray, Paul Jenkins,
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
, Pat Lipsky,
Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...
, Robert Natkin,
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
,
Larry Poons Lawrence M. "Larry" Poons (born October 1, 1937) is an American abstract painter. Poons was born in Tokyo, Japan, and studied from 1955 to 1957 at the New England Conservatory of Music, with the intent of becoming a professional musician. After ...
, Garry Rich,
John Seery John Seery (born 1941) is an American artist who is associated with the Lyrical Abstraction, lyrical abstraction movement.
...
, Jeff Way and
Larry Zox Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boon ...
."''Expanding Boundaries: Lyrical Abstraction: Selections from the Permanent Collection''
Boca Raton Museum of Art Founded by artists, the Boca Raton Museum of Art was established in 1950 as the Art Guild of Boca Raton. The organization has grown to encompass an Art School, Guild, Store, and Museum with permanent collections of contemporary art, photography, ...
, retrieved June 17, 2009


History of the term in America

Lyrical Abstraction, an exhibition in the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, May 25–July 6, 1971 was described by John I. H. Baur, curator of the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
: :"To be given an entire exhibition surveying a current trend in American art at a single blow is an experience unusual to the verge of the bizarre ... Mr. Aldrich defines the trend of Lyrical Abstraction and explains how he came to acquire the works ..." Lyrical Abstraction was the title of a circulating exhibition which commenced at the
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The Aldrich has no permanent collection and is the only museum in Connecticut that is dedicated solely to the exhibition of contemporary art. The museum presents the first ...
, Ridgefield,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
from April 5 through June 7, 1970, and ended at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 25 through July 6, 1971. Lyrical Abstraction is a term that was used by Larry Aldrich (the founder of the
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The Aldrich has no permanent collection and is the only museum in Connecticut that is dedicated solely to the exhibition of contemporary art. The museum presents the first ...
, Ridgefield Connecticut) in 1969 to describe what Aldrich said he saw in the studios of many artists at that time. Mr. Aldrich, a successful designer and art collector, defined the trend of Lyrical Abstraction and explained how he came to acquire the works. In his "Statement of the Exhibition" he wrote,
Early last season, it became apparent that in painting there was a movement away from the geometric, hard-edge, and minimal, toward more lyrical, sensuous, romantic abstractions in colors which were softer and more vibrant ... The artist's touch is always visible in this type of painting, even when the paintings are done with spray guns, sponges or other objects ... As I researched this lyrical trend, I found many young artists whose paintings appealed to me so much that I was impelled to acquire many of them. The majority of the paintings in the ''Lyrical Abstraction'' exhibition were created in 1969 and all are a part of my collection now.
Larry Aldrich donated the paintings from the exhibition to the Whitney Museum of American Art. For many years the term Lyrical Abstraction was a pejorative, which unfortunately adversely affected those artists whose works were associated with that name. In 1989
Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
art history professor, the late Daniel Robbins observed that Lyrical Abstraction was the term used in the late sixties to describe the return to painterly expressivity by painters all over the country and "consequently", Robbins said, "the term should be used today because it has historical credibility"


Exhibition participants

The following artists participated in the exhibition ''Lyrical Abstraction''. * Helene Aylon (1931–2020) *Victoria Barr (1937– ) *James Beres (1942–2014) *
Jake Berthot Jake Berthot (1939–2014) was an American artist whose abstract paintings contained elements of both the Minimalism, minimalist and Abstract expressionism, expressionist styles. During the first 36 years of his career his paintings were entirel ...
(1939–2014) *
Dan Christensen Dan Christensen, (October 6, 1942 – January 20, 2007) was an American abstract painter He is best known for paintings that relate to Lyrical Abstraction, Color field painting, and Abstract expressionism. Christensen was born in Cozad, ...
(1942–2007)Saatchi
Retrieved May 27, 2010
Santa Barbara Museum, retrieved June 2, 2010 *David William Cummings (1937–2019) *Carl Gliko (1941– )
John Adams Griefen (1942– )
*
Carol Haerer Carol Haerer (1933-2002) was an American artist known for abstract painting in the vein of Minimalism and Lyrical abstraction. Career Haerer is best known for her ''White Painting'' series of works. Her work was included in the ''Lyrical Abstra ...
(1933–2002) *Gary Hudson (1936–2009) *Don Kaufman (1935– ) *Jane A. Kaufman (1938– ) * Victor Kord (1935– ) *
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
(1947– )Glass House history chapter 1
 * Pat Lipsky (1941– ) *Ralph Sessions Moseley (1941– ) *David Paul (1945– ) only in 1970 *Herbert Perr,(1941– ) *William Pettet (1942–2019) *Murray Reich (1932–2012) *Garry Lorence Rich (1943–2016) *Ken L. Showell (1939–1997) *
John Seery John Seery (born 1941) is an American artist who is associated with the Lyrical Abstraction, lyrical abstraction movement.
...
(1941– ) *Alan Siegel (1938– ) *Lawrence Stafford (1938– ) *William Staples (1934– ) *James Sullivan (artist) (1939– ) *Herbert Schiffrin (1944– ) *Shirlann Smith (1931– ) *
John Torreano John Torreano (born 1941) is an American artist from Michigan. He is currently clinical professor of studio art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. Torreano is known for utilizing faceted ...
(1941– ) *Jeff Way (1942– ) *
Thornton Willis Thornton Willis (born May 25, 1936) is an American abstract painter. He has contributed to the New York School (art), New York School of painting since the late 1960s. Viewed as a member of the Third Generation of American Abstract Expressionis ...
(1936– ) *Philip Wofford (1935– ) *
Robert Zakanitch Robert Rahway Zakanitch (born 1935) is an American painter and was one of the founders of the Pattern and Decoration movement. His work is held in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Americ ...
(1935– )


