Color field painting
DEFINITION
The natural successor to Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s and 1960s, Color Field painting was especially influenced by Jackson Pollock and his technique of staining canvases with paint. C.F. painters divorced themselves from the emotive qualities of Abstract Expressionism to create flat, impersonal works, often on a large scale to suppress the artist's feelings with a transcendent beauty. This style "offered a deliberate challenge to the angst-ridden, tough guy paintings" of the Abstract Expressionists according to Karen Wilkin, author of the 1990 book "Kenneth Noland." Key influential Color Field painters were Noland, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaller, Ron Davis, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons and Ellsworth Kelly. The movement's chief public exponent was New York art critic, Clement Greenberg, and other promoters were Andre Emmerich, New York Dealer, Michael Fried, writer, and editors of "Artforum" magazine. Source: New York Graphic Society, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART database <br><br> A technique in abstract painting developed in the 1950s. It focuses on the lyrical effects of large areas of color, often poured or stained onto the canvas. Newman, Rothko, and Frankenthaler painted in this manner.<br><br> A style of painting begun in the 1950's to '70's, characterized by small or large abstracted areas of color. Mark Rothko is one of the earliest and best known color field painters; Morris Louis, Jules Olitski and Helen Frankenthaler are other examples.