abstraction and abstract art - Imagery which departs from
representational accuracy, to a variable range of possible
degrees, for some reason other than verisimilitude. Abstract artists
select and then exaggerate or simplify the forms suggested by the
world around them. The paintings of Pablo Picasso (Spanish,
1881-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963) as well as
the sculptures of Henry Moore (English, 1898-1987), Barbara
Hepworth (English, 1903-1975), and Jacques Lipchitz (RussianAmerican, 1891-1973) are examples of abstract art. Wassily
Kandinsky, (Russian, 1866-1944), was one of the first creators of
pure abstraction in modern painting. After successful avant-garde
exhibitions, he founded the influential Munich group Der Blaue
Reiter (The Blue Rider; 1911-1914), when his paintings became
completely abstract. His forms evolved from fluid and organic to
geometric and, finally, to pictographic.
verisimilitude - Appearing to be true or real.
Philip Pearlstein
(American, 1924-), Two
Models on a Kilim Rug
with Mirror, 1983, oil
on canvas,
Picasso
Henry Moore
Jacques Lipchitz
Nancy Graves
Wassily Kandinsky
Katherine Dreier (American, 1877-1952),
Abstract Portrait of Marcel Duchamp,
Paul Strand (American, 1890-1976),
Abstraction, Twin Lakes, Connecticut,
Gerhard Richter (German, 1932-), Abstract
Painting No. 439, 1978, oil on canvas
Gerhard Richter, G.A.4 (21.1.84), 1984, colored
inks, watercolor, pencil and crayon on paper,
Gerhard
Richter,
Breath,
1989, oil
on canvas,
Sam Gilliam
(American, 1933-),
Abstraction, 1969,
acrylic on aluminumtreated paper.
Taylor _____ (American, contemporary, at
10 years old), House Cat, from Realistic to
Abstract, 2005, colored pencils on paper,
Abstract Expressionism or abstract expressionism - A painting
movement in which artists typically applied paint rapidly, and with
force to their huge canvases in an effort to show feelings and
emotions, painting gesturally, non-geometrically, sometimes
applying paint with large brushes, sometimes dripping or even
throwing it onto canvas. Their work is characterized by a strong
dependence on what appears to be accident and chance, but
which is actually highly planned. Some Abstract Expressionist
artists were concerned with adopting a peaceful and mystical
approach to a purely abstract image. Usually there was no effort to
represent subject matter. Not all work was abstract, nor was all
work expressive, but it was generally believed that the spontaneity
of the artists' approach to their work would draw from and release
the creativity of their unconscious minds. The expressive method of
painting was often considered as important as the painting itself.
Mark Rothko, N° 14 (Browns over Dark), 1963,
oil and acrylic on canvas
Arshile Gorky, Composition, 1936-1939,
oil on canvas,
Willem de
Kooning, Seated
Woman, 1952,
pastel, pencil,
and oil on two
hinged sheets of
paper,
Willem de Kooning,
Women Singing II,
1966, oil on paper laid
on canvas,
Barnett Newman, Pagan Void, 1946, oil on canvas,
David Smith, Becca, 1965, stainless steel,
Franz Kline, Untitled, c. 1954, oil on paper,
Franz Kline, Siskind, 1958, oil on canvas,
Jackson Pollock
(American, 19121956), Naked Man with
Knife, c. 1938-40, oil
on canvas,
Jackson Pollock, The Moon-Woman Cuts the
Circle, 1943, oil on canvas,
Jackson Pollock, Night Mist, 1945, oil
on canvas,
Jackson Pollock, One (Number 31, 1950),
1950, oil and enamel on unprimed canvas, 8
feet 10 inches x 17 feet 5 5/8 inches
•"All painting, no matter what you are painting, is abstract in
that it's got to be organized."
David Hockney (1937-), English painter and photographer.
•"Abstract paintings must be as real as those created by the
16th century Italians."
Frank Stella (1936-), American artist.
•"Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot
physically see with his eyes. . . . Abstract art enables the artist
to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the
finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into
unknown areas."
Arshile Gorky (1904-1948), Armenian-born American Abstract
Expressionist painter.
Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997), the six
prints in the "Bull Profile Series," Bull I, (the most
figuratively representational image of the six)