History of painting of the European abstract schools such as futurism, the Bauhaus and synthetic cubism. Abstract expressionism, action painting, and Color Field painting are synonymous with the New York School. Technically Surrealism was an important predecessor for abstract expressionism with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock's dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of André Masson. Another important ear<nowiki>ly m</nowiki>anifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American Northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his "white writing" canvases, which, though generally not large
Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle of God. In 1805, Goethe saw a copy of this portrait in the museum at Leipzig and described it as of "inestimable value." According to Lawrence Gowing, who calls this "the most French of all his pictures", the "Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle" is singular among Dürer's paintings as "the touch is freer and color more iridescent than in any other picture one remembers". Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle (or "Eryngium") is an oil painting on parchment pasted on canvas by German artist Albrecht Dürer. Painted in 1493, it