The Human Figure as an Anchor to Realism in Abstract Expressionism
Graduation Date
Spring 2006
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Foad Satterfield, MFA
Second Reader
Leslie Ross, PhD
Abstract
By analyzing the works and histories of three Abstract Expressionist painters, and producing a series of his own figural abstractions, the author argues that Abstract Expressionism is anchored, in part, to the study and training of the human figure.
Through a close analysis of the figurative elements in the work of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Willem de Kooning (1904 - 1997), and Arshile Gorky (1904 - 1948), this thesis examines how they abstracted the human figure. It also draws on art history and contemporary theory to show how Abstract Expressionism art expands away from its roots but also reveals them.
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