The Americanness of Abstract Expressionism

is a cornerstone of the widely held view of this artistic phenomenon. Yet some of the most important exponents of the movement are connected, both for biographical and ideal reasons, to the Old World. In particular, the example offered by the art of European avant-gardes seems to have played a fundamental role in the development of the New York School. What were the relationships between the abstract expressionists and Europe? Which examples from the modernist tradition of the Old Continent did they follow? What was the relationship between Abstract Expressionism and analogous artistic currents that appeared on the European scene?