Relation to other tendencies

Lyrical Abstraction along with the
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
movement and Postminimalism (a term first coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in the pages of Artforum in 1969)''Movers and Shakers, New York'', "Leaving C&M", by Sarah Douglas, Art and Auction, March 2007, V.XXXNo7. sought to expand the boundaries of abstract painting and Minimalism by focusing on process, new materials and new ways of expression. Postminimalism often incorporating industrial materials, raw materials, fabrications, found objects, installation, serial repetition, and often with references to Dada and Surrealism is best exemplified in the sculptures of Eva Hesse. Lyrical Abstraction, Conceptual Art, Postminimalism, Earth Art, Video, Performance art, Installation art, along with the continuation of
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
,
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
, Color Field Painting, Hard-edge painting, Minimal Art, Op art, Pop Art, Photorealism and
New Realism New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
extended the boundaries of Contemporary Art in the mid-1960s through the 1970s. Lyrical Abstraction is a type of freewheeling abstract painting that emerged in the mid-1960s when abstract painters returned to various forms of painterly, pictorial, expressionism with a focus on process, gestalt and repetitive compositional strategies in general. Characterized by an overall gestalt, consistent surface tension, sometimes even the hiding of brushstrokes, and an overt avoidance of relational composition. It developed as did Postminimalism as an alternative to strict Formalist and
Minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
doctrine. Lyrical Abstraction shares similarities with Color Field Painting and
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
especially in the freewheeling usage of paint – texture and surface, an example is illustrated by the painting by
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
entitled ''For William Blake''. Direct drawing, calligraphic use of line, the effects of brushed, splattered, stained, squeegeed, poured, and splashed paint superficially resemble the effects seen in
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and Color Field Painting. However the styles are markedly different. Setting it apart from
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and Action Painting of the 1940s and 1950s is the approach to composition and drama. As seen in Action Painting there is an emphasis on brushstrokes, high compositional drama, dynamic compositional tension. While in Lyrical Abstraction there is a sense of compositional randomness, all over composition, low key and relaxed compositional drama and an emphasis on process, repetition, and an all over sensibility. The differences with Color Field Painting are more subtle today because many of the Color Field painters like
Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...
,
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
,
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
, and Jack BushJack Bush
. The Art History Archive; Canadian Art. Retrieved December 9, 2008. with the exceptions of
Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...
,
Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...
, Paul Feeley, Thomas Downing, and Gene Davis (painter), Gene Davis evolved into Lyrical Abstractionists. Lyrical Abstraction shares with both
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and Color Field Painting a sense of spontaneous and immediate sensual expression, consequently distinctions between specific artists and their styles become blurred, and seemingly interchangeable as they evolve. By the mid-1950s, Richard Diebenkorn abandoned
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and along with David Park (painter), David Park, Elmer Bischoff and several others formed the Bay Area Figurative School with a return to Figurative painting. During the period between the fall 1964 and the spring of 1965 Diebenkorn traveled throughout Europe, he was granted a cultural visa to visit and view Henri Matisse paintings in important Soviet museums. He traveled to the then Soviet Union to study Henri Matisse paintings in Russian museums that were rarely seen outside of Russia. When he returned to painting in the Bay Area in mid-1965 his resulting works summed up all that he had learned from his more than a decade as a leading figurative painter.Livingston, Jane. ''The Art of Richard Diebenkorn''. 1997-1998 Exhibition catalog. In ''The Art of Richard Diebenkorn'',
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
. 56. When in 1967 he returned to abstraction his works were parallel to movements like the Color Field movement and Lyrical Abstraction.''NY Times'' obituary ''Richard Diebenkorn Lyrical Painter Dies at 71''
/ref> In the 1960s, English painter John Hoyland's Color field paintings were characterised by simple rectangular shapes, high-key color and a flat picture surface. In the 1970s his paintings became more textured. During the 1960s and 1970s, he showed his paintings in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with the Robert Elkon Gallery and the André Emmerich Gallery. His paintings were closely aligned with Post-Painterly Abstraction, Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction.
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
preceded Color Field painting, Lyrical Abstraction,
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
, Pop Art, Minimalism, Postminimalism, and the other movements of the 1960s and 1970s and it influenced the later movements that evolved. The interrelationship of/and between distinct but related styles resulted in influence that worked both ways between artists young and old, and vice versa. During the mid-1960s in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere artists often crossed the lines between definitions and art styles. During that period – the mid-1960s through the 1970s advanced American art and contemporary art in general was at a crossroad, shattering in several directions. During the 1970s political movements and revolutionary changes in communication made these American styles international; as the art world itself became more and more international. American Lyrical Abstraction's
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an counterpart Neo-expressionism came to dominate the 1980s, and also developed as a response to American Pop Art and Minimalism and borrows heavily from American
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
.


