How did Surrealism influence Abstract Expressionism?

Surrealism profoundly influenced Abstract Expressionism through both direct contact and theoretical transmission. When European Surrealists fled to New York during World War II, American artists encountered automatism and unconscious-focused art-making firsthand. Jackson Pollock studied with Surrealist-influenced teachers and adopted automatic techniques, developing his famous drip paintings as a form of gestural automatism. Robert Motherwell wrote extensively on Surrealism and practiced automatic drawing. The Surrealist emphasis on the unconscious, spontaneity, and personal mythology shaped Abstract Expressionism’s focus on subjective expression. While Abstract Expressionists largely abandoned representational imagery, they retained Surrealism’s commitment to accessing deeper psychological truths through non-rational processes.