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“I love creation more than life, and I must express myself before disappearing.”
~Sonia Delaunay, multi-disciplinary abstract artist
This insatiable thirst for life and creation have stimulated and driven women artists crazy almost as much as their male counterparts. The names that come to mind in abstract expressionism are none other than Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and the like—they may all be men, but women abstract artists also played their pivotal parts to contribute to the overall art landscape following the World Wars, especially in the contemporary oeuvre of abstract expressions. Riding the tides of a synthesis of art movements, women artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, etc. showcased their intuitive and introspective skills to come up with an emotive and cognitive form of art.
Through this blog, we would look back to their time of creations, voicing their struggles for recognition and walking through a transitive era which let these wonderful creators bloom and shine in their own lights. Nevertheless, it was not that easy to carve a niche for themselves in a patriarchal setup. After all these years, when we stare at those canvases, we cannot but bow with awe; somewhere deep down it feels like it’s time for over-due recognition of these amazing artists who painted from the core of their hearts.
The Voices Unnoticed: Abstract Expressionism and Women Who Painted Outside the Lines
“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.”
~Diane Mariechild, author
Emotion and surrealism breathed life into the formless paintings of the early 20th century, with visionaries like Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, and Paul Klee pushing the boundaries of art to transcendent heights. Their bold exploration of form and technique showed a path for generations of dreamers to follow.
Women abstract painters like Georgia O'Keeffe embraced the fluid, ethereal medium of watercolor, channeling their deepest desires, fears, and emotions into works that resonated profoundly with the turbulence of their era. These artists painted not just with pigment but with the essence of human experience, leaving an indelible mark on the soul of art history. More names started to get appended to the list of these dreamers like Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, etc.
"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do."
- Georgia O'Keeffe
The Changing Narrative of Art for Women
This abstract expressionist movement following the Second World War was truly the first American art movement, changing its base from the European art scene, reshaping and forming the narrative of a newly found landscape. It was a dynamic energy and a frenzy for creations that moved the female artists away from the conventional artistic landscape, usually dominated by male painters.
Within the pathbreaking defiance of the art forms and style of expressions called abstractionism, the voices of women artists and painters were somehow muted. Their contributions, though resounding and impactful, were overlooked in the flurry of artworks trying to get on with the contemporary vibes. This is where the story takes its root, from the journey of the non-conformist women art-seekers who took charge of their easels and brushes, painting truths with resilience and grit.
Behind the Canvas: What was Brewing in the Post World War Scenario?
"There should be no sex in Art…I am pointing, I know, to a millennium, at least in the women’s view, if I predict an hour when the term ‘Women in Art’ will be as strange sounding a topic as ‘Men in Art’ would be now."
~ Cecilia Beaux, American Artist
While America started asserting itself in world affairs and assumed the cultural leadership amidst the turbulence of the post-World War Two fiasco, it was a time of transformation for the women artists too. With the cultural and artistic focus shifting towards New York City in America from Europe, abstract expressionism emerged as a creative outlet for women artists to channel their emotional and intellectual energies through lines, segments, forms, colors, and all sorts of experimentations.
However, for the second sex, it was a struggle to showcase their talents and skills at par with the contemporary male artists, as they were often overshadowed by the prominence of the latter. In spite of all odds, there were the echoes of emotions by the twentieth century women abstract artists and painters, who had etched their path with firm resolution.
Prolific Creations of Women Artists: Abstraction as a Sublime Portrait
Lee Krasner and the Unexplored Nature
“I like a canvas to breathe and be alive. Be alive is the point.”
- Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner, the prominent woman abstract artist, was fond of portraying nature and its underlying forces on the canvas. She once talked about her fascination for Pollock’s work, who later became her life partner - “It was like a bomb that exploded…nothing else ever hit me that hard, until I saw Pollock’s work.”
