PAINTING

Well, it is time to talk about visual arts in the United States.

Everybody tends to think that America could not have a long art history because of its short history, but they are wrong. Some artistic movements such as abstract expressionism began in the United States. Also, they have the best animation designers, like Walt Disney and more recent Matt Groening (The Simpsons). All these industries need a drawer behind and the United States have the best ones.

Let’s talk a little bit about abstract expressionism. It is an artistic movement born mainly in New York City in the early 1940s. They were a small group of artists that was known as "Abstract Expressionists" or "The New York School" that broke away from the accepted conventions. They were pioneers in a new technique of drawing putting the canvas on the ground despite of putting them on an easel-side. Artists such as Jackson Pollock, from Wyoming, created the spilling technique. He put the canvas on the ground and he began to spill liquid paint over it. He was considerate the most influential artist of the United States at this time, even if he had a complicated live, managing his alcoholism until his dead.

His pieces inspired lots of new artists. For example, all the album covers from The Stone Roses, an indie group of music from Great Britain, are creations of Pollock. Also, his biography filmed in 2000 wined a Pulitzer Prize. His masterpiece was Mural (1943) and it is assured in $140 million. He created more than 38 pieces from 1942 to 1953. The pieces of Jackson Pollock are in some of the most prestigious museums in the world, such as the Tate Modern (London, UK), Musée National d'Art Modern (Paris, FR), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid, SP), Museum of Modern Art (New York, EEUU) or in privates collections like Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, IT).

 

Mural by Jackson Pollock

Another American genius was Andy Warhol. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928. He was the leader of the "Pop Art" movement. We know him for his famous Campbell soup (MOMA, NYC), his Green Coca-Cola Bottles (Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC) or Gold Marilyn Monroe (MOMA, NYC).

When he finished his degree in painting and sculpture he moved to New York, where he starts working as a graphic designer and illustrator. He was hated and loved at the same time; shy and homosexual; eccentric and paranoid and he often went to private parties. He was shot once by Valerie Solanis in Factory and he survived miraculously.

He also went through experimental cinema, a movie called The Chelsea Girls (1966), a seven hours’ documentary. Other pieces by Warhol were Sleep, My Husler or Couch. He made as well an international co-production in 3D with Carlo Ponti. Well known for his extravagance, his 200 wigs and his wardrobe, Warhol, who died in 1987 in New York City, was the most influential American artist of the second part of the 20^th century

 

Gold Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol

Let’s move to another genius from the United States. Everybody in this world knows him for his movies or his enigmatic history. Yes! I am talking about the great Walt Disney.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1901. He was a writer, producer, actor, scriptwriter and animator and he is famous for his animated movies, like his first masterpiece: Snow White. He drew before Mickey Mouse (with his own voice) but this little mouse became famous later.

Walt Disney Empire owns twenty two Oscars: twelve of them were for "Best Short Subject" (cartoons), six for "Best Short Subject" (two-reel), two for "Best Long Subject" (documentary) and four "Honorary" awards. The company also built the Disney World Resort in Florida after Walt Disney was dead, as a commemoration of all his work; and, later, other parks were built in his name.

When he died in California in 1966, a myth was created: people thought that his body had been frozen with advanced methods to give him a new lease of life in the future, when medical surgery would be able to recover him from his disease. But, as his own family has said, he was finally incinerated.

Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie,
one of the first animated short film of Walt Disney.

Finishing for today, we are inviting you to keep reading our blog if you are interested in these geniuses because we are going to talk more about them in future posts.

Bibliography

• Information:

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/w/warhol.htm

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/monografia/disney/

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/p/pollock.htm

• Pictures:

-Mural: http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2012/february/images/022912Pollock%20Mural_hirez.jpg

-Golden Marilyn Monroe: https://www.flickr.com/photos/renzodionigi/5356404689/

-Steamboat Willie: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/yHtAWRPQUqK3uWHhdgX56j8NwcI.jpg