abstract expressionism: Meaning and Definition of

ab'stract expres'sionism

Pronunciation: [key]
— (sometimes caps.)
  1. a movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.