Abstract Expressionism reshaped the global art scene after World War II, shifting the creative center from Paris to New York. This bold movement championed raw emotion and spontaneous creation.
This quiz looks at the key figures, techniques, and historic moments of the New York School. You will see questions about drip paintings, color field works, and the critics who defined the era.
Once you finish, you can explore other art movements. We also have quizzes on painting techniques and famous artists.
Which city became the primary center of the art world following the rise of Abstract Expressionism after World War II?
New York City
New York City
Berlin
Berlin
Paris
Paris
London
London
What term did critic Harold Rosenberg use to describe the style of painters who viewed the canvas as an arena in which to act?
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Surrealism
Surrealism
Action painting
Action painting
Impressionism
Impressionism
Which artist gained fame for his ‘drip technique,’ where paint was poured or dripped onto canvases laid on the floor?
Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Which art style, associated with Mark Rothko, emphasizes expansive areas of flat or layered color to evoke meditative responses?
Pop Art
Pop Art
Minimalism
Minimalism
Color field painting
Color field painting
Futurism
Futurism
Which influential patron and collector opened the ‘Art of This Century’ gallery in New York in 1942, launching the careers of many Abstract Expressionist artists?
Leo Castelli
Leo Castelli
Mary Boone
Mary Boone
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
What movement heavily influenced the early development of Abstract Expressionism by emphasizing the unconscious mind?
Classical portraiture training
Classical portraiture training
Automatic writing and painting, inspired by Surrealism
Automatic writing and painting, inspired by Surrealism
Formal study of perspective and light
Formal study of perspective and light
Precise geometric abstraction
Precise geometric abstraction
Which Greenwich Village establishment served as a legendary hangout for many New York School artists during the 1950s?
The Factory
The Factory
The Blue Note
The Blue Note
Club 54
Club 54
The Cedar Tavern
The Cedar Tavern
Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings are famously noted for lacking a single focal point, a style often referred to as what?
Hard-edge technique
Hard-edge technique
Pointillism
Pointillism
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
All-over composition
All-over composition
Which Dutch-American artist is renowned for his aggressive, often violent series of ‘Woman’ paintings?
Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman
Adolph Gottlieb
Adolph Gottlieb
Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
What was Mark Rothko primarily seeking to capture through his large-scale color field works?
The political protest of the era
The political protest of the era
The representation of architectural space
The representation of architectural space
The spiritual and emotional impact of color
The spiritual and emotional impact of color
The documentation of urban life
The documentation of urban life
Many members of the New York School received early professional training and support through which government initiative?
The Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts
The Great Depression-era WPA
The Great Depression-era WPA
The Cubist movement in Paris
The Cubist movement in Paris
The Bauhaus school
The Bauhaus school
Which influential art critic was one of the most prominent champions and theorists of the Abstract Expressionist movement?
Roger Fry
Roger Fry
André Breton
André Breton
John Ruskin
John Ruskin
Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg
Which artist used house painters’ brushes to create bold, calligraphic black and white abstractions?
Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky
Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann
Franz Kline
Franz Kline
What was the name of the landmark 1951 exhibition that helped define the ‘New York School’ as a cohesive group?
The Surrealist Exhibition
The Surrealist Exhibition
The Ninth Street Show
The Ninth Street Show
The Armory Show
The Armory Show
The Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale
Which artist, often overlooked in his shadow, was both Jackson Pollock’s wife and a significant painter of the New York School?
Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler
Grace Hartigan
Grace Hartigan
Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell
What innovative technique did Helen Frankenthaler pioneer that bridged the gap between Pollock and Color Field painters?
Encaustic painting
Encaustic painting
Impasto
Impasto
Frottage
Frottage
Soak-stain technique
Soak-stain technique
What nickname was given to the group of artists who protested the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition policies in 1950?
The Avant-Gardists
The Avant-Gardists
The Rebels
The Rebels
The Abstract Renegades
The Abstract Renegades
The Irascibles
The Irascibles
Which influential teacher and painter, originally from Germany, bridged the gap between European Modernism and the New York School?
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann
David Smith
David Smith
Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell
Philip Guston
Philip Guston
What term did Barnett Newman use for the vertical bands of color that divided his massive, monochromatic canvases?
Line
Line
Streak
Streak
Void
Void
Zip
Zip
Which artist is associated with the ‘Pictographs’ series, featuring compartmentalized, grid-like symbolic forms?
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell
Adolph Gottlieb
Adolph Gottlieb
Robert Motherwell created a famous series of large-scale black and white paintings titled what?
Woman I
Woman I
Elegy to the Spanish Republic
Elegy to the Spanish Republic
Autumn Rhythm
Autumn Rhythm
Mountains and Sea
Mountains and Sea
The philosophical temperament of many Abstract Expressionist artists reflected which cultural movement popular in post-war intellectual circles?
Marxism
Marxism
Nihilism
Nihilism
Existentialism
Existentialism
Stoicism
Stoicism
You can do better
Not bad
Great!
Want more art history? Try our trivia on famous masterpieces. We also have quizzes on museums and galleries and contemporary art.








