The ARTnews Guide to Abstract Expressionism

By the time the Second World War ended, in 1945, some 70–85 million people had died, and cities across Europe and Asia were left in ruins. Economies were devastated in countries around the globe, with one huge exception: the United States.
Although Japan had brought the war to America’s Pacific protectorates and German U-boats had prowled off the East Coast, the U.S. mainland had been left virtually untouched by the conflict. America’s infrastructure and industry remained intac