While many people are confused about Rothko's fame with what may appear to be simply rectangles, the ideas of Abstract Expressionism require the audience, or viewers, of the art to think about the paintings. What was the artist trying to say? Why? How does this painting make any comment, or expression, at all?

Another famous artist from the Abstract Expressionist movement is Jackson Pollock. Pollock did not begin by painting what you see on this page, but rather he found himself drawn to this method later in his career. His fame came from painting by splattering, dripping, and even pouring the paint onto the canvas.

Another famous American artist who is often said to dominate a style is Andy Warhol. In the 1950s British artists began experimenting with a style known as Pop Art. This technique utilized popular culture in art. When the movement spread to the US in the 1960s, Andy Warhol became quite famous. He painted images of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. To the left is one of his paintings titled "100 Cans," in which he utilized Campbell's soup cans. Warhol is also famous for saying that "in the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes," which is from where the saying "15 minutes of fame" comes.