Abstract Art

Mrs. Kampf

Intro to Graphic Arts

Abstract Art

does not necessarily depict a person, place or thing in the natural world.

can be extremely distorted or exaggerated. the subject of the work is based on what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale and, in some cases, the process (action painting)

Abstract art, nonfigurative art, nonobjective art, and nonrepresentational art are loosely related terms.

Abstract Expressionism

is an American post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris.

Wassily Kandinsky: Composition VIII 1923 Oil on canvas55 1/8 x 79 1/8 inSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposely, to cause vibrations in the soul."–Vasily Kandinsky, The Effect of Color, 1911

Willem de Kooning: Abstract Expressionist

Woman V (1952–53)oil and charcoal on canvas154.5 h x 114.5 w cm

Woman V is one of a series of six paintings made by de Kooning between 1950 and 1953 that depict a three-quarter-length female figure.

Jackson PollockJackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist),1950

Using house paint, he dripped, poured, and flung pigment from loaded brushes and sticks while walking around it. He said that this was his way of being “in” his work, acting as a medium in the creative process. For Pollock, who admired the sand painting of the American Indians, summoning webs of color to his canvases and making them balanced, complete, and lyrical, was almost an act of ritual. Like an ancient cave painter, he “signed” Lavender Mist in the upper left corner and at the top of the canvas with his handprints.

Frank Stella

Harran II 1967Polymer and fluorescent polymer paint on canvas, 10 × 20 feet

A major shift from this work began to develop in 1966 with his Irregular Polygons, canvases in the shapes of irregular geometric forms and characterized by large unbroken areas of color. As this new vocabulary developed into a more open and color -oriented pictorial language, the works underwent a metamorphosis in size, expressing an affinity with architecture in their monumentality. Stella also introduced curves into his works, marking the beginning of the Protractor series. Harran II evinces the great vaulting compositions and lyrically decorative patterns that are the leitmotif of the series, which is based on the semicircular drafting instrument used for measuring and constructing angles.

Other Abstract Artists

Robert Delaunay: orphismRhythm, Joie de Vivre

Robert Delaunay’s gift to us is his bold use of colour.  His paintings express a great love of what he sees as the rhythm of nature and the movement of colors.  His work using coloured ‘simultaneous discs’ was influenced by the research of the 19th century chemist Eugene Chevreul who concluded that "Two adjacent colours, when seen by the eye, will appear as dissimilar as possible". Delaunay’s work encourages us to see the world with fresh eyes, to notice the shape and colour of the world around us.  It fills us with feelings of light and optimism.  It calls us to embrace the world and our sense of place in it.

Joan Miró: surrealismWoman Encircled by the Flight of a Bird, 1941

Playful, joyful, energetic and colourful, Joan Miró's paint language appears very simple – bird, star, sun, moon, figure, colour, surface, and so on. But like the best poets, the artist's juggling of these elements is sophisticated and playful at the same time. The results are unique, immediately recognisable and vibrant - a delight to behold.

Paul Klee: cubismSenecio, 1922

The art of Paul Klee defies easy categorisation. During his career he experimented relentlessly with creating images in a wide variety of styles, some abstract, some less so. Visionary, subtle, whimsical, sometimes innocent, but always innovative, his prolific output has ensured that he remains one of the favourites of twentieth century abstract artists.

Pablo Picasso: cubismSelf Portrait with Cloak, 1901

Early Blue Period

Spanish expatriate Pablo Picasso was one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, as well as the co-creator of Cubism.

Born: 25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973

Pablo Picasso: cubism

Guernica, 1937