Most Progressive American Artists
TOP TEN MOST PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS
The artists are not ranked according to influence or fame, they are simply listed chronologically, which I feel is the best way to exhibit the trends that they created. At first, I had intended to explain how each artist influenced the American culture, but upon beginning my research I found that sometimes it is the artist who influences the country, and sometimes it is the country that influences the artist, making it difficult to take a solid position, or develop effective criteria. I also found that there is so much overlap of influence from one artist to another that it would be extremely difficult to say one had any less or more influence than the other.
Often in my reading, the descriptions of the artists included the term "abstract-expressionism" . I tried to ignore it, but as I progressed the word was becoming nearly ubiquitous. (good word huh?) This is a brief background on "abstract-expressionism"-
During and after world war II many European artists fled Europe and headed to America for safety, their presence heralded one of the most progressive artistic movements in history. Its difficult to gauge how much they actually did influence American art, but its clear that in the 40's and 50s American artists became internationally important (as never before) with their new visions and artistic vocabulary. This was given the title of abstract-expressionism. However, not all of the works by the artists that are categorized under the title were abstract, nor were they all expressive. What the artists and their works held in common was their morally loaded themes, heavy and tragic, often on grandiose scales. They felt uncomfortable with traditional and conventional subjects and styles. The abstract-expressionistic movement lead directly to the formation of the pop art movement, which essentially glorified commercial art, through advertising, comic strips, cartoons, and the growing obsession...
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