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Abstract Art Work - A Popular Movement

By Bryon  Zirker

Abstract art work is becoming very popular as a way of owning affordable modern art.

Although abstraction was becoming evident in the impressionist, neo and post impressionist movements began during the latter part of the 19th century. A separate identity in the early 20th century called non-objective or non-iconic art started to become apparent.

In this movement, artists created marks, signs or three-dimensional constructions that have no connection with images or objects in the known visible world and are completely abstract. In its purest form within Western art, abstract art is without a recognizable subject or object, which relates to nothing external and does not "imitate or mirror" anything. Instead the color and form are the subject of the abstract painting. It is without a doubt, 100 percent non objective or non representational.

A further distinction is made between abstract art which is geometric, like the work of Mondrian, and abstract art that is more fluid (and where the apparent spontaneity often belies careful planning and execution), for another few examples look at the abstract art of Kandinsky or Pollock.

As seen Western art history, breaking away from the notion that a painting had to represent something happened in the early 20th century began to progress quickly. Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism art movements of the time, contributed by breaking away from the norm or rules of art followed since before the great Renaissance period. Within Impressionism we see painters not completing their paintings. Most Fauvists used color in a unrealistic way. Cubism introduced the idea of painting an object from many points of view. Out of all of this came the ideas which developed color, line, form, and texture that could be the "subject" of a painting.

The abstract impressionistic style is an exciting and very vibrant style that allows the representation of life images or reality impressions, in some different simplified ways using abstract shapes, forms and fresh and vibrant colors.

Abstract art works that gives the viewer a sense of being somewhere else in time or place are pre-planned and created on an interesting surface of texture before the artist begins to paint. Many layers of paint are applied in a special process, for the purpose of creating a feeling of nature, space and place.

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Who are the 'big names' in abstract art and are there any defining books on the subject?

I am writing an essay on the subject of abstract art for my art history class.
I know this is a huge topic! Feel free to enlighten me about the subcategories/movements within abstract art also.

There's a huge amount of abstract artists out there - the term abstract is more of an umbrella term and can comprise many different types of art, e.g. abstract expressionism. See Jackson Pollock, Kazimir Malevich, Mark Rothko, Wassily Kandinsky, and so on.

For a defining book, I'd recommend 'The Story of Art' by E. H. Gombrich. It goes from prehistoric times right up to recent times, and is a bestseller. There's been something like 17 editions of it, so that should tell you how successful it is.

Also, have a look at Robert Hughes' 'The Shock of the New'. It's an interesting introduction to a complex subject.

Try Thames & Hudson publishers - they make a lot of short introductory texts to the world of art. As do Taschen.

Good luck with the essay!

Edit: Okay, for a start: Tachism/Tachisme, Rayonism/Rayonnism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Minimalism, Op Art, Abstract Expressionism, Dada, Vorticism, Neoplasticism, Suprematism, Assemblage Art...

Basically, it will depend on your definition of what abstract art is. If you refer to it as art that, generally speaking, is non-representational, then almost anything in the 20th century (loosely speaking) could be considered abstract. Start with the list above. Then you could, if you so wished, move towards installation art and performance art.

If I can help you with anything, email me. My address is on my profile. I won't bite!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 1:41 am and is filed under paintings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.