abstract expressionism

American  

Sometimes Abstract Expressionism

noun

1. a movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.

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abstract expressionism British  

noun

1. a school of painting in New York in the 1940s that combined the spontaneity of expressionism with abstract forms in unpremeditated, apparently random, compositions See also action painting tachisme

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abstract expressionism Cultural  

1. A school of art that flourished primarily from the 1940s to the 1960s, noted for its large-scale, nonrepresentational works by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.

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Other Word Forms

• abstract expressionist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of abstract expressionism

An Americanism dating back to 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abstract expressionism

His restless intellect and self-confidence propelled him toward color-soaked figurative work and not the abstract expressionism or pop art of many of his peers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

From abstract expressionism to pop art, the collection at the museum serves as a time capsule of pivotal artistic movements.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2025

After that, I went into an intensive research process thinking about her generation of artists, the women of abstract expressionism.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2023

‘Alternate Realities: Altoon, Diebenkorn, Lobdell, Woelffer’ Works from the museum’s collection that test the boundaries between 1950s-60s abstract expressionism and figurative painting are on view through Aug. 22.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2022

This was 15 years before abstract expressionism broke out and New York became the center of the art world.

From Washington Post