Alejke Gurgin Kazarian (1938-2016) was largely influenced creatively by the 1950s. Abstract Expressionism prevailed in the 1950s as a primary method of painting, and explored ideas about the sublime and spirituality. Artists endeavoured to focus on painting's formal properties, and Action Painting took inspiration from the political freedoms of the United States, in opposition to the strictures of the Soviet bloc. Significant artists of this period included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Frank Kline, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Adolph Gottlieb. In later revisions, the contributions and efforts of female artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois have been recognised, amongst many other female creatives.