Abstract Expressionism is an art form which became quite popular in the United States following the end of the World War II from the mid 1940s to the mid 1950s. As the name implies, Abstract Expressionism was a revolutionary way for artists to express themselves in an abstract fashion. The methods used in such expressions emcompassed different forms.

From the use of different colors to the way the paint was applied to the canvas in a sort of helter skelter fashion, the idea behind this style of painting was to express a mood, an ideal. To express oneself spontaneously perhaps?

Imagine not standing at an easel in the customary way, but laying your canvas on the floor. Then, taking gobs of paint with your brush and flinging it at the canvas. 'Or perhaps imagine approaching the canvas from all directions and applying fine streaks of paint as you crouch on your hands and knees. This, would be Abstract Expressionism.

The following are well known Abstract Expressionists:

Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Bradley Walker Tomlin.

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Sources:

Dore Ashton, "Abstract expressionism," World Book Online Americas Edition, http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/001650, February 5, 2002

"Expressionism," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.