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action painting

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Also known as gestural abstraction

style of painting

Wikidata facts

Said to be same as
abstract expressionism
Show 6 more facts
partially coincident with
New York School
inception
1940-00-00
end time
1960-00-00
discoverer or inventor
Harold Rosenberg
Commons category
Action paintings
significant person
Jackson Pollock
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical act of painting itself as an essential aspect of the finished work or concern of its artist.

Background

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “action painting” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.