Abstract Expressionists “P...-Z...-”
for history of art and social studies classrooms.

Jackson Pollock
b. 1-28-1912; Cody, Wyoming
d. 8-11-1956; Springs, NY (car accident)

Jackson Pollock underwent Jungian analysis and was influenced by Jung's theory of archetypes.

Pollock also struggled with alcoholism.

Jackson Pollock quotes ~
• “The method of painting is the natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them.”
• “It doesn't matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said.”
• “When I'm painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It's only after a get acquainted period that I see what I've been about.”
• “In his early work, Pollock had made use of mythology, animal sexuality and ancient rituals; after 1948 he eliminated all conventional signs from his paintings. What Pollock created was a system of signs that he refused to imbue with message or meaning. The new style became known as Abstract Expressionism.” Alberto Manguel in The Artist's Mentor

• East Village Guide Map poster
• Jackson Pollock - Love & Death on Long Island (1999) DVD

Mark Rothko (neé Marcus Rothkowitz)
b. 9-25-1903; Latvia
d. 2-25-1970; NY, suicide

Mark Rothko, a Russian immigrant, had an insatiable scholarly quest and fascination with concepts of mortality and spirituality that deeply influenced his art.

Mark Rothko quotes ~
• “It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and only that subject matter is valid which is tragic and timeless. That is why we profess spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art.” Letter to the New York Times from Mark Rothko, Adolph Gottlieb, and Barrett Newman; June 13, 1943
• “I am not an abstract painter. I am not interested in the relationship between form and color. The only thing I care about is the expression of man's basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny.”
• “Certain people always say we should go back to nature. I notice they never say we should go forward to nature.”

• more 20th Century Art Masterpieces Educational posters

Mark Tobey
b. 12-11-1890; Centerville, WI
d. 4-24-1976; Basel

Tobey was interested in philosophy, Eastern religions, and joined the Bahai Faith in 1918. He was the first American after Whistler to win the prize for painting at the Venice Biennale (1959) and the first American painter ever to exhibit at the Louvre's Pavillon de Marsan in Paris, in 1961.

Tobey was also close friends with British potter Bernard Leach.

Mark Tobey quotes ~
• “I believe that painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action.”
• “The dimension that counts for the creative person is the space he creates within himself. This inner space is closer to the infinite than the other, and it is the privilege of the balanced mind ... and the search for an equilibrium is essential - to be as aware of inner space as he is of outer space.”
• “On pavements and the bark of trees I have found whole worlds.”
• “According to one critic, my works looked like scraped billboards. I went to look at the billboards and decided that more billboards should be scraped.”

• Mark Tobey: Art and Belief

Edwin Parker “Cy” Twombly
b. 4-25-1928; Lexington, VA
d. 7-5-2011; Rome, Italy (cancer)

Cy Twombly is best remembered for his arge-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti works that blur the definitions of drawings / paintings.

Cy Twombly quotes ~
• “My line is childlike but not childish. It is very difficult to fake ... to get that quality you need to project yourself into the child's line. It has to be felt.”
• “I work in waves, because I'm impatient. Because of a certain physicality, of lack of breath from standing. It has to be done and I do take liberties I wouldn't have taken before.”
• “Graffiti is linear and it's done with a pencil, and it's like writing on walls. But in my paintings it's more lyrical.”
• “When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time.”
• “Paint is something that I use with my hands and do all those tactile things. I really don't like oil because you can't get back into it, or you make a mess. It's not my favourite thing... pencil is more my medium than wet paint.”
• “When I asked Cy [Twombly] about the near absence of brushes, he said, ‘Oh, I never use brushes.’ ‘What do you use?’ I asked. And he answered, ‘Oh, rags, sticks . . . whatever I can get my hands on.’” - David Seidner quoted in The Artist's Mentor

• Woman Kisses Twombly Painting
• Cy Twombly: Paintings, Works on Paper, Sculpture

FYI ~ Twombly used the same nickname as his father, after the baseball pitcher Cy Young.