After Modern Art 1945-2000 (oxford History Of Art) -

Artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning sought a new, raw language of "action painting" that reflected the existential anxiety of the era.

The narrative of art after 1945 is not just about new styles; it’s about a profound crisis of meaning. Hopkins argues that the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust shattered the "grand narratives" of high modernism—the belief that art could reach universal truths through pure form and abstraction. After Modern Art 1945-2000 (Oxford History of Art)

Art became increasingly pluralistic, embracing photography, video, and identity politics. Artists like Cindy Sherman and Damien Hirst used provocative imagery to explore gender, death, and the burgeoning global art market. Beyond the Canvas: Art as Social Critique Artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning

Instead, a "Duchampian engine" began to drive the art world. This refers to the legacy of Marcel Duchamp, whose critique of aesthetic norms prioritized the idea over the physical object. This shift paved the way for everything from the conceptual puzzles of the 1960s to the performance art of the 1970s. Key Movements and the Transatlantic Tug-of-War This refers to the legacy of Marcel Duchamp,