Art
There was a fresh artistic outlook after World War II ended, and the artistic world reflected this outlook. Abstract expressionism artists like Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Willem de Kooning, Clyfford Still, and Franz Kline received official recognition at the New York Museum of Modern Art. These artists, referred to as the New York School, were generally experimental. Other abstract artists rebelled against the self-absorption of the New York School and went into existentialism. Mark Rothko used large scale color blocks to create an overpowering material presence. Painters like Robert Rauchenberg and Jasper Johns, also abstract artists, did not want the viewer to rely on what he saw to interpret a painting. African American artists John T. Biggers, Romare Bearden, and Henry Clay Anderson presented a different view of American life.
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| Abstract Painting by Jackson Pollock |
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Abstract Painting by Barnett Newman |
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| Painting by Mark Rothko |
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Abstract Painting by Jasper Johns |
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| Painting by John T. Biggers |