Abstract impressionism is an art movement that originated in New York City, in the 1940s.Eduoard Malingue Gallery. ''Impressionism to Modern Art.'' Hong Kong: Eduard Malingue Gallery, 2011. 10. It involves the painting of a subject such as real-life scenes, objects, or people (portraits) in an

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

style, but with an emphasis on varying measures of

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

. The paintings are often painted ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

,'' an artistic style involving painting outside with the landscape directly in front of the artist. The movement works delicately between the lines of pure abstraction (the extent of which varies greatly) and the allowance of an impression of reality in the painting.

History

Terminology

The coining of the term ''abstract impressionism'' has been attributed to painter and critic

Elaine de Kooning Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning ( , ; ; March 12, 1918 – February 1, 1989) was an Abstract Expressionist and Figurative Expressionist painter in the post-World War II era. She wrote extensively on the art of the period and was an editorial ...

in the 1950s. The introduction of this term and the associated artworks both preceded and legitimised its first exhibition in 1958, curated by

Lawrence Alloway Lawrence Reginald Alloway (17 September 1926 – 2 January 1990) was an English art critic and curator who worked in the United States from 1961. In the 1950s, he was a leading member of the Independent Group in the UK and in the 1960s was an i ...

. The term, after being coined by Elaine de Kooning, is considered to have been popularised by artist and critic

Louis Finkelstein Louis Finkelstein (June 14, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio – 29 November 1991) was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Conservative Judaism. Biography Louis (Eliezer) Finkel ...

to describe the works of

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...

, in order to distinguish his art from that of the growing field of

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

. Phillip Guston's rise within artistic and social spheres in the mid-1950s was a determining factor in the development and profiling of abstract impressionism. His paintings were considered by Finkelstein to be simultaneously extensions of Abstract Expressionism and also oppositions of, or alternatives to, the aggressiveness of Abstract Expressionism. After applying the term to Guston, Finkelstein continued to use "abstract impressionism" to describe new artworks and artistic practices in the 1950s, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He believed and purported that emerging forms of artmaking provided a unique opportunity to redefine and re-evaluate a series of artists who, despite being raised around the ideals and norms of Abstract Expressionism, were moving more towards reinvigorating the ideals of the traditional

Impressionist movement Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject ...

Alloway's exhibition

Lawrence Alloway's exhibition, the first of its kind for abstract impressionism, featured 26 paintings by 23 artists. The idea for the exhibition came from the Fine Art Department of the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, and took place at the Arts Council Gallery in St. James' Square. The artists featured were from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with their various works prefaced by a ''"lengthy catalogue"'' written by Alloway himself. Alan Bowness, a critic of the show, recalled

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 li ...

Peter Lanyon George Peter Lanyon (8 February 1918 – 31 August 1964) was a British painter of landscapes leaning heavily towards abstraction. Lanyon was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. Despite his early death at the ag ...

, and

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,

to be participating artists in the exhibition.

Differentiation

Both the exhibition and the movement in general were considered by many to highlight a distinct differentiation from preceding movements, despite some critics, like Alan Bowness, arguing the works of the movement were not differentiated enough from previous works. Despite this controversy, abstract impressionism has been considered an ideological opposition to the other post-war movements of the era- specifically its growing countermovements,

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

. Whilst Futurism focussed on rejecting the art of the past, abstract impressionism sought to incorporate techniques from numerous movements before it. This included both the Abstract and

movements of the early 1900s and the 1860s respectively. Additionally, abstract impressionists were unwilling to subscribe to the rationality and mathematic precision of Cubism. They rejected the idea of creating an image out of divided parts, and instead sought to create a mass of colour and imagery, that would only be recognisable as a whole. Abstract impressionism has been considered a result from an artist deviation from the ''"expressionistic aggressiveness of the forties"'', and the simultaneous embracing of both new abstraction techniques and more traditional roots of nature and lyrical appreciation. In terms of distinguishing themselves from traditional Impressionist works, abstract impressionists deviate in a way that Elaine de Kooning describes as ''"keep ngthe Impressionist manner of looking at a scene, but eavingout the scene... thereby giving an old style a new subject"''. Simply put, they add abstraction onto Impressionism and take away the reliance on specificity and exactness.

Criticism

Stylistic criticism

Abstract impressionism has been criticised for its legitimacy, and its inability to distinguish itself from other movements, by many art critics. After one of its early exhibitions at the Arts Gallery Council in St. James Square, Alan Bowness (a highly regarded art critic and historian) described abstract impressionism as "just another 'ism", without "the catalogue for the adoption of this new term eingvery convincing". The main point of contention regards a difficulty separating the movement from other art periods, such as

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

lyrical abstraction Lyrical abstraction arose from either of two related but distinct art movement, trends in Post-war Modernist painting: * European ''Abstraction Lyrique'': a movement that emerged in Paris, with the French art critic Jean José Marchand being cr ...

, or

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

. Bowness says that in trying to discern ''"particular qualities these pictures have in common, qualities that differentiate them from other paintings of a roughly similar type... the result is all together inconclusive"''. A further issue has been the widely varying degrees of abstraction in the movement, that may make visual uniformity difficult. Bowness notes that he finds it difficult to comprehend any unity between the artworks, and concludes that there is no movement that could rightfully claim all of them.

