[originaltext]W: In these couple of rooms, we have postwar American paintings d

W: In these couple of rooms, we have postwar American paintings done in New York in the 1950s. All of this work is considered abstract.
M: Hmmm, interesting. Actually, I could never understand modern art. It’s so abstract.
W: I happen to know a little bit about this type of art. The artists were motivated by the ideas of that time. Their works reflected how they made sense of the society around them.
M: Please tell me about the one on the wall. I don’t understand it at all. It looks like a bunch of splashes of paint to me.
W: Actually, it is, and that’s exactly what this particular artist intended to do. He placed the canvas on his studio floor and poured paint on it very quickly.
M: (Chuckling) I could have told you that] But why would he do that?
W: In the fifties, many artists were interested in psychological theories. They believed that most paintings were directed by the conscious mind, and they wanted to avoid that. By painting with accelerated speeds, they hoped to use the unconscious mind. By painting quickly, they felt that they were forcing their unconscious minds to make instant, intuitive decisions about the color. They believed that logical, deliberate decisions would interfere with the free flow of images and ideas. These artists believed that their work was more honest using this method and they believed that honest work was most important.
M: Thank you for telling me this. I always wondered why they painted this way. Modern art makes a lot more sense to me when I know the ideas behind it.