Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A study of abstract expressionism as seen in the works of Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning and other New York School artists in the wake of World War II. The author argues that the work of these artists reflects an attempt to reformulate individual identity through psychology and philosophy.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

A paradigmatic product of the "new art history," this study strives to position Abstract Expressionism within modernist discourses of self-representation. As such, the post-WW II American self is largely understood as a conflicted primordial and preconscious identity constituting the deeper meaning of action painting. Through careful interrogation of a number of recent monographs on the art of Jackson Pollock--e.g., Ellen Landau's Jackson Pollock (CH, Feb'90) and Claude Cernuschi's Jackson Pollock's "Psychoanalytic Drawings" (CH, Jul'93)--the author provides the best and fullest account to date of the content of New York School painting and its intense subjectivity. Informed and insightful readings of major works afford provisional solutions to the broader Pollock problematic together with the welcome acknowledgment that there can be no fixed, lasting, or stable understanding of the painter's artistic intention and reception. This is a brilliant book, informed by a powerful critical intelligence as well as sensitivity and imagination. It eclipses all previous publications and opens new vistas for future interpretations. Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. R. L. McGrath; Dartmouth College