Post WWII & Contemporary Art

The influx of European Surrealists and other modernists during World War II enriched and enlivened the New York art scene. Abstract Expressionism flourished in New York from about 1943 to 1955. Accident and chance-hallmarks of Surrealism-converged with bold, gestural applications of pigment. The vigor of the Abstract Expressionists' painting technique inspired critic Harold Rosenberg to coin the term Action Painting. Some of the artists in the group espoused complete nonobjectivity; others chose to evoke myth and ritual.

The art world of the 1960s reacted against the excesses of Abstract Expressionism, and Pop artists looked to commercial advertising, television, and popular culture for inspiration. They reflected the prevailing alienation and disenchantment that resulted from the Vietnam War. At the opposite end of the spectrum were the proponents of Conceptual Art, who embodied the notion that the idea, event, or activity is more important than the finished artwork, which merely documents the idea. Documentation may be in the form of printed statements, photographic or other mechanically reproduced records, or discrete objects. Conceptual Art expresses what the artist had in mind rather than the finished product.

Today, in the post-modern period, many artists have returned to more traditional forms of painting, but in their choice of subjects and in their style of painting they have embraced bizarre stories and exaggerated, outlandish forms, unimaginable to even the most renegade artists of the past. Certainly, the works of these artists echo the tenor of our time, when worldwide terrorism has undermined our sense of security and order.