Abstract Expressionism was the defining movement in American art during the years following World War II, making New York City the centre of the international art scene. But what the heck did it mean! The drips, the spills, the splashes, the blotches of colour, the wild spontaneous energy-signifying what? ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM FOR BEGINNERS will not only help you understand, but, also, appreciate the art of some of the most iconic figures in modern art-Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler and others. Explore their lives and artistic roots, the heady world of Greenwich Village in the 1940s and 1950s, the influence of jazz, the voices of critics and the enduring legacy of a uniquely inspired group of artists.