Abstract Expression was often portrayed as an epic struggle between man and material might unfold. Process was paramount. With grand, heroically scaled gestures, the action painter created an art of confrontation and catharsis.

Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist,1950
Nearly half a century later, contemporary response to the rhetorical excesses that helped establish action painting as a "heroic" art form has been tempered, and the view of abstract expressionism as the triumph of American painting has fallen out of fashion.
Thankfully. However, Pollock had a big impact on the history of American art.