This seminar examines the history and theory of the postwar art movement known variously as "Abstraction Expressionism," the "New York School" and "Action Painting." Our focus will be on the paintings and sculptures that came to dominate Modernist discourse in the U.S. following the Second World War, including Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and Morris Louis. We will focus on both art criticism and art practice. Students will complete a research project tailored to their own interests in this period.