<P> The post-war period left the capitals of Europe in upheaval , with an urgency to economically and physically rebuild and to politically regroup . In Paris , formerly the center of European culture and capital of the art world , the climate for art was a disaster , and New York replaced Paris as the new center of the art world . In Europe after the war there was the continuation of Surrealism , Cubism , Dada , and the works of Matisse . Also in Europe , Art brut , and Lyrical Abstraction or Tachisme ( the European equivalent to Abstract expressionism ) took hold of the newest generation . Serge Poliakoff , Nicolas de Staël , Georges Mathieu , Vieira da Silva , Jean Dubuffet , Yves Klein , Pierre Soulages and Jean Messagier , among others are considered important figures in post-war European painting . In the United States , a new generation of American artists began to emerge and to dominate the world stage , and they were called Abstract Expressionists . </P>
when did the center of the western art world shift from europe to the united states
after the war