| Begun by artists at the turn of the last century, Expressionism was a revolutionary
movement in painting that was to usher in the new era of Modern Art. Unlike
the Impressionists a quarter century earlier who sought to the convey in
their painting impressions gained from direct observation, the Expressionists
sought to portray only what they felt within themselves - to transmute subjective
feelings through the medium of paint into an 'expression' on the canvas.
Abstract Expressionism originated in the 1940s and was influenced
by earlier 20th century art movements such as Cubism and Surrealism. The
works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali promoted abstraction rather
than representation. It wasn't until after the Second World War that
Abstract Expressionism became a major art movement, with New York replacing
Paris as the center of the art world. Some of the more well known Abstract
Expressionists were Mark Rothko (American, 1903-1970), Willem De Kooning
(Dutch-American, 1904-1997), and Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956).
With the convergence of digital painting tools and cyberspace at the end
of the 20th century, a new generation of Abstract Expressionists are exhibiting
their art on the World Wide Web. No longer confined to brick-and-mortar
galleries, these artists can now reach a global audience. Edvard Reiter,
whose work is shown below, is representative of this new school of Digital
Abstract Expressionism. |
