Cowboys: Abstract Expressionism, Hollywood Westerns, and American Progress

Abstract Expressionism has been influenced heavily by the popular theory of America’s undying, progressive spirit, originally conceived Frederick Jackson Turner and given its most potent form in Western films. Turner’s “Frontier Thesis” was embodied stories John Wayne other cowboy heroes taming supposed edges civilization. The mythic West as constructed these films cemented American identity one exploration innovation, with notable condition Indigenous Americans ceding their sovereignty. While commonly connected to through origin Pollock Clyfford Still, critical understanding this movement height painterly achievement built on Native precedents evinces a deeper connection Frontier theory. As critics like Clement Greenberg cast flatness last frontier painting, artists Barnett Newman claimed ritual practices part aesthetic lineage, proved effective Hollywood Westerns corroborating perpetuating idea spirit.