Chapter 6: Conclusions:
Abstract Art and Dance in America
As discussed in the preceding chapters, the confluence between art and dance in America during the first half of the twentieth century engaged a multitude of artists working in a variety of styles and media. From artists like Malvina Hoffman and Everett Shinn, who admired the ballet and adopted the style of Rodin and Degas, respectively, in order to depict it, to H. Lyman Saÿen, who first experimented with cubism in order to convey the angularity and creativity of the avant-garde Ballets Russes, performance dance provided inspiration for both subject and style. This concluding chapter examines the work of two abstract artists for whom dance played a crucial role in the development of their mature styles.
Abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock placed his canvas on the floor and spread his paint with lunging steps, rotating wrists, and outstretched arms. His poured paintings are records of the artist’s dancelike gestures. From the early1930s until his death in 1976, Alexander Calder created his unique and celebrated mobiles. Rather than suggest movement, these sculptures incorporate motion into their very design. Unlike the artists of the previous chapters, Pollock and Calder did not respond to individual dancers or specific dance styles. They did not hope to convey the quality of movement of one figure or another with their art; their involvement with dance occurred at a much more basic level. Pollock and Calder incorporated into their art the fundamental element of dance itself, movement through time.