Abstract Representations Geometric and Expressionistic Abstractions
Since the development of modern art, artists have widely explored abstraction as an expressive device. The explorations ranged from geometric to expressionistic abstraction. This innovative approach to representation brought about new energies and dimensions in artistic creation, stretching the definition of art.
Understanding the concepts underlying abstract representation allows students access to many modern and contemporary artworks. Students gain an appreciation of abstract representation and are able to critically evaluate such artworks in an informed manner.
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Piet Mondrian (The Netherlands) Piet Mondrian carried geometric abstraction to its furthest limits. Through radical simplification of composition and colour, he sought to expose the basic principles that underlie all appearances. Comparative Artist: Anthony Poon
PR8-G6 on 6P waves by Anthony Poon, 1989, 183 x 183
cm, Acrylic on canvas
Trafalgar Square by Piet Mondrian, 1939 – 43, Oil on canvas, 145.2 x
120 cm
Jackson Pollock (United States of America) Jackson Pollock heralds a fresh approach towards expressionistic abstract painting that delves beyond the canvas surface with his action paintings. Comparative Artist/s: Willem De Kooning, Chua Ek Kay
Alchemy, 1947, by Jackson Pollock, Oil, aluminium,
enamel paint, and string on canvas, 45 1/8 x 87 1/8
inches
Sign Board of a Coffee Shop on Beach Road, by
Chua Ek Kay, 2007
ink and pigments on paper, 59 x 46
cm
Constantin Brancusi (Romania) Brancusi’s exploration of pure form in his abstract sculptures created new paradigms with which sculpture could be engaged. Comparative Artist: Han Sai Por
WHAT iS ABSTRACTION?
Works/ Imagery which departs from representational accuracy
to a variable range of possible degrees.
ABSTRACTION: NEW ART IN THE NEW WORLD
W History Art HistoryMid 1800s
to
Beg1900s
Mid 1900s
to
Late 1900s
Realism
WW1(1914-1918)
(1860 – 1920)Impressionism, Post ImpressionismSymbolism, Fauvism
(1905-1945)Expressionism, Cubism, FuturismBauhaus, De Stijl, ConstructivismDadaism, Surrealism
WW2 (1939 – 1945)
(From 1945)Abstract Expressionism (1945 – 1960)Concrete Abstraction (1955 – 1975)Realism & Action Art (1958 – 1975)Pop ArtPhoto Realism
Historical Background leading to Abstraction
1) After World War II, people yearned for a new start, hoping for life in peace & prosperity.
2) People did not want to be reminded of the war.3) Fascism, War and the Holocaust had shaken all moral and ethical
values to the core.4) Due to the Cold War in the 50s, the world was divided into the 2
ideological camps due to USSR and USA.
In Art…..1) A certain lack of direction.2) The National Socialist iconoclasm produced an artistic
impoverishment.3) In order to escape persecution by the National Socialists/ the effects
of war, artists like Chagall, Mondrian, Duchamp and Dali etc emigrated to the United States.
4) United States was the New World, the new artistic metropolis.5) The Museum of Modern Art, a museum entirely devoted to modern
art was opened in 1929.
WHY ABSTRACTION?
All forms of figuration were rejected, less on aesthetic then on ideological grounds.
Abstraction embraced for its openness and its free-floating content.
Abstract Expressionism Action Painting
Geometrical Abstraction Silent Colours, Deep
Surfaces
Art was redefined. Painting lost all its meaning and justification Put materials to the test. Removed its representational
functions and let it speak for itself. Unlike artists after WW1 who used abstract art to outline
new values/ utopias for the world, artists after WWII searched for individual forms of expression. They produced a confusing diversity of styles and trends.
No institution to dictate what art had to be. The subjectivity of the artist was now elevated to the valid standard of artistic production.
Abstract Expressionism
Artistic freedom produced by the abandonment of rules made art difficult to the wider public
Paintings no longer represented anything that could be discerned at first glance
Demanded a new way of seeing Less ‘reading something out of a painting’ but more of
‘seeing into it’ what imagination, collection, consideration and self-questioning required.
Open lack of message. No instructions for reading the painting was made. Audience free to create message.
Painting was an action, a document of a working process.
Abstract Expressionism
Conclusions about the individual mood of the artist or the process is entirely eliminated.
Canvas filled with clear, smooth fields of colour. Audience should concentrate on the pureness of the painting
without wasting time thinking about how it was made, what they recognize.
The only importance: CONFRONTATION Artist – Artwork – Audience The ‘void’ of the painting leaves room for audience’s own
feelings. Time and space lose their meaning. Colours vibrate. Deep spatiality, stillness and contemplation were key.
Art no longer represented but communicated truths of its own.
Geometrical Abstraction– Silent colours, deep surfaces
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.