Painters in America

This is a list of artists, whose work or a period or significant aspects of it, has been seen as lyrical abstraction, including those before the identification of the term or tendency in America in the 1960s. *
Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of hi ...
(primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and surrealism) (1904-1948) *James Brooks (painter), James Brooks (primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1906-1992) *Adolph Gottlieb (primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1903-1974)Color as Field
retrieved May 24, 2010 *Robert Motherwell (primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1915-1991) *Philip Guston (primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) and Neo-expressionism (1913-1980)Baker, Kenneth. Berggruen's gallery goes back into color fields, exhibition review
/ref> *Kenzo Okada (primarily
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1902-1982) *
Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...
(and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1925-1992) *John Levee (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1924-2017) * Cleve Gray (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1918-2004) *
Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...
(and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and color field painting) (1928-2011) *Ray Parker (painter), Ray Parker (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
) (1922-1990) *Richard Diebenkorn (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and color field painting) (1922-1993)Lyrical abstraction movement
retrieved May 24, 2010"L.A. Art Collector Caps Two Year Pursuit of Artist with Exhibition of New Work"
on ''ArtDaily''Retrieved May 28, 2010 *
Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...
(and color field painting) (1912-1962) *Kenneth Noland (and color field painting) (1924-2010) *
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
(and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and color field painting) (1922-2007) *Jack Bush (and Color field painting) (1909-1977) *
Friedel Dzubas Friedel Dzubas (April 20, 1915 in Berlin, Germany – December 10, 1994 in Auburndale, Massachusetts) was a German-born American abstract painter. Life and work Friedel Dzubas studied art in his native land before fleeing Nazi Germany in ...
(and color field painting) (1915-1994) *Frank Stella (and
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
, Hard-edge painting, colour field painting and sculpture) (born 1936) *Brice Marden (and
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
) (born 1938) *
Ronald Davis Ronald "Ron" Davis (born 1937) is an American painter whose work is associated with geometric abstraction, abstract illusionism, lyrical abstraction, hard-edge painting, shaped canvas painting, color field painting, and 3D computer graphics ...
(and Hard-edge painting and Abstract Illusionism) (born 1937) *John Hoyland (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and color field painting) (1934-2011)tate.org.uk
 *
Larry Zox Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boon ...
(and Color field painting and Hard-edge painting) (1937-2006) *
Larry Poons Lawrence M. "Larry" Poons (born October 1, 1937) is an American abstract painter. Poons was born in Tokyo, Japan, and studied from 1955 to 1957 at the New England Conservatory of Music, with the intent of becoming a professional musician. After ...
(and Hard-edge painting and color field painting) (born 1937) *
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
(and color field painting) (born 1947) *
Dan Christensen Dan Christensen, (October 6, 1942 – January 20, 2007) was an American abstract painter He is best known for paintings that relate to Lyrical Abstraction, Color field painting, and Abstract expressionism. Christensen was born in Cozad, ...
(and color field painting) (1942-2007) *Edward Corbett (artist), Edward Corbett (and
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and color field painting) (1919-1971) *Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) *Sean Scully (and Hard-edge painting) (born 1945) *Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) *
