A term coined by critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952 to describe a technique that uses splashing, flicking, dribbling, smearing and/or scraping paint onto canvas to achieve a spontaneous effect. The resulting work emphasizes the physical process of painting as an essential aspect of the finished work. The term is associated with Abstract Expressionist painters, such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.

Jackson Pollock at work.