Abstract Expressionism
Royal Academy of Art, until January 2, 2017
Last time there was an exhibition in this country dedicated to Abstract Expressionism the movement was in full swing. It was 1959, and Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still were covering their monumental canvases with colour or, as often, with darkness. The gallery-going public were still adjusting their eyes to the shock.
One’s impression upon visiting the Royal Academy’s new show is that Abstract Expressionism has since fallen on the wrong side of the shock factor. The explosions and drips of Jackson Pollock et al cannot be seen in the way they were in the post-war period. The context has changed and, in an age of conceptual art, so have our expectations.
