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The Basics of Abstract Art
by Felix Warner-Collard
http://www.fwcart.com
Artist Robert Motherwell once said this about abstract art:
"One might truthfully say that abstract art is stripped bare
of other things in order to intensify it, its rhythms,
spatial intervals, and color structure. Abstraction is a
process of emphasis . . . "
Abstract art is, by definition, non-representational. It
makes no attempt to depict a recognizable subject. Instead,
the artist uses colour, form and materials to convey his or
her emotion, whether it is about a subject, or just the
artist's inner landscape. At it's most essential, abstract
art is a depiction of pure emotion, stripped of any outside
contextual meaning. In dictionary terms, it is defined as a
non-representational art form.
While that is the truest definition of abstract art, people
also refer to any piece of art that represents a non-visual
subject as 'abstract'. Paintings that are meant to invoke or
provoke an emotion, or depict a sound or spiritual state of
the artist fit the perception of 'abstract'.
While abstract art emerged from western art, the historical
break from the belief that a painting or any other art piece
necessarily had to represent a particular subject happened
in the beginning of the 20th century. Several art movements
such as impressionism, cubism and fauvism allcontributed by
breaking the art rules followed since the renaissance
period.
It's possible to follow the progression of principles from
Impressionism through Abstract. Impressionist painters left
behind the 'finish' work of painting, leaving line and
boundary undefined and letting color create the picture.
Fauvists deliberately used color in non-realistic ways in
their paintings - another step away from pure
representation. Cubists introduced new ways of dealing with
perspective and shape. The natural outgrowth of these
schools was abstraction, with the idea that texture, shape
and color could be the whole of the painting.
Another artform that emerged in the nineteen forties is
abstract expressionism. Artists then applied expressionist
principles to abstract painting. A good example are the
~action paintings~ of J. Pollock. In these art pieces, paint
was dripped, smeared, or thrown on the canvas.
Many people don~t understand abstract art. They are not
always able to interpret a painting which is, to them, a
mysterious blur of colors and textures. Whether it is a
painting, a sculpture or in any other form, abstract art
sometimes is only understandable by the artist himself.
Abstract art can be accessible to the layman viewer if it
has some attribute that will draw his interest and hold it.
In order for a piece to have some meaning to anyone other
than the artist, there must be something that will engage
the viewer and provoke an emotional response from him.
As has always been the case when a new school of art rises,
the abstract school has begun to separate within itself.
Critics often make a distinction between geometric abstract
art that appears carefully planned and executed, and the
more fluid artwork of an artist like Kandinsky.
A further distinction tends to be made between abstract art
which is geometric, such as the work of Mondrian, and
abstract art that is more fluid (and where the apparent
spontaneity often belies careful planning and execution),
such as the abstract art of Kandinsky or Pollock.
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