Abstract Expressionism and Structuralism: A Comparative Analysis of Art and Literature

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Introduction

The 20th century saw two distinct intellectual movements—Abstract Expressionism and Structuralism—each born from different cultural and philosophical contexts. Abstract Expressionism emerged in post-World War II America as a response to the disillusionment and existential crisis of the era. Structuralism, originating from the linguistics and anthropological work of Ferdinand de Saussure and later expanded by thinkers such as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, focused on uncovering the underlying structures that govern human culture and language. While Abstract Expressionism celebrated spontaneous, subjective expression, Structuralism challenged the notion of individual authorship, suggesting that meaning is created through systems rather than by singular genius.

This paper seeks to juxtapose these two movements by exploring their shared concerns with meaning, interpretation, and the role of the individual in larger cultural frameworks. Through a comparative analysis of key figures in both art and literature, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Roland Barthes, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, the paper will demonstrate how Abstract Expressionism's emphasis on personal expression contrasts with Structuralism's systemic approach to meaning. Ultimately, this analysis will highlight the interplay between emotion, individualism, and cultural systems within the domains of art and literature.

Abstract Expressionism: Origins and Ideology

Abstract Expressionism, often considered the first significant American art movement to gain international significance, developed in the 1940s and 1950s. It represented a break from European traditions, notably the figurative realism of earlier movements like Surrealism and Cubism. Instead, Abstract Expressionism embraced a more subjective and emotional mode of expression, often grounded in a desire to explore the subconscious.

The works of psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung heavily influenced the movement. Jung's theory of the "collective unconscious" posited that certain symbols and archetypes reside in all human psyches, accessible through the creative process. This emphasis on the subconscious is particularly evident in the works of Jackson Pollock, whose "drip" technique allowed him to relinquish conscious control, giving way to spontaneity and intuition in his painting process.

The New York School, which included figures like Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline, became the epicentre of Abstract Expressionism. While each artist had their own distinctive style, they shared a common desire to convey universal truths through abstraction, breaking away from traditional forms of representation. The movement's key themes—freedom, individuality, and existentialism—starkly contrasted with the formal, methodical systems championed by the Structuralists.

1.1. Jackson Pollock's Action Painting

Pollock's No. 5, 1948 is one of his most famous works and epitomizes his "drip painting" technique, which became synonymous with the term "action painting," coined by critic Harold Rosenberg. Action painting describes a style in which the artist's physical movement and gestural marks on the canvas become the focal point. For Pollock, painting was not about planning and premeditation but about engaging with the material directly and instinctively. His canvases, laid flat on the floor, became arenas for performance as the artist poured and dripped paint to create webs of chaotic lines.

Pollock was influenced by Surrealist automatism, which encouraged artists to bypass rational thought and tap into the unconscious. The absence of premeditated form in Pollock's work suggests that meaning arises organically through the act of creation. This reflects the existential concerns of Abstract Expressionism: the belief that the individual must create their own meaning in a world devoid of inherent structures or truths.

Mark Rothko and the Spirituality of Color

Mark Rothko's contribution to Abstract Expressionism is marked by a radically different approach than Pollock's. Where Pollock's canvases are filled with frenetic energy, Rothko's colour field paintings, such as Orange, Red, and Yellow (1961), are serene and meditative. Rothko sought to evoke deep emotional and spiritual experiences through large blocks of colour layered subtly to create depth and luminosity. His works are often interpreted as abstract meditations on mortality and transcendence.

Rothko believed that his paintings could evoke a universal emotional response, encouraging viewers to experience the art personally and introspectively. The simplicity of his forms belied their complexity, as Rothko aimed to strip away all distractions to focus on the viewer's direct emotional engagement with colour. Rothko's works are often seen as spiritual, with the large canvases intended to engulf the viewer, creating a sense of intimacy and awe.

Structuralism: Origins and Key Theories

Structuralism emerged in the mid-20th century, primarily through the work of Ferdinand de Saussure in linguistics and Claude Lévi-Strauss in anthropology. It sought to understand the underlying structures that govern human behaviour, culture, and language. Structuralists believe that meaning is not inherent in objects or actions but is generated through relationships within systems of signification. In other words, meaning arises from the differences between elements in a system rather than from individual objects or events.

Roland Barthes, a key figure in literary Structuralism, expanded these ideas to literature and culture. In his famous essay "The Death of the Author" (1967), Barthes argued that the individual author's intentions should not dictate the interpretation of a text. Instead, meaning is produced through the interaction between the text and the reader within the larger structures of language and culture.

Similarly, Lévi-Strauss applied Structuralist principles to anthropology, most notably in his analysis of myths in Mythologiques (1964-1971). He argued that myths, like language, operate according to universal structures, transcending individual creativity or cultural specificity. In this sense, Lévi-Strauss posited that myths are not original creations but recombinations of a limited set of narrative elements that reflect deep, universal structures of the human mind.

