François Raty

Born in 1928, François Raty was predominantly influenced by the 1950s. It can be said that the 1950s were dominated by Abstract Expressionism, a form of painting that prioritized expressive brushstrokes and explored ideas about organic nature, spirituality and the sublime. Much of the focus was on the formal properties of painting, and ideas of action painting were unified with the political freedom of the United States society as opposed to the strict nature of the Soviet bloc. In the Post-War period the lens of modernism was focused, in terms of international attention, on developments in New York City. The Second World War had brought many prominent artists to the city in exile from Europe, leading to a significant pooling of talent and ideas. Important Europeans that came to New York and provided inspiration for American artists included Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers and Hans Hoffmann, who between them set the foundations for much of the United States’ significant cultural growth in the decades thereafter. Important artists of the Abstract Expressionist Generation included Jackson Pollock (who innovated his famed drip, splatter and pour painting techniques), Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Frank Kline, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Adolph Gottlieb. It was a male dominated environment, though necessary reassessment of this period has underlined the contributions of female artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois, amongst others.