The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko - Essay Example The essay "The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko" analyzes the ways that late modernist abstract painting has been theorised. The focus is on such artists as Pollock, Newman, Rothko. One of the most vocal critics of Modern art, Clement Greenberg, also became the unwitting champion of this form of art as he wrote about the theories behind its use, the value of art as art and the importance of artistic purity in conveying these concepts in his essay â€Å"Modernist Painting† published in 1961. Also writing about the theories behind the avant-garde artist, Donald Kuspit recently explored the issues of the meaning or import of art especially as it applies to this more ‘pure’ art form. While exploring the theories of these two men regarding the purpose of art and how abstract art is in the best position to convey this purpose, the artwork of Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko will be used as illustrative examples of how to apply these theories. When discussi ng the art practices of the late Modern movement, it is important to include the main ideas associated with the â€Å"politics of representation† that form part of the basis for the methods and theories behind abstract art’s creation and appreciation that are not necessarily separate from the reason or method by which the artist attained his expression. This collective term makes a distinction between the content of an image and the form of the image, or the sublime versus the visual. The reason for this phenomenon being that art is not static.