action painting
1
7.1
- noun
- /ˈækʃən ˈpeɪntɪŋ/
- Specialized
:
pintura de acción
- The gallery featured a stunning action painting that captivated all the visitors with its dynamic brushstrokes.
Examples
-
Ginzburg came over one evening and said, 'I have heard of action painting, but this is new.'
Fiction book (1996) -
It's like action painting.
Fiction book (1993) -
I mean, the term "action painting" was basically invented for him, so...
-
"From this focus on 'doing,' Glaser then suggests a link to the 'process of action painting.'
Academic text (2014) -
Like an action painting, the novel is its own subject matter and a record of its own occurrence (as provided by the final "Summary of Discourse").
Academic text (1997) -
There was an obvious connection between these works and the action painting of the late modernists, yet their essence was, in the association with a spiritual enactment and experience, more akin to the most engaged of performance and religious art.
Academic text (2001) -
It couldn't be more ironic, futurism and action painting to represent Cuban stagnation.
Academic text (2014) -
Many artists from the 1950s are known for their innovative action painting techniques, which emphasize movement and spontaneity.
-
Critics hailed her latest work as a remarkable example of action painting, showcasing her energetic application of paint.
Synonyms
1
9.1
A style of painting from 1940s New York using large, free, abstract shapes and emotional brush strokes
A modern art movement using free gestures and rough texture
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally combines 'action' (movement/energetic doing) with 'painting' so a learner who knows both words can infer a kind of painting involving energetic or physical activity. However, the specific art-historical sense (an Abstract Expressionist technique with spontaneous, gestural application of paint) and its technical/historical nuances are not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The term action painting comes from the way artists made the work: they would drip, throw, or brush paint while moving around a canvas on the floor, so the picture shows the artist's physical action. That's why the name joins action and painting — it describes a style where the movement itself matters.