"Abstract Expressionism is a term applied to a movement in American painting that flourished in New York City after World War II, sometimes referred to as the New York School or more, narrowly, as action painting. The varied work produced by Abstract Expressionists resists definition as a cohesive style: instead, these artists shared an interest in using abstraction to convey strong emotional or expressive content.
Abstract expressionism is best known for large-scale paintings that break away from traditional processes, often taking the canvas off the easel and using unconventional materials such as house paint.
Abstract Expressionism emerged in a climate of Cold War politics and social and cultural conservatism. World War II had positioned the United States as a global power and in the years following conflict, many Americans enjoyed the benefits of unprecedented economic growth.
Abstract Expressionism marked the beginning of New York City's influence as the center of the Western art world. The world of Abstract Expressionist artists was firmly rooted in Lower Manhattan." -- MoMA Learning
Below is a very brief look of some American abstract expressionists! We encourage you check out the library's materials on each artist & topic!
Deep Sun, 1983 by Helen Frankenthaler
"Helen Frankenthaler was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s until 2011), she spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work. Frankenthaler began exhibiting her large-scale abstract expressionist paintings in contemporary museums and galleries in the early 1950s... Born in Manhattan, she was influence by Greenberg, Hans Hofmann, and Jackson Pollock's paintings. Her work has been the subject of several retrospective exhibitions, including a 1989 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and been exhibited worldwide since the 1950s." --MoMA
"She invented the 'soak-stain' technique, in which she poured turpentine-thinned paint onto canvas, producing luminours color washes that appeared to merge with the canvas and deny any hint of three-dimensional illusionism." -- The Art Story
To see more of her works: Click here!
Books on Women in Abstract Art:
Dancing Through Fields of Color by 
Georgia O'Keeffe by 
Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art by 
No.3/No.13 1949 by Mark Rothko
"Through exploration of gesture, line, shape and color, many Abstract Expressionist artists hoped to evoke emotional reactions. Their grand scale created an overwhelming and, for some, almost religious viewing experience. Mark Rothko famously said his paintings should be viewed from a distance of 18 inches, perhaps to dominate the viewer's field of vision and thus create a feeling of contemplation and transcendence."-- MoMA Learning
"For Rothko, these forms would ultimately give way to the floating zones of color over colored grounds for which he would become known. Rothko first developed this compositional strategy in 1947. Described as "Color Field painting"... it is a style characterized by significant open space and an expressive use of color. Rothko was one of its pioneers... Rothko spent the rest of his career exploring the limitless possibilities of layering variously sized and colored rectangles onto fields of color." -- MoMA
To see more of his works: Click here!
Mark Rothko books at MPL:
Mark Rothko by 
Mark Rothko by Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) by 
The Hidden Red, 1938 by Esphyr Slobodkina
"Esphyr Slobodkina was a celebrated avant-garde artist and children's book author. A pioneer in both fields, Slobodkina was one of the first American artists to explore abstraction and among the first to use collage as illustrational technique in storybooks.
Throughout her more than eighty years of productivity, Esphyr Slobodkina worked tirelessly at understanding all things. Deconstructing and reinterpreting knowledge, Slobodkina's mind found alternative theories and approaches to current trends, beliefs, or whatever she considered mundane.
Slobokinda expressed herself through a variety of mediums, dedicated to presenting the world as she saw it, geometrically, dimensionally realized, every-moving, non-linear." -- Esphyr Slobodkina Foundation
Slobodkina wrote and illustrated the popular children's book, Caps for Sale.
To see more of her works: Click here!
Books about Abstract Expressionism at MPL:
Name That Style by Abstract and Colour Techniques in Painting by