Roland Barthes and the Death of the Author

Barthes' essay "The Death of the Author" directly challenges the Romantic notion of the artist as a solitary genius whose work is the product of personal inspiration. For Barthes, such a view overlooks that all cultural production is mediated by language, a system governed by rules and conventions. He writes, "A text's unity lies not in its origin but in its destination," suggesting that meaning is created not by the author but by the reader within the more extensive system of language.

Barthes' theory can be applied to Abstract Expressionist art. While artists like Pollock and Rothko believed they were expressing profound, personal truths, Barthes would argue that their work is ultimately open to interpretation, shaped by the cultural codes and conventions through which the viewer interacts with the painting. In this way, Barthes destabilizes the artist's claim to sole authorship, suggesting that meaning is not in the individual's creation but in the system of meaning-making that includes both the work and its audience.

Claude Lévi-Strauss and Mythology

Lévi-Strauss applied Structuralist theory to the study of myths, demonstrating that myths from different cultures share common structures despite their surface-level differences. In his analysis of the Oedipus myth, for example, he argued that the myth's various versions can be broken down into binary oppositions—such as kinship vs. incest or life vs. death—that reflect universal human concerns. These oppositions are not unique to any one culture but are present in myths worldwide, suggesting that human cognition operates according to specific fundamental structures.

Lévi-Strauss's work has implications for understanding Abstract Expressionism. While artists like Pollock and Rothko sought to create works transcending language and culture, Structuralist theory suggests that even their most abstract creations are still embedded within broader cultural structures. Pollock's drip paintings, for example, may appear to be expressions of pure individual creativity. Still, they also participate in a more extensive cultural system that includes conventions of modern art, psychological theories, and the viewer's interpretive frameworks.

Case Studies: Points of Convergence and Divergence

Pollock's No. 5, 1948 through a Structuralist Lens

While Jackson Pollock's No. 5, 1948 has often been discussed as a raw, gestural outpouring of emotion, a Structuralist interpretation might reveal underlying patterns that suggest the work's participation in broader cultural structures. The repetition of specific shapes and the intricate layering of paint create a visual language that communicates not through representational forms but through the formal relationships between lines, colours, and textures. While seemingly chaotic, this visual language is still governed by certain principles—such as balance, tension, and rhythm—that are not unique to Pollock but are shared by other Abstract Expressionist works.

Moreover, from a Barthesian perspective, Pollock's intention is irrelevant to the meaning of the work. Instead, meaning is produced through the viewer's engagement with the painting within modern art discourse. In this sense, No. 5, 1948 is not simply a personal expression of Pollock's psyche but a cultural artefact that gains meaning in a more extensive artistic production and interpretation system.

Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow and Structuralism

Mark Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) can similarly be reinterpreted through a Structuralist lens. While Rothko aimed to create a deeply personal, spiritual experience for the viewer, his colours and forms are still embedded in broader systems of meaning. For example, colour theory and psychology inform how we understand and respond to different hues. Red, often associated with passion or danger, and yellow, linked to warmth and optimism, evoke specific emotions not because of any inherent properties of the colours themselves but because of the cultural and psychological structures that shape our perception.

Lévi-Strauss's concept of binary oppositions can also be applied to Rothko's work. The contrast between warm and cool colours, between light and shadow, suggests a deeper engagement with universal themes of life and death, presence and absence, and emotion and detachment. These oppositions are not unique to Rothko but are part of a more extensive system of meaning that transcends individual artistic intention.

4. Conclusion

While often seen as diametrically opposed, Abstract Expressionism and Structuralism grapple with the question of meaning and its production. Abstract Expressionism, through artists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, emphasizes the power of individual expression and the possibility of accessing universal truths through personal, spontaneous creation. Structuralism, as articulated by Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, challenges this individualism by arguing that meaning is always shaped by more extensive linguistic, cultural, or psychological systems.

Through a comparative analysis of Pollock's No. 5, 1948 and Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow, alongside Barthes' "The Death of the Author" and Lévi-Strauss's analysis of myths, this essay has demonstrated how these two movements intersect and diverge. While Abstract Expressionism seeks to transcend structure through the raw expression of emotion, Structuralism reveals the inescapability of systems in the creation and interpretation of meaning.

Ultimately, the tension between Abstract Expressionism's emphasis on the individual and Structuralism's focus on systems reflects a broader philosophical debate about the nature of human experience. Is meaning something we create for ourselves, or is it something we uncover through our participation in larger cultural systems? This question continues to resonate in art and literature, making the dialogue between Abstract Expressionism and Structuralism a rich field of inquiry for future scholarship.

Reference

• Steinberg, Leo. Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth-Century Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972
• Barthes, Roland. Image, Music, Text. Translated by Stephen Heath. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977.
• Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” In Image, Music, Text, 142-148. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977.
• Clement Greenberg, Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989.
• Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Myth and Meaning. New York: Schocken Books, 1979.
• Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Raw and the Cooked: Mythologiques, Volume 1. Translated by John Weightman and Doreen Weightman. New York: Harper and Row, 1969.
• Pollock, Jackson. No. 5, 1948. Oil on fiberboard. Private Collection.
• Rosenberg, Harold. The Tradition of the New. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
• Rothko, Mark. Orange, Red, Yellow. Oil on canvas. Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, 1961.