Abstract Art

I want to tell you about abstract art. To begin, I'd like to introduce you to the idea that, broadly speaking, there are two types of paintings: representational and abstract. Abstract paintings have designs, shapes or colors that do not look like specific physical objects. As such, abstract paintings are a lot harder to understand than representational paintings. Indeed, when you look at an abstract painting, you often have no idea what it is you are actually seeing.

In general, there are two types of abstract paintings. The first type of abstract painting portrays objects that have been "abstracted" (taken) from nature. Although what you see may not look realistic, it is close enough that you can, at least, get an idea of what you are looking at. A second type of abstract painting, sometimes referred to as "pure" abstract art, is even more obtuse. Such paintings do not reflect any form of conventional reality: all you see are shapes, colors, lines, pa

tterns, and so on. When you look at such art, it is natural to wonder why anyone would bother to create such paintings in the first place. What could the artist possibly have in mind? In some cases, the design itself might be pleasing to the eye, and we might look upon the painting as nothing more than a decoration. Most of the time, however, this is not the case. Indeed, a great deal of abstract art is not particularly pleasing to the eye. Moreover, why would an art

ist spend so much time creating a mere decoration? There must be something more to it. To truly appreciate a work of art, you need to see it as more than a single, isolated creation: there must be context. This is because art is not timeless. Every painting is created within a particular environment, and if you do not understand that environment, you will never be able to appreciate what the artist has to offer you. When an artist creates, he is strongly influenced by the times in which he lives

and, no matter how innovative he might be as a person, he cannot completely escape the boundaries of his culture. In the early 1870s, a movement arose in France that began to introduce abstraction into serious art. This movement, called Impressionism, produced works of art that, for the first time, did not consist wholly of realistic images. The original goal of the Impressionists was simple: they wanted to describe nature as it really existed. In particular, they labore

d to capture the ever-changing effects of light, as it changed throughout the day and from season to season. Around the same time, another school of art, Neo-Impressionism, arose from the influence of Impressionism. The Neo-Impressionists used many small side-by-side dots to build up various shapes and colors. Finally, in the 1880s and 1890s, a group of artists sought to move beyond Impressionism and its obsession with the changing effects of light. These artists, known as the Post-Imp

ressionists, created a wide range of striking and innovative paintings. Among the most important Post-Impressionists were Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. When you look at Impressionist paintings, you will notice that, although they are generally soothing to the eye and calming to the spirit, they are, as a whole, quite boring. With the work of the Post- Impressionists, the purpose of art itself had begun to change. For most of history, the main purpose o

f painting had been to portray images, rather than to arouse feelings and emotions. Starting with the Post-Impressionists, however, the emphasis began to shift. By the beginning of the 20th century, the move towards abstraction had generated enormous possibility. Previously, painters - limited by the conventions of representational art - had confined themselves to either imitating nature or telling stories. Now, for the first time, artists were able to enter a

realm in which unbounded imagination was, not only possible, but desirable. Between 1910 and 1920, a new movement towards abstract art, both in painting and sculpture, arose in Europe and in North America. The first important abstract artist was Vassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944). The work of Kandinsky was extremely influential, and gave rise to a number of abstract movements: Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism, Neoplasticism, Dadaism,

Surrealism, and so on. The defining point of 20th century art was Abstract Expressionism. Painters whose work was important to the evolutionary process that redefined what it meant to be an artist was Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko.