Art
Today we'll whirlwind our way through some important art in the 1950s - abstract expressionism and color field are the terms the academy uses. First, read a little background about abstract expressionism, color field, and action painting so that you are familiar with the concepts.
Next, I've linked each artist to a website* with his/her works and for most, some explanation about their lives, the art, etc. For purposes of sharing tomorrow, choose groups of three, so you can get a wider sense of the art. To start, each person choose three artists you're interested in (please make sure that between the three of you, please cover at least 7 of the 9 artists listed). Then, work by yourselves today to explore the artist and the art.
Follow this process for each of the three artists you chose: Click on the link: you can read the background if you want; my preference is that you spend some time looking at the art. Scroll down and you'll se some featured art. You can also continue to scroll and you'll see more art at the bottom. Click on the art to see an enlarged version and more information.
In your journals, for each piece, write down titles and artist and what you see (these are notes for you to have and to share in groups tomorrow, so you can do this any way that suits you). Look through a few pieces (at least 2-3 per artist) and try to find similarities between them. Do what we have done with Rocjwell - describe what you see. Focus on color, line, movement, pattern, etc. Try to understand the form/technique by looking at the way the artists use elements and principles of art. THINK about title. Don't reject out of hand ("my brother could do this") - instead try to understand. Tomorrow, I'll ask you to share with each other and then with the class.
* I could not find a website for Yeffe Kimball. My guess is that this is due in part to the fact that most of her work is housed in the Department of the Interior, rather than to a museum. It may also be in part because she was a Native American woman artist. Her ink goes to a google image search of her work - you'll need to click on images that interest you for more information.