action painting

English - English

Definition of action painting in English English dictionary

A genre of modern art in which the paint is dribbled, splashed or poured onto the canvas to obtain a spontaneous and totally abstract image

A style of abstract painting that uses techniques such as the dribbling or splashing of paint to achieve a spontaneous effect.action painter n. Direct, instinctual, dynamic style of painting that involves the spontaneous application of vigorous, sweeping brush strokes and the chance effects of dripping and spilling paint onto the canvas. The term characterizes the work of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline. The "automatic" techniques developed in Europe by the Surrealists in the 1920s and '30s had great influence on U.S. artists, who regarded a picture not merely as a finished product but as a record of the process of its creation. It was a major force in Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s. See also automatism, Tachism

painting technique in which paint is poured or tossed on to the canvas

Hyphenation

ac·tion paint·ing

Turkish pronunciation

äkşın peyntîng

Synonyms

dribbled painting, gestural abstraction, smear painting, splash painting

Pronunciation

/ˈaksʜən ˈpāntəɴɢ/ /ˈækʃən ˈpeɪntɪŋ/