Walter Darby Bannard Walter Darby Bannard (September 23, 1934 – October 2, 2016) was an American abstract painter and professor of art and art history at the University of Miami Early life and education Bannard was born in New Haven, Connecticut and attended Ph ...
(and
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
and color field painting) (1934-2016) *David Simpson (artist), David Simpson, (and
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
and color field painting and Hard-edge painting) (born 1928) *John Walker (painter) (born 1939) *Kikuo Saito (and color field painting) (1939-2016) *Donald Martiny (born 1953) * William Pettet (1942-2019) * John Adams Griefen (born 1942) *Joan Snyder (born 1940) *Stephen Mueller (1947-2011) *Julian Hatton (born 1956) *Tom Holland (artist), Tom Holland (born 1936) *Charles Arnoldi (born 1946) *Emily Mason (1932-2019) *Ed Moses (artist), Ed Moses (1926-2018) *I. Rice Pereira, Irene Rice-Pereira (1902-1971) * Robert Natkin (1930-2010) *Neil Williams (artist), Neil Williams (and Hard-edge painting) (1934-1988) *David Budd (1927-1991) *Peter Young (artist) (born 1940) *Frank Bowling (born 1934) *Robert Duran (1938-2005) *Nancy Graves (and sculpture) (1940-1995) * Pat Lipsky (born 1941) *Gary Hudson (1936-2009) *Frances Barth (born 1946) *Carlos Villa (1936-2013) *
Carol Haerer Carol Haerer (1933-2002) was an American artist known for abstract painting in the vein of Minimalism and Lyrical abstraction. Career Haerer is best known for her ''White Painting'' series of works. Her work was included in the ''Lyrical Abstra ...
(1933-2002) *Phillip Wofford (born 1935) *
Stanley Boxer Stanley Boxer (1926-May 8, 2000) was an American artist best known for thickly painted abstract works of art. He was also an accomplished sculptor and printmaker. He received awards from the Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Endowment for t ...
(1926-2000) *Joyce Weinstein (born 1931) *Ralph Humphrey (1932-1990) *Alvin D. Loving, Al Loving (1935-1992) *
Natvar Bhavsar Natvar Bhavsar (born 1934) is an Indian-American artist, based in Soho, New York City for nearly 50 years, noted as an abstract expressionist and color field artist. Bhavsar's paintings appear in more than 800 private and public collections, in ...
(born 1934) *Alan Shields (1944-2005) *Peter Reginato (and sculpture) (born 1945) *
David Diao David Diao (born 1943) is a Chinese American artist and teacher based in New York City. Background Diao 刁德谦 was born in Chengdu, in China. Several years of his childhood were spent in Hong Kong, at the moment of the revolution in October 19 ...
(and Hard-edge painting) (born 1943) *Kenneth Showell (1939-1997) *
Thornton Willis Thornton Willis (born May 25, 1936) is an American abstract painter. He has contributed to the New York School (art), New York School of painting since the late 1960s. Viewed as a member of the Third Generation of American Abstract Expressionis ...
(born 1936) *Joanna Pousette-Dart (born 1947) *David Novros (born 1941) *Peter Bradley (artist), Peter Bradley (born 1940) *Edward Avedisian (1936-2007) *Melissa Meyer (born 1946) *Carol Sutton (artist), Carol Sutton (born 1945) *Lawrence Stafford (born 1938) *Alan Cote (born 1937) *Doug Ohlson (1936-2010) *
Jake Berthot Jake Berthot (1939–2014) was an American artist whose abstract paintings contained elements of both the Minimalism, minimalist and Abstract expressionism, expressionist styles. During the first 36 years of his career his paintings were entirel ...
(1939-2014) *Darryl Hughto (born 1943) *Jack Whitten (1939-2018) *Lee Lozano (1930-1999) *Eugene J. Martin (1938-2005) *Gary Stephan (born 1942) *Shirley Smith (born 1950) *Ed Ruda (1922-2014) *Murray Reich (1932-2012) *Gary Bower (born 1940) *David R. Prentice (born 1943) *Harvey Quaytman (1937-2002) *Carl Gliko (born 1941) *Joe Haske (born 1945) *Francine Tint (born 1943) *Marilyn Kirsch (born 1950) *Richard Saba (born 1946) *Joseph Drapell (born 1940) *Frederick Lund Ottensen (1913-1975) *Victor Kord (born 1935)


See also

*Abstract expressionism *Color field painting *Hard-edge painting *Post-painterly abstraction *
Tachisme __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...
*COBRA (avant-garde movement) *Formalism (art) *Western painting *History of painting *Orphism (art) * Nuagisme


