Annotated+Bib

"Abstract expressionism." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. []

This informational article has no single author, Edward Adler, a professor with a degree in Art Education, is one of the many who contributed to it. This article was filled with information about //why// the artists did what they did, but not so much //who// did it. This is a good article to read as an overview of abstract expressionism, it gives the reader the whole picture but does not delve into the details, which was one of its downsides. If this article was combined with one or more of the painter’s biographies then it would have seemed more useful. The language used in this article seemed to be directed more to a more mature audience, and at some points assuming that the reader is aware of certain American history events. The authors/article has no thesis; it simply presents all of the information available regarding what the movement was.

Raczka, Bob. Name that style. Minneapolis [Minn.]: Millbrook Press. c2009.

Raczka explains not only the "ism" of Abstract Expressionism, but why the artists of that time did it. The attitudes of post WW2 were drastically different than those of the 30's and early 40's. The artists wanted to "express emotions that anyone could relate to". The paintings and overall art were visually appealing and interesting, but the finished product was not always the main idea. Abstract Expressionism is all about the act of painting it, it is sometimes referred to as "action paint" or "energy painting", the actually physicality of painting was more important than the finished product. This style of art usually involves larger than normal canvases and does not have to be painted with traditional paints, one famous abstract expressionist, Jackson Pollock, is famous for his use of ordinary house paint as his medium. Raczka became an accomplished graphic designer after finishing a full scholarship for art at The University of Illinois, before writing this book, and has had no formal training in painting. Although it did not seem necessary in the completion of this informative book to be formally trained in painting, since it is not a //how-to// book on painting, if anything it seemed to be directed towards a younger audience, making the information simplistic and to the point. I would have liked to gain more from this source, but the information I did receive was new, and will directly be incorporated into my project and planning of my event.

Gibson, Ann. "Lee Krasner and women's innovations in American abstract painting." //Woman's Art Journal// 28.2 (2007): 11. //Academic OneFile//. Web. 6 Oct. 2010

Ann Gibson, a part-time art journalist, is actually much more known for her work as a professional choreographer and art director for MTV and the E! Network. Her most recent work is choreographing all of Lady Gaga’s videos. In the sense of art journal writing, Gibson may not be the best writer for this article, but her work and experience in the music and art community is useful. Gibson provides a very different perspective on the entire abstract revolution, especially through the eyes of the women artists. Gibson explains, through the two women she mostly speaks about, Lee Krasner and Ealine Kooning, struggled to fit into the same art communities as their male partners and fellow artists. The problem was that since they were women artists, they were already seen as //less// of an artist, and their husbands at the time were well known established artists. That created a problem, those women, and many others struggled to get out of the shadows of the males. Some critics of the time thought this struggle the women felt was fictional since the outside world was way more confused with the art they were creating to notice the sexist things that were going on in that exclusive community. It is very obvious that Gibson has a very strong point of view, although it is a whole new perspective on Abstract Expressionism, it does have a small sense of a bias spread throughout the article, which may be the only downside of this article. I would have liked to see the other side of this article, the male aspect, and the relationship between Less Krasner and Jackson Pollock, //which has now become a further research topic//. I learned that there are so many more layers to the very famous Abstract expressionism era, not just artistically but socially. Before this article, I believed that women and men seemed to be on the same level artistically, Gibson sheds light onto the reality, in which they are not, and probably never will be.

Solomon, Deborah. //Jackson Pollock: A Biography//. Vol. 1. 2001. N.p.: n.p., 2001. Print. 1 vols.

Deborah Solomon, a New York City native, was a graduate of Cornell University with a major in art history, then went on to Colombia to earn a master’s in journalism. She is well known in the NY art community and has received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001 for her unfinished biography of Norman Rockwell. Interestingly enough, Jackson Pollock was a close acquainted of Peggy Guggenheim herself. Solomon’s biography of Pollock is just that, it does not criticize the work at all, only mentions them and when they were made. This biography delved into Jackson’s life, and why he started painting. Pollock actually never wanted to become a professional artist the way her did and got into the art scene rather late compared to his peers. Pollock worked “normal” manual labor jobs for most of his young adult life and only started seeing an interest in art late in his twenties. It also shed a light on the destructive side of Pollock, his alcoholism. Pollock’s alcoholism was generally accepted by his peers because most artist believe that one must be a //tortured soul// to make art, but then went on to describe how Lee Krasner, his wife, was the only one wanting him to get better and to have children. There is no bias or opinions in this biography, and goes into much more detail than the encyclopedia articles online. I think it is mandatory for anyone to read this biography if they want to do any type of informational project on Jackson Pollock, it was much more than //this is when and where he was born// etc information. It is also very obvious he intended audience of the biography: college level students and adults. There are some sections of the biography that focused primarily on the NY art scene, which is so useful since the reader must be aware of the things being references when Solomon quotes Pollock and his peers, for instance, certain art gallery slang and slang in general popular to their group.

Engelmann, Ines Janet. //Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner//. Vol. 1. 2007. N.p.: Pegasus Library, 2007. Print. 1 vols.

