Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the
natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way.[1] In the very early 20th century, the term was more often used to
describe art, such as Cubist and Futurist art, that
depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way—keeping only an allusion of the original natural subject. Such paintings
were often claimed to capture something of the depicted objects' immutable intrinsic qualities rather than its external appearance. (See abstraction.) The more precise terms, "non-figurative
art," "non-objective art," and "non-representational art" avoid any possible ambiguity.
History
Non-objective art is not an invention of the 20th century — humans have made non-objective art since they first drew pictures
in the dirt. In the Islamic religion the depiction of humans is not allowed, and consequently the Islamic culture developed a
high standard of decorative arts. Calligraphy is
also a form of non-figurative art. Abstract designs have also existed in Western culture
in many contexts. However, Abstract art is distinct from pattern-making in design, since it draws on the distinction between
decorative art and fine art, in which a painting is an object of thoughtful contemplation in
its own right.
Constructivism (1915) and De Stijl (1917) were
parallel movements which took abstraction into the three dimensions of sculpture and architecture. The Constructivists believed
that the artist's work was a revolutionary activity, to express the aspirations of the people, using machine production, graphic
and photographic means of communication. Some of the American Abstract
expressionists are purely abstract and include: Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Hans Hofmann although they were at times inspired by myth, figuration, architecture, and nature.
Op Art (1962) and Minimalism (1965)[2] were two recent idioms. It is, at present, possible that an artist's work is seen
as an individual entity rather than part of a movement.
Gallery
References
See also
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
.jpg)
