Abstract Art

Abstract Art
Table of Content
Introduction: Understanding Abstract Art (slides 1-12)
Part 1: What is Abstract Art?
Objective
Non-Objective
Part 2: Realism vs. Abstract
Part 3: Philosophies
Abstract Formalism (Classical/Intellectual)
Abstract Expressionism (Romantic/Emotional)
Abstract Expressionism - Noun vs. Verb
Part 4: Roots of Abstraction
Part 5: Abstract Formalism - Significant People
Part 6: Abstract Expressionism – Significant People
 Composition
• What are some parts • What are some parts
to music? to art?
– Chorus – Repetition
– Verse
– Content
– Beat, rhythm
– Tone, notes etc…. – Movement
– Color
Understanding Abstract Art
• Since abstract art
first appeared, many
people had difficulty
understanding and
struggled to accept
it as art.
• If you are one of
these people – don’t
worry. This is an
attempt to explain
how to understand
and appreciate
abstract art. Willem de Kooning,
“Woman V” 1952-53
Looking at Abstract art is like
finding images in clouds.
• Have you ever
looked at the clouds
and found
recognizable
images?
• Understanding abstract art is in the eye
and spirit of the beholder – YOU

• Most people say that no matter what mood you’re in, you can
look at a piece of abstract art and still be able to relate to it in
some way –

• Everyone brings their own unique

interpretation to the abstract art.

Just like finding images in clouds

 How to look at abstract art.
Through a simple meditative practice, the viewer (you) take an active part in
creating the meaning of the artwork.

Try this method

• Simply sit back – close your eyes, relax – slowly open them and just stare
at the artwork.
• Don’t think – just stare…stay in the present moment.
• Ask yourself – what do you feel? Is it sad, angry, excited etc….
• Ask yourself – why does this work make you feel this way? Is it because
of the colors, lines, space, etc….
• Now – look at it more closely, can you put a concept, story or meaning that
is personal to you in this work through relating the elements of the art with
your life?
 Part 1

What is Abstract Art?

 What is Abstract
• Any art that is not Realistic

George Bingham, The Fir

Traders Descending the
Missouri, 1845

Thomas Eakins, The Chess

Players, 1876 - America
 It is………..
• an exaggeration of one or more
compositional elements:

Li Value
n
Shape
e Texture
Space Form
Color
 Types of Abstraction
1. Objective – artwork with recognizable
images.

Matisse, The
Blue Nude,
1952
Picasso, Head, 1960
2. Non-objective – artwork with no
recognizable images

Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950

Frank Stella, (The Science of

Laziness) 1984,
• We are in such a period now with the advent and
growing popularity of academies. Others stand
by modernism in all forms of abstraction, from
the absurd to the popular, pledging never to
return to those staid disciplines of yesteryear.

• Real abstract art ( somewhat of an oxymoron )

flourishes somewhere in between.
Understanding abstract art is not complicated.
Once you get past the void of decorative arts
and the volume of voices who claim “everyone is
an artist,” you will discover a rich tapestry of
emotion and thought that comprises abstract art.
• Realism presents the viewer an artist’s
interpretation or representation of the world in its
complexity and simplicity.
• Abstraction presents the viewer an artist’s
reaction to the world in its complexity and
simplicity.
• Realism expresses the outer world and abstract
expresses the inner world.
• Realism mimics the outer world in a variety of
styles and techniques whereas abstraction
expresses the inner world in a variety of styles
and techniques.
• Realism hopes to answer “what is it?” whereas
abstraction hopes to answer “what is it saying?”
 Part 3

Let’s go deeper…
Philosophies of Abstract Art
 Before we begin…
• Think of the two different kinds of rap
music.
– Rehearsed
– Free Style
 Philosophies
• There are two main concepts of abstract art.
– Abstract Formalism - Relies on the formal qualities of
composition and is produced with much thought and
preplanning. Classical / Intellectual – What is important
is the product, end result. Often resulted in art theories.
• Picasso (Cubism), Cezanne, Mondrian, Op Art …

– Abstract Expressionism – Relies heavily on emotional

impact, intuition and is often spontaneous. The artists
often starts with just a concept or idea and improvises
as he produces the art. Romantic / Emotional – What is
important is the process.
• Jackson Pollack, Jane Frank, Mark Rothko, Robert
Motherwell…
 Abstract Formalism
• Picasso, Mondrian,

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Yellow,

Picasso, Woman Playing Mandolin Blue, and Red, 1921, oil on canvas, 72.5 x
69 cm, Tate Gallery. London.
 Abstract Expressionism

Jaskson Pollock, "Lavender

Mist" from 1950

Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 70, 1961

Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991)
 Noun vs Verb
• Noun
– Abstract Expressionism –
style developed by certain
artist (see roots of
Abstraction). Mainly non-
objective, improvisational
work.