Ines Janet Engelmann is a long time art author, who wrote similar books to //Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner// such as //50 Impressionist Paintings You Should Know// and other artist’s biographies. This is the only source I found so far that describes the relationship in depth between Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock. It has an entire section on the power struggle Krasner felt and the longing to be in her husband’s group of friends. Women were not seen as artists of that time, a few were accepted and Lee wanted to one of those few. Similar to Pollock’s biography, his alcoholism that plagued his own family was affecting his work. It was hinted that both Krasner and Pollock wanted children but never seemed to have //that conversation//. Although the redundancy of the subject of women in the art world will never change, the side by side comparison of art between the two artists is important to see. Lee Krasner’s work was just as good or sometimes even better than Pollock’s so she should have been on the same level, artistically accepted, as Pollock, but in those times, that simply could not happen.

Somers, Kevin. "#$&% Jackson Pollock." //www.raisethehammer.org//. N.p., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. . Kevin Somers is a working children’s book illustrator, and has a fine arts degree. Somers attitude towards Pollock’s work seemed very biased. He himself is not a painter, although he comments and criticizes Pollock’s process and skill. Throughout the article, or rant (at some points it seems to be one), he maintains that Pollock had no talent as an artist or a painter. This argument is well backed with information though. Somers claims that he has been working with children, in their art departments at their schools, in order to gain insight into his own illustration process. Somers says that when children, most under the age of 10 were allowed to paint like Pollock, they created the same type of paintings, using the same type of //action painting// that has made Pollock famous. The whole point of //action painting//, is painting with emotion, minimizing the filters that the paint goes through before it hits the canvas. Children were as apt to do this as any adult was, if better. Children tend to not care what their paintings or drawings look like in the end; they only aim to please themselves, a purer form of art. So when Jackson Pollock did this, attempted to paint like a child would, his did not turn out as well as those children’s did, he had the adult mind set, which hindered the painting. Which is turn made what he was doing, less of art. These points were rampant in Somer’s article. It was quite obvious he was/is not a supporter of Jackson Pollock’s work. This is an interesting article despite its extreme bias towards Pollock. I am curious to see if this man is only partial to Pollock’s work and not to the entire abstract expressionist community. This article is not geared toward any certain age group because it is more so an opinion more than a extremely credible source. This article should not be treated as a credible source because of its high content of opinion and the fact that the author is not a scholarly accredited person. It is merely an educated opinion.

Hahn, Harley. "Understanding Abstract Art ." Rev. of //"Lavender Mist"//. //www.harley.com//. Harley Hahn, Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. .

This article was strikingly different than the one written by Kevin Somers. Harley Hahn, a well known art critic in the art community nation-wide, is more so known for his website, dedicated to contemporary art criticism. Hahn himself is an artist, and features some of his own works on this website. The article has many layers to it and touches on many individual artists. When it comes to the section on Jackson Pollock the reader gets a sense, from the first few sentences, that Hahn does not like Jackson Pollock, or his work. As the article progresses, the reader sees that Hahn actually does respect his work and thinks it does deserve it’s spot in contemporary art’s history. One of the main points he seems to go back on was the scale of Pollock’s paintings. Hahn had visited a museum in D.C. to see “Lavender Mist” and was astonished. Hahn believes that if his paintings, in which he employed the //action painting// technique, were not as monumental as they were, they would not have the same impact. He goes on to say that standing in front of one was overwhelming; the scale at which they were produced cannot be represented on any picture or computer monitor. To see one of his paintings, up-close, to see the texture of the multiple layers of paint is really what makes it art. Hahn believes that whoever believes Jackson Pollock’s work is not art, //then they have not see one in person//. This article presents a new perspective on Pollock’s work. Not only is Hahn saying the paintings were //new// and //exciting// for the times, as reasons for their credibility, he says there is something more to them, the impact that they have on the viewer is much more than how they look.

Lewis, Robert J. "ABSTRACT art IS NOT ART." //Arts&Opinion//. N.p., 2 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. . This is the most compelling article regarding abstract art in general. Robert J. Lewis, a graduate of York University's Fine Arts program, is a working illustrator and professional artist since his early teens. Lewis believes, and displays quite clearly, that he does not think abstract or expressionist art is art //at all//. The article does not mention whether or not he has ever seen any of Pollock’s paintings or any other abstract expressionist’s work in person. Lewis goes as far as to call anyone who curates or buys any abstract art as **“**** dwell[ing] in catastrophic hebetud”. **
 * Although this article is not specific to the Abstract Expressionism movement, it has some useful information with the definition of art, which was a subject that was struggled with in the very beginning of my research, //what does constitute art in the first place?// I almost wish I had read this article at the very beginning of my research because he raises up very some important questions and makes very interesting conclusions. One of Lewis’s strongest comments was the subjectivity of abstract art and art in general. **
 * Lewis believes that whether or not something is “art” depends completely on your personal opinion and your background knowledge of art. One person, who has little to no art history knowledge, may think Barnett Newman’s "Voice of Fire" (a painting consisting of three vertical lines of color, sold for 1.8 million dollars), is not art, but another person, educated in fine arts would agree that it //was// in fact art. So this raises some questions, //what is art//? According to Lewis, everything //but// abstract art is art, which is a very bold statement. **