But this collaboration overshadowed her work to some extent! Still, it was through bold colors, fragmented forms, she went on inventing and reinventing forms that would liberate her creative impulses. Lee’s paintings vividly show her deep connection to the modernist art forms and ideals, and her passion to explore the emotional depths of nature through the themes of season, fruition, fertility, etc. Some of her phenomenal creations include ‘The Seasons,’ or ‘Gaea,’ showcasing some rare and raw emotion.
Helen Frankenthaler and Soak-Stain Technique
The ‘soak stain’ technique was unique as Helen Frankenthaler tried to introduce something innovative in the genre of abstract expressionism. It was created by pouring paints on the raw canvas, making surreal and fluid images that looked aesthetically like the texture of the canvas itself. Her work ‘Mountains and Sea,’ oil on charcoal on raw canvas, took the art world by awe by pushing forth the possibilities of abstract portrayals, creating a unique visual orchestra of floating colors. It inspired the painters working with color fields and showed her obsession for landscapes.
Elaine de Kooning and Abstract Figurative
The celebrated painter and critic Elaine de Kooning was best known for her figurative abstractions and her still life canvases. She contributed a lot to the abstract expressionist movement post-World War, with a keen sense of observation and fluidity of form and motion. Her works show a dynamism of still life studies, giving the everyday objects a rare sense of motion often unnoticed in traditional portraits. The use of vibrant colors and the confident brushstrokes made her create a visual world of expressions. Besides paintings, she was known for her strong advocacy for abstract art, critical analysis, and views that shaped the art form.
Joan Mitchell and the Poetry of Abstract
The American artist Joan Mitchell’s stunning canvases take us to a new height where colors seem to explode and forms dance with emotion and energy, balancing chaos and creation. They look like the poetry of the abstract, delivering the beauty and complexity of our existence in sweeping, bold brushstrokes. Anyone looking into her canvas will fall into the maze-like depth and will get lost in the layered strokes and textures of paints.
Though critiqued for her free-thinking personality, Mitchell continued creating milestones with her unwavering devotion towards art and life.
“Music, poems, landscape, and dogs make me want to paint... And painting is what allows me to survive.”
- Joan Mitchell
Art and Women: Brushstrokes of Defiance
The art world was not that welcoming and a heartwarming scenario for the female painters and sculptors back then in America, with galleries and museums reluctant to showcase their artworks. It seemed as though abstract expressionism was a male-dominated movement. Yet, nothing could stop these wonderful creators from setting a dialogue of defiance, building strong networks with other female artists, and continuing their expressions through bold and intuitive messages.
Giving the Women Achievers a Platform they Deserve
In recent times, several art museums and galleries dedicate shows on the achievements of these marvelous women abstract artists. Of late, the Denver Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art showcased some of the female genius in abstract expressionism, featuring more than 50 phenomenal creations of Helen Frankenthaler, Mary Abbott, Perle Fine, Lee Krasner, etc. Besides, they are commemorated through retrospectives, exhibitions and academic research focusing on the life and journey of these pioneer women achievers, who have painted their abstract inner worlds in authentic portrayals.
Their stories of resilience and creativity inspire us even today, transcending the gender biases, creating a narrative that is universal and relevant. These parallel art narratives of women have raised many uneasy questions, touched upon some fragile areas of emotion that are penetrating and complex. Their untold stories in canvases stimulate and stir us to celebrate individuality and embrace everything that is pulsating beyond the canvases. It is fascinating to feel the bliss, angst, and struggles working to make such milestone creations, changing the fabric of artistic expressions into an intimate journey within.
“My paintings repeat a feeling about Lake Michigan, or water, or fields... It’s more like a poem... and that’s what I want to paint.”
- Joan Mitchell, (Portrait of an Abstract Painter)
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This is a fantastic article! It's so important to recognize the women who shaped Abstract Expressionism. Trying to capture all the nuances of their work in an essay can be tough. When I was writing about Joan Mitchell, I used oxessays essay writing service here https://oxessays.com/. They really helped me clarify my analysis of her artistic poetry. It's a great resource for understanding complex art movements.