1940s–1960s · New York
Abstract Expressionism
The canvas as an arena
After Europe’s catastrophe, the center of the conversation moves to New York. The canvas becomes an arena (Rosenberg) or a field of color you stand inside (Rothko).
Pollock’s drip is not chaos. It is a record of a body moving around a canvas on the floor — painting as an event.
de Kooning never fully lets go of the figure. The woman, the city, the stroke keep colliding.
