1. Abstract Expressionism

2. The Sublime and the Spiritual
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

3. Questions Can art evoke emotion?
What techniques or strategies can artists use to represent or evoke emotion?
Share this information with your students:
Can art evoke emotion?
What techniques or strategies can artists use to represent or evoke emotion?
Through exploration of gesture, line, shape, and color, many Abstract Expressionist artists hoped to evoke strong emotional reactions. Their grand scale created an overwhelming and, for some, almost religious viewing experience.
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

4. Take a close look at Vir Heroicus Sublimis, by Barnett Newman…
What words would you use to describe this painting?
What stylistic choices did the artist make in terms of color, composition, and subject?
Barnett Newman. Vir Heroicus Sublimis – 51
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

5. How does the title relate to what you see?
Share this information with your students:
Share with your students that this work is almost 8 feet tall and 18 feet long. What do you think it would feel like to stand in front of this painting?
The English translation of the title is "Man, heroic and sublime.”
How does the title relate to what you see?
How might the painting’s large scale relate to the title?
Newman intended for his paintings to be viewed from only a few feet away, allowing for the monumental scale of the canvas to engulf the viewer. He once explained: “It’s no different, really, from meeting another person. One has a reaction to the person physically. Also, there’s a metaphysical thing…and if a meeting of people is meaningful, it affects both their lives.” (Barnett Newman in “Interview with David Sylvester,” Barnett Newman: Selected Writings and Interviews (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990).)
Barnett Newman. Vir Heroicus Sublimis – 51
How does the title relate to what you see?
How might the painting’s large scale relate to the title?
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

6. Let’s look at No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black), by Mark Rothko
What do you notice about his choice of color?
How would you describe the brushwork?
What emotions do these colors and composition evoke?
What effect do you think Rothko hoped to create?
Share this information with your students:
What do you notice about his choice of color?
How would you describe the brushwork?
What effect do you think Rothko hoped to create?
No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black) is executed in the signature style that Rothko developed around It is based on a compositional structure involving two or three vertically stacked rectangular blocks of color on a monochromatic ground.
Mark Rothko famously asserted that his paintings should be viewed from a distance of 18 inches, perhaps to dominate the viewer’s field of vision and thus create a feeling of contemplation and transcendence.
Mark Rothko. No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black). 1958
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

7. Questions Can the process of making art be a spiritual act?
Can viewing art be a spiritual experience?
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

8. Barnett Newman. Vir Heroicus Sublimis. 1950 – 51
Oil on canvas, 7' 11 3/8" x 17' 9 1/4" (242.2 x cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Heller. © 2012 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Barnett Newman. Vir Heroicus Sublimis – 51
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

9. Louise Nevelson. Sky Cathedral. 1958
Painted wood, 11' 3 1/2" x 10' 1/4" x 18" (343.9 x x 45.7 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Mildwoff. © 2013 Estate of Louise Nevelson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Louise Nevelson. Sky Cathedral. 1958
MoMA Abstract Expressionism

10. Mark Rothko. No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black). 1958
Oil on canvas, 8' 10 5/8" x 9' 9 1/4" (270.8 x cm). Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Mark Rothko. No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black). 1958
MoMA Abstract Expressionism