The Meaning of Abstract Art

There are generally two types of paintings- representational and abstract. While representational painting portrays recognizable objects, abstract painting does not look like a particular object. Instead, abstract art is made up of designs, shapes and colors. (http://www.harley.com/art/abstract-art/ ) The meaning of abstract art is, in its most simplified form, art that relies on the emotions of the artist and the elements of design rather than exact representation. This broad definition allows artists almost unlimited freedom of expression. Some abstract artists create compositions that have no precedent in nature. Other abstract artists work from nature and then interpret their subjects in a nonrepresentational manner. In other words, as found on Wikipedia by Answers.com, when abstract art represents the natural world, it "does so by capturing something of its immutable intrinsic qualities rather than by imitating its external appearance." (http://www.answers.com/topic/abstract-art)

Historically, abstract art has existed for centuries, as Jewish and Islamic traditional forbids the use of representational art. (http://www.artelino.com/articles/abstract_art.asp) However, the roots of what we generally term "abstract art" can be traced to the Impressionism movement of the 1880s-1890s. Impressionism disregarded the notion that art was supposed to portray images. Post Impressionism continued this trend and placed more emphasis on the artist's emotions and expression. Wassily Kandinsky and Kasimir Malevich were the first to really create works that were pure abstraction. Kandinsky was the founder of the Abstraction movement and even published a book detailing his theories on art and spirituality, On the Spiritual in Art. (http://www.artelino.com/articles/abstract_art.asp) Kandinsky created a series of pieces with numbered titles beginning with, "Improvisation" and "Composition." (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/kandinsky/) These works were studies in color and line, without an emphasis on representation. While Kandinsky worked in Germany, Malevich spent much of his time in the Russian city of Vitebsk where he taught and founded the UNOVIS, which stood for "Affirmers of the New Art" and was founded to promote "collectivity in the creative process" and create a new way of teaching and creating art. (http://www.russianavantgard.com/master_pages/Master%2005%20-%20unovis.html)

Many more abstract artists followed, each with an individual approach and vision. Abstractart.20m.com divides abstract art into 3 main classifications: Abstract Expressionism, Neoplasticism and Cubism. (http://abstractart.20m.com/) Cubism focused on analyzing the subject using geometry. (http://abstractart.20m.com/cubism.htm) Neoplasticists believed that only horizontal and vertical lines with primary colors should be used in order to represent the "absolutes of life." (http://abstractart.20m.com/Neoplasticism.html) The spontaneous nature of Abstract Expressionism allowed the painter to show feeling and personality. (http://abstractart.20m.com/expressionism.html) Examples of each of these classifications can be found at the links provided.

Art is important to us because it reaches inside of us to our unconscious feelings. This power is very clear when studied in regards to abstract art. "The reason abstract art has the potential to be so powerful is that it keeps the conscious distractions to a minimum." (www.harley.com/art/abstract-art/) Instead of focusing on a particular image, like a fruit of flower, abstraction allows us to feel the energy of the painting. Because abstract art is not limited by precise or even realistic representation, the artist is free to analyze objects from various angles and show situations that may appear stilted in representational works. For example, in Fernand Leger's The City, (http://filebox.vt.edu/users/nayoung3/city.jpg), the artist shows a primitive, birds eye view of a busy city. We can see in the middle of the painting there is some kind road and there are simplified people scattered throughout the painting, composed of geometric forms. The effect is one of confusion and over stimulation, like one might feel during rush hour. However, the painting does not show an actually street filled with cars and pedestrians. It gives the viewer the feeling of a bustling streetscape, without actually portraying it.

Using the same principles that portrayed the "bustling" of a landscape, abstract artists can show movement, even movement that is not "real." An example of this is Umberto Boccioni's