New York in the 1940sSurrealists escaped from Europe to settle in New York

Already well established artistically, encompassing the Ashcan

School and the Harlem RenaissancePopulist and political themes, as well as an interest in Freudian

psychoanalysisEarly Abstract Expressionists begin to craft individual stylesHans Hoffman presents his 'Push/Pull' theory of composition“The Irascibles” protest the Met museum for failure to include new

abstract painting in major exhibitions

Abstract ExpressionismDraws on the ideas of the surrealists and existentialism.

Focus on the flatness of the picture plane.Established the American avant-garde as the driving force in post-

war artInfluenced by American regionalism as well as European

ModernismMany artists had worked in the WPA and studied at

The Art Students LeagueStrong male-dominated aestheticDiminished the role of the figurative image in favor of pure

expression.Also known as “action painting”.Became a propaganda tool of the US government as a form of 'soft

power'

during the Cold War.

Europe After the WarArt Informel, the European equivalent to Abstract-Expressionism, with more of a focus on the European master tradition of technique and surface.

Heavy influence of Sartre and existentialist thought.Art Brut and CoBra movements take an interest in the art of the

primitive, children, and outsiders.Italian painters focus on new approaches to surface, incorporating

collage and altered canvasesBritish painters present a fractured realism, drawing on the

devastation of London and Europe after WWIIA frank rejection of the optimism of Modernism

The Death of ModernismNouveau Realistes begin to focus on subject matter from the world around them, taking inspiration from the streets of Paris and incorporating real world objects in their work.

Conceptual art, or art about ideas, begins to establish itself.The idea of the avant-garde comes back into vogue, though with

more focus on philosophy and ideologyJospeh Beuys agitates in Germany for a holistic art form, dubbed

'social sculpture' that states that everyone is a potential artist and

art can have socio-political effects. He creates the persona of artist

as Shaman, giving lectures and performances about the nature of

art.

The Beat GenerationA new generation of post-war thinkers begins to define the American concept of the avant-garde.

Beginnings of a 'counter-culture' to the accepted norms of the day.Encompasses artists, filmmakers, poets, and intellectuals.Neo-Dada takes hold in New york, emphasizing surface and

spontaneity rather than personal expression. The movement also

has a strong presence in Japan.Waning influence of existentialism and the rise of popular culture as

a subject matter.The independent Group in England begins to look to advertising and

consumer culture for inspiration.The first Happenings take place under the guidance of Alan Kaprow

and begin an interest in performance as a viable artistic medium.

Pop Art RisingBegan in England with lectures by The Independent Group

Primary focus was popular culture and 'lowbrow' forms of art such

as television, comic books, and advertising.Direct challenge to Modernist notions of art, especially the idea that

nature and the expression of self was the function of 'high art'“New Paintings of Common Objects” opens in Pasadena, CA and

introduces the world to American Pop Art.Rejected the distinction between 'high and low' culture.Focus on appropriation as an artistic practice.More a celebration of consumerism than a critique.Strongly influenced by the advertising world.Shift in the nature of art that would soon be defined as 'Post-

Modernism

Pop Art RisingBegan in England with lectures by The Independent Group

Primary focus was popular culture and 'lowbrow' forms of art such

as television, comic books, and advertising.Direct challenge to Modernist notions of art, especially the idea that

nature and the expression of self was the function of 'high art'“New Paintings of Common Objects” opens in Pasadena, CA and

introduces the world to American Pop Art.Rejected the distinction between 'high and low' culture.Focus on appropriation as an artistic practice.More a celebration of consumerism than a critique.Strongly influenced by the advertising world.Shift in the nature of art that would soon be defined as 'Post-

Modernism

Art on the West CoastBay Area Figurative School established artistic precedence and many Bay Area artists taught in Universities in CA.

The Ferus Gallery was an important hub of activity and was the site

of Andy Warhol's first major solo role.Beginnings of installation art.Very experimental scene, with forays into video, light and coior.New approaches to ceramics, treating them not strictly as craft but

instead more like traditional scuplture.Light & Space begins to incorporate new technologies to make art

with minimalist understines.

Minimalism & MaterialStripped all expression and craft out of art objects.

Heavy focus on fabrication and erasing the artists hand. Reaction against the philosophy of Abstract-Expressionism.Attempted to also blur distinctions between mediums such as

painting and sculpture.Abstraction taken to its logical conclusion.Criticized for deliberately confusing the line between art and objects.Constituted an ideological statement about the nature of art and

attempted to subvert the 'salability of much contemporary art.Some female artists developed their own idiosyncratic working

processes, including the use of latex, plastics, and synthetic

materials. Differed from Minimalism in that it focused more on

surface, material, and process.