• Verb
– Art work can be abstract,
objective and have more
emphasis on expression.
 Part 4

Roots of Abstract Art

• In the late 19th century the traditional
European concept of art was the imitation
of nature which was abandoned in favor of
imagination and the unconscious.
What caused it to happen?
•Some say the concept was influenced by Russian artist
Wassily Kandinsky around 1910.
•Others say the movement began in
New York when people stopped
tolerating the social realism art,
produced after the WWII (1947) and
instead switched to abstraction.
 Part 5

Abstract Expressionism

Significant Artists
Significant People
Wassily Kandinsky
(1866-1944)
• He is considered one of the
“inventors” of abstract painting. He
began painting realistic but evolved
into abstract art.
• He believed in what he called the
“psychological and spiritual effects
of color, developing an art form in
which shapes and colors alone
became the important quality.

• “Painting should represent a mood

not illustrate an object.”
Wassily Kandinsky’s “Blue
Paintin” (1922)
Significant People (cont’d.)
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)

• Born in the Netherlands and later

moved to Manhattan in 1927

• Became friends with art critic John D.

Graham and painter Arshile Gorky
who got him started with painting
abstraction

• Became famous for his impact on the

abstract expressionism movement in
the 1940’s and was recognized as a
leader of it in the 1950’s
Willem de Kooning
(1975)
Significant People
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

• Moved to New York to study at the

Art Students League

• Worked for the Federal Art Project

from 1938-1942

• Invented the “drip” technique

• Artist of the most expensive painting

in the world in 2006, “No. 5” (1948),
that sold for $140,000,000 Jackson Pollock’s “Blue
Poles” (1952)
Significant People (cont’d.)
Franz Kline (1910-1962)

• Recognized as a very “spontaneous”

painter, focusing not on figures or
images, but rather on brush strokes and
use of the canvas

• Most famous for his black and white

paintings, which some say reference to
Japanese calligraphy

• Most modern architecture is said to be

modeled after Kline’s works Franz Kline’s “Painting Number
2” (1954)
Significant People (cont’d.)
Fuller Potter (1910-1990)

• Painted landscapes and portraits

until he met Jackson Pollock in
1950 and permanently changed his
style of painting to abstract

• Never used the “drip” method like

Pollock did, but instead put a lot of
paint on the brush at once and
applied it liberally and aggressively
to the canvas

Fuller Potter (1969)

 Part 6

Abstract Formalism
Using one style of abstract formalism
– Cubism - and two examples of work
inspired by Cubism.
Significant People
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

• Pablo Picasso, born in Spain, was a

child prodigy who was recognized as
such by his art-teacher father.

• Recognized as the leader of Cubism.

Influenced by Einstein’s Theory of
Relativity

• Wanted to truly represent 3 dimension

on a 2 dimensional surface.

Pablo’s Picasso “Dora Maar Au

• Periods: Rose, Blue, Analytical, Chat” (1941)
Synthetic
Other People Alexandra
Nechita’s “Wine
Alexandra Nechita (1910-1990) Taster”

• She was born in Communist Romania.

• Considered a child prodigy by art critics,
she has created a visual language of her
own in a modern abstract expressionist
and cubist manner and creates unique,
masterful, dynamic compositions.
• Whit her innate sense of color, she
transfers images of what she sees, what
she imagines, and what she dreams, to
large canvases with sensitivity, boldness,
and a totally uninhibited freedom.
• She is completely comfortable with all
media.
Alexandra Nechita’s
“Know Yourself”
Other People
Noel Cole (b.1957)

• Art teacher since 1980

• Inspired by Alexandra Nechita –

developed this piece for lesson/

Noel Cole’s “Clara and Jason”

(2001)
Result/Conclusion
What happened in the end?

• There really is no specific starting date of abstract art, much less an ending
date

• The movement, in all, has been over, but abstraction is now looked upon as
just another equally beautiful form of art

• There are many artists that still create abstract art today, and now they have
taken the ideas of it and applied it to other things, such as architecture
Result/Conclusion (cont’d.)
What were the lasting effects?

• Abstract paintings and art have influenced many people to not

feel like they just have to paint portraits and landscapes, but
that they can just paint what they feel and make their work
actually mean something to them

• There are now tons of buildings, bridges, stairs, monuments,

etc. that have been created with an abstract theme.
Architecture as a whole has changed incredibly since abstract
art was introduced.
Result/Conclusion (cont’d.)
Abstract Architecture