Post-painterly Abstraction

Post-painterly Abstraction is a term coined by the influential critic Clement Greenberg in 1964 to describe a broad tendency in American abstract painting that emerged as a direct reaction against the dominant style of Abstract Expressionism. The movement was defined by a rejection of gestural brushwork and personal emotion in favor of clarity, openness, and an emphasis on the flatness of the picture plane. Key practitioners, including Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Kenneth Noland, pioneered techniques that stressed color and unified composition, significantly influencing subsequent developments like Color Field painting and Minimalism.

Origins and Definition

The concept was formally introduced by Clement Greenberg in his 1964 exhibition titled "Post-Painterly Abstraction" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which later traveled to the Walker Art Center and the Art Gallery of Toronto. Greenberg sought to categorize a new wave of artists who were moving away from the painterly, angst-ridden aesthetics of Abstract Expressionism, particularly the work of Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. He framed this shift not as a rejection of abstraction itself, but as an evolution toward a more disciplined, optical, and impersonal form of art. The movement's development was closely tied to the rise of influential galleries in New York City, such as the André Emmerich Gallery and the Leo Castelli Gallery, which championed this new direction.

Key Characteristics

Artists associated with Post-painterly Abstraction consistently emphasized flat, two-dimensional space, rigorously avoiding the illusion of depth. They favored clean, hard-edged contours and areas of unmodulated color, often applied in novel ways like staining thinned paint directly into the raw canvas. This technique, pioneered by Helen Frankenthaler in works like Mountains and Sea, was adopted and refined by Morris Louis in his Veil paintings and Kenneth Noland in his iconic Target series. The overall visual effect was one of clarity, openness, and a deliberate suppression of the artist's personal touch, focusing instead on the optical properties of color and form.

Major Artists and Works

Central figures include Helen Frankenthaler, whose soak-stain method was a foundational technical breakthrough. Morris Louis created monumental series like the Unfurleds and Stripes, characterized by rivers of vibrant color. Kenneth Noland explored recurring geometric motifs such as concentric circles, chevrons, and horizontal bands in paintings like Gift and Via Blues. Jules Olitski became known for vast, atmospheric fields of color sprayed onto the canvas, as seen in Pink Alert. Other significant contributors include Frank Stella, with his early, austere Black Paintings; Ellsworth Kelly, with his crisp, shaped canvases; Al Held; Jack Youngerman; and John Hoyland.

Relationship to Abstract Expressionism

While emerging from the milieu of Abstract Expressionism, Post-painterly Abstraction defined itself in opposition to that movement's core tenets. It rejected the gestural brushwork, impasto texture, and subjective emotionalism of artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Instead of the all-over composition and autobiographical intensity found in works by Arshile Gorky or Mark Rothko, Post-painterly artists pursued impersonal execution, planned composition, and a cool, detached sensibility. This shift reflected a broader desire in the early 1960s to move beyond the heroic rhetoric of the New York School toward a more rational and systematic investigation of painting's fundamental elements.

Critical Reception and Legacy

The movement was heavily promoted and theorized by Clement Greenberg, whose formalist criticism positioned it as the logical, high-modernist successor to Abstract Expressionism. This view was contested by other critics, including Harold Rosenberg and Leo Steinberg, who found it overly intellectual and emotionally barren. Nevertheless, Post-painterly Abstraction had a profound impact, directly paving the way for Color Field painting as practiced by Mark Rothko in his later work and Barnett Newman. Its emphasis on geometry and reduction also provided a crucial bridge to Minimalism, influencing sculptors like Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. The movement's legacy endures in contemporary abstract practices that continue to explore color, surface, and form with a similar investigative rigor.

Category:American art movements Category:Modern art Category:Abstract art Category:Art movements