Categorisation criticism

Another element of controversy within abstract impressionism comes in attempting to categorise its style within other movements. Art historians

Simon Watney Simon Watney is a British writer, art historian, and AIDS activist. His 1987 article, "The Spectacle of AIDS", was included in ''The Gay and Lesbian Studies Reader''. He also published ''Policing Desire: Pornography, AIDS and the Media'' in 1986. ...

and

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent ...

debate over two places in which abstract impressionism may fit. They conclude to be unsure of whether it is a further development of

, or if it is perhaps more related to the period of Bloomsbury Abstraction within the Abstract movement. Additionally, many artists that the abstract impressionist movement has claimed- such as

Milton Resnick Milton Resnick (January 7, 1917 – March 12, 2004) was an American artist noted for abstract paintings that coupled scale with density of incident. It was not uncommon for some of the largest paintings to weigh in excess of three hundred pounds ...

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,

, or

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

- are simultaneously considered to be members of other more widely recognised movements, such as Abstract Expressionism, whether by their own definition or the labelling of other art critics.

Style

The style of abstract impressionism focusses on the portrayal of real life subjects- typically situated close to the artist themselves- through simplification and abstraction. This creates a work of art that lends itself towards the traditions of both

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

movements. The amount of abstraction varies greatly from painting to painting, which has been seen as a point of controversy in the movement as it disallows visual conformity between works.

Painting techniques

Like Impressionism, the artworks feature short brushstrokes with paint "loaded" onto the painting instrument. This technique involves piling paint onto an art tool, such as a brush or a palette knife, and layering the paint onto the canvas or paper to create a multi-layered and textured effect- or, an "impression". Abstract impressionists paintings have been described to resemble late-Impressionist pictures in their technique, like those of

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, but without the representative content that usually defines Impressionism. Abstract impressionist style also relies largely on the painting embracing the concept of

. ''En plein air'' painting is an artistic style involving painting outdoors, with the landscape or subject directly in front of the artist. This technique is used primarily by Impressionists. However, abstract impression deviates from traditional ''en plain air'' artworks as the level of exactness or realism in the painting is seen to be less important than overall atmospheric effect.

Deviations from similar movements

Abstract impressionists have been described to be largely inspired by modern advances in and changing attitudes towards

color theory Color theory, or more specifically traditional color theory, is a historical body of knowledge describing the behavior of colors, namely in color mixing, color contrast effects, color harmony, color schemes and color symbolism. Modern color th ...

. Traditional Impressionist work, in its reflection of reality, often used gentle, bright, and complementary colours to mirror the outdoor setting and light sources. Abstract impressionists, however, "did not hesitate to apply innovative techniques to their painting, considered revolutionary at the time".

Notable artists and artworks

Notable artists

As aforementioned, notable artists and artworks of this movement are subject to controversy and possible subjectivity. The first abstract impressionist exhibition, curated by Lawrence Alloway, took place in London.''The Oxford Dictionary of Art'' ''and Artists'' lists the following artists as its subjects: *

Bernard Cohen (painter) Bernard Cohen (born 1933, London) is a British painter. He is regarded as one of the leading British abstract artists of his time. Biography Bernard Cohen studied at Central Saint Martins School of Art in London between 1950-1951, followed by ...

Harold Cohen (artist) Harold Cohen (1 May 1928 – 27 April 2016) was a British-born artist who was noted as the creator of AARON, a computer program designed to produce paintings and drawings autonomously, which set it apart from previous programs. His work in the ...

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,

Patrick Heron Patrick Heron (30 January 1920 – 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall. Heron was recognised as one of the leading painters of his generation. Influenced ...

Art historian and critic Alan Bowness, in his critique of the first exhibition, also mentions

's presence, and confirmed Sam Francis and Nicolas de Staël to be there. The following is a comprehensive list of artists who have been associated with the movement. * Bernard Cohen * Harold Cohen * Sam Francis * Patrick Heron * Nicolas de Staël *

Richard Pousette-Dart Richard Warren Pousette-Dart (June 8, 1916 – October 25, 1992) was an American abstract expressionist artist most recognized as a founder of the New York School of painting.Kimmelman, Michae"Richard Pousette-Dart, 76, Dies; An Early Abstract E ...

Jean-Paul Riopelle Jean-Paul Riopelle, (October 7, 1923 – March 12, 2002) was a Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. He had one of the longest and most important international careers of the sixteen signatories of the '' Refus Global'', the 1948 manifest ...

* William Duvall *

Phillip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

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 ...

Nell Blaine Nell Blair Walden Blaine (July 10, 1922–November 14, 1996) was an American landscape painter, expressionist, and Watercolor painting, watercolorist. From Richmond, Virginia, she had most of her career based in New York City and Gloucester, Mass ...

* Robert Goodnough * Jan Müller * Ray Parker *

Ad Reinhardt Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an American abstract painter and art theorist active in New York City for more than three decades. As a theorist he wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a ...

* Bradley Walker Tomlin *

Janet Sobel Janet Sobel (May 31, 1893 – November 11, 1968), born Jennie Olechovsky (occ. Lechovsky), was a Ukrainian-born American Abstract Expressionist painter who pioneered the drip painting technique; her work directly influenced Jackson Pollock. She ...

Notable artworks

* Sam Francis: ''Black and Red'' * Julius Reque: ''Abstract Impressionism in Photography'' * Bernard Cohen: ''In That Moment'' * Nicolas de Staël: ''Etude de Paysage'' (Landscape Study) * Harold Cohen: ''Before the Event'' * Patrick Heron: ''Azalea Garden''

References

{{reflist Impressionism Art movements

History

Terminology

Alloway's exhibition

Differentiation

Criticism

Stylistic criticism

Categorisation criticism

Style

Painting techniques

Deviations from similar movements

Notable artists and artworks

Notable artists

Notable artworks

See also

Related art styles and movements

References