The Concept And Practice Of "the Autonomy Of Art":a Research On American Abstract Expressionism Paintings In The 20th Century

In the history of Western art,the concept of “Autonomy of Art”can be traced back to the Enlightenment in Europe.In the 18 th century,Kant proposed that aesthetic judgment should be subjective and formalized.Kant’s view was quite different from the traditional belief in the West that aesthetics should be heteronomous,depending on things,rather than on art itself.From the late 19 th century to the 20 th century,“Autonomy of Art” developed into one of the characteristics of modernist painting.“Art for Art’s Sake”became a sonorous slogan,advocating that the value of art should primarily lie in the aesthetic value in art itself.Art must be separated from social realities like traditional religions,ethics,science,and politics,and art should no longer be an accessory to other social factors.From the perspective of art history,“Autonomy of Art” means getting rid of the control of art by the traditional heteronomous doctrines.From the perspective of social reality,“Autonomy of Art”" is aimed to resist the commercialization of art and vulgarization of aesthetics caused by Western commercial society and consumerism.The seeds of "artistic autonomy",after having drifted out of Europe and taken root in the soil of American art in the 20 th century,bore the fruit of Abstract Expressionist painting,which originated from an avant-garde group “New York School” in the United States in the 20 th century.On the eve of World War II,many European artists came to the United States.While accepting European modernist painting,the young avant-garde artists in the United States also borrowed the idea of "artistic autonomy" from Europe,in the hope of fighting against the “localism” and “social realism” in America.By changing the artist’s understanding of the nature of art,the philosophical ideas of European expressionism and formalism made those artists focus on inner self-discovery and explore the formal expression of life’s vitality.Both regarding“Autonomy of Art” as the basis of the development of American abstract art,Greenberg and Rosenberg interpreted European modern painting from the perspectives of formalism and existentialism respectively.By ultimately combining expressionist and abstract aesthetic concepts,Abstract Expressionist painting interpreted Kantian aesthetic principles such as “subject with purpose,” “without utility,” and “without purpose” in new artistic practices,thus revealing the independent value of art.Expressionist painting aimed to show the artist’s individual spirit.“Action painting” and “Color-field painting” went beyond the traditional art of symbolism and ritualism.The works of Pollock and Rothko in particular showed the semiotic and textual characteristics of the artist’s unique art language.It is in the collision of the old and new cultures and in the conflict between individuals and society that art becomes the basis of personal belief and self-worth.However,the avant-garde art,due to its too much absorption in the principle of “Autonomy of Art”,would eventually lose its critical edge because it rejected the call of the times and the interaction of art circles.The ideal of American Abstract Expressionism would eventually turn into an aesthetic utopia.The new wave of artistic ideas pushed the once dazzling Abstract Expressionism to the margin,proving that the contradiction between life and cannot be solved by “Autonomy of Art”.Unfettered by any single criterion of subjective aesthetic judgment,art ultimately returns to life.