Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which

paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than
being carefully applied.

The Origin of the Term

The term Action Painting was coined by the American critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952.
The action painting movement took place in the time after World War II ended. A
product of the post-World War II artistic resurgence of expressionism in America and
more specifically New York City.

KEY POINT ABOUT ACTION PAINTING

>> Action painting was developed as part of the abstract expressionism movement that
took place in post–World War II America, especially in New York, during the 1940s
through until the early 1960s.

KEY POINT ABOUT ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

>> An American genre of modern art that used improvised techniques to generate
highly abstract forms.

PAUL JACKSON POLLOCK

EXAMPLE OF ACTION PAINTING