Robert Motherwell- Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34, 1953-54

Influences

The Abstract Expressionists were undoubtedly influenced by other previous movements in art. According to Hobbs, “Because the Abstract Expressionists were cut off from Europe, where no doubt they would have attached themselves to only one group of artists, and because they saw Purists, Cubists, Surrealists Constructivists, and German Expressionists all working in New York, they began to achieve a grand synthesis of modern art by taking first from one group and then from another” (Hobbs, pg. 300). After World War II, the Abstract Expressionists could not look to Europe for the latest art movements. They were forced to look at the current and previous art influences in America and develop their own method of expressing themselves.

The Abstract Expressionists were influenced by previous art movements such as Cubism, Constructivism and Surrealism. But unlike these previous movement the Abstract Expressionism art did not contain a clear message and was often non representational.