Introduction: The Era of Postwar Art

After the end of World War Two, the world was in varied positions of triumph and disarray. While some were joyous, others were disillusioned by what they had seen. Cultural and political movements were occurring worldwide, and while America faced an economic boom changing everyone’s lives, many Europeans came home to rationed societies and destroyed homes. 

In this section you will study how art movements and styles grew to reflect, oppose, and emote what was going on in both Europe and America. By the end of the course, you should have a tighter grasp on how to recognise specific Postwar Art movements and styles as well as how to discern them from each other.

 American Postwar Art Movements and Styles

In the wake of World War Two, art around the world was changing to reflect the new cultural movements and overall societal emotions. A variety of new art styles began to emerge in the United States from the 1950’s to the 1970’s, including Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and many others. During the war, New York City had an influx of European artists and the avant-garde, many who stayed after the war. The combination of new artists and art styles, influential collectors and critics, and a copious amount of museums and galleries led New York to challenge Paris as the art capital of the world. 

Postwar American Art encompases many different styles and movements, and is largely a title used most often by auction houses to define art created in America in the time period between 1945 and 1970. After the end of World War Two America was in a state of triumph — with the feeling of winning not just a military war but one of culture. This can be seen across the Postwar American Art styles through the abandonment of traditional European and French artistic styles and techniques, such as brush painting and depictions of scenes.

In this part of the course, we will start with the basics: we will explore Postwar American Art movements and how they challenged European artistic traditions. The assignments will help you look at the pictures more closely and will provide a basis for the more difficult parts of the course.