References


Sources

*Landfield, Ronnie
''Lyrical Abstraction''
''In The Late Sixties'', 1993–95, and other writings – various published and unpublished essays, reviews, lectures, statements and brief descriptives a

*Robbins, Daniel. ''Larry Poons: Creation of the Complex Surface'', Exhibition Catalogue, Salander/O'Reilly Galleries, pp. 9–19, 1990. *Zinsser, John. ''Larry Poons'', an interview reprinted from Journal of Contemporary Art, Fall/Winter 1989, vol.2.2 pp. 28–38. Exhibition Catalogue, Salander/O'Reilly Galleries, pp. 20–24, 1990. *Peter Schjeldahl. ''New Abstract Painting: A Variety of Feelings'', Exhibition review, "''Continuing Abstraction'' ", The Whitney Downtown Branch, 55 Water St. NYC. The New York Times, October 13, 1974. *Carmean, E.A. ''Toward Color and Field'', Exhibition Catalogue, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 1971. *Henning, Edward B. ''Color & Field'', Art International May 1971: 46–50. *Tucker, Marcia. ''The Structure of Color'', New York:
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, NYC, 1971. *Ratcliff, Carter. ''Painterly vs. Painted'', Art News Annual XXXVII, Thomas B. Hess, and John Ashberry, eds.1971, pp..129–147. *Stephen Prokopoff.NYTimes obit
/ref> ''Two Generations of Color Painting'', Exhibition Catalogue, Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, 1971. *Lyrical Abstraction, Exhibition Catalogue,
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, NYC, 1971. *Sharp, Willoughby. ''Points of View'', A taped conversation with four painters,"
Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...
, Brice Marden, Larry Poons and John Walker (painter), Arts, v. 45, n.3. December 1970, pp. 41–. *Lyrical Abstraction, Exhibition Catalogue, the
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The Aldrich has no permanent collection and is the only museum in Connecticut that is dedicated solely to the exhibition of contemporary art. The museum presents the first ...
, Ridgefield, Conn. 1970. *Domingo, Willis. ''Color Abstractionism: A Survey of Recent American Painting'', Arts, v. 45.n.3, December 1970, pp. 34–40. *Channin, Richard. ''New Directions in Painterly Abstraction'', Art International, Sept. 1970; pp. 62–64. *Davis, Douglas. ''The New Color Painters'', Newsweek 4 May 1970: pp. 84–85. *Ashton, Dore. ''Young Abstract Painters: Right On!'' Arts v. 44, n. 4, February, 1970, pp. 31–35. *Aldrich, Larry. ''Young Lyrical Painters'', Art in America, v.57, n6, November–December 1969, pp. 104–113. *Ratcliff, Carter. ''The New Informalists'', Art News, v. 68, n. 8, December 1969, p. 72. *Davis, Douglas M. ''This Is the Loose-Paint Generation'', The National Observer 4 Aug. 1969: p. 20 *Martin, Ann Ray, and Howard Junker. ''The New Art: It's Way, Way Out'', Newsweek 29 July 1968: pp. 3,55–63.


Bibliography

* ''L'Envolée Lyrique'' ("Lyrical Flight"), Paris 1945–1956, texts Patrick-Gilles Persin, Michel and Pierre Descargues Ragon, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris and Skira, Milan, 2006, 280 p. ( ). * Gérard Xuriguera. ''Les Années 50'', Arted, Paris, 1984. * Dora Vallier. ''L'Art Abstrait'', Livre de Poche, Paris, 1980. * Michel Ragon et Michel Seuphor. ''L'art abstrait'', (volume 4: 1945–1970), Fondation Maeght, Maeght, Paris, 1974.


External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20121020093645/http://www.abstract-art.com/abstraction/l5_wordings_fldr/l1_lyr_abst_proposal.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20120915134250/http://www.abstract-art.com/ *http://www.artinsight.com/lyrical_abstraction.html *http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=36016&BioArtistIRN=18438&MnuID=SRCH&GalID=ALL (Seery) *http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=36943&BioArtistIRN=22094&MnuID=2&GalID=1 (Young) *http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=112933&BioArtistIRN=14089&MnuID=SRCH&GalID=1 (Budd)
''James Brooks: My whole tendency has been away from the fast moving line either violent or lyrical..''
(James Brooks)

{{Avant-garde Abstract art Art Informel and Tachisme Abstract expressionism Concepts in aesthetics Contemporary art movements Modern art 1950s in art 1960s in art 1970s in art American art movements