Abstract

The research comprises four chapters. The first chapter addresses the research problem, its importance, and the need for it. The research problem was defined as the following question: What are the expressive connotations of the image associated with the productions of contemporary Western art? The first chapter included the research objective (identifying the expressive connotations of the image in contemporary Western art), and the limits of the research by objectively studying (the expressive connotations of the image in contemporary Western art) through analyzing models representing artistic productions in the United States of America for the time period (1965-2000 AD). As for the second chapter, it included the theoretical framework and contained two sections. The first section dealt with (the connotations of expression and the image in art), and the second section (approaches to pictorial expression in contemporary American painting). As for the third chapter, the research community consisted of approximately (40) works within the boundaries of contemporary Western art from the year (1965-2000 AD). The researcher intentionally selected the sample (4) artistic paintings as a sample for the research within the sixties, seventies and the millennium. As for the research methodology, the researcher relied on the (descriptive analytical) method. The fourth chapter included the research results and conclusions, as well as recommendations and suggestions. Among the most prominent results reached by the research.:

The expressive connotations of the image were achieved In contemporary Western art, the unfamiliar and the absurd are characterized by marginalized scenes, which lead to astonishment and shock for the viewer, or scenes of vast spaces, as in all models.

The conclusions are: The most important new data for image expression in contemporary art productions are chaotic, the absence of academic and scholastic teachings, and the lack of stable standards, which creates a dynamic and shifting value system characterized by disappearance, immediacy, and change.