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Abstract Art

Visual Arts

ABSTRACT ART

Understanding

Pablo Picasso****. Three Musicians. 1921. Oil on canvas. (^) Wassily Kandinsky****. Improvisation 26 (Oars). 1912. Oil on canvas.

Looking at Abstract art is like finding images in clouds.

• Have you ever

looked at the clouds

and found

recognizable

images?

Draw from life….

• The word “abstract” simply means to “draw from”. Abstraction draws from a life’s experience of real and imaginary images, from knowledge and feelings, from emotion to devotion, the simple and the complex, and mixes it with skill, discipline and excellence, to create expression from the human spirit. When you look at abstract work, don’t clamour for an image you can identify.
• Wait for a moment, let the work “speak” to you and allow you a glimpse of what the artist was thinking, what he or she was feeling and what the artist wants to say. Sometimes it’s just your reaction to colors, or specific shapes, or an overall texture, that will be the voice.
• Our brains our wired to learn through association. In order to make sense of the world we need to connect the new information with our past experience or memories. Let the elements (line, shape, color…) guide you to this connection by responding to the emotions frist that they bring to you.
• I believe one also can learn to acquire an understanding and appreciation of abstract art, as much as one needs to acquire understanding and appreciation of the classics.

Impact A note from an abstract artist.

- I just wanted to drop a line again and let you know how much my patients and I are enjoying your painting. I am a clinical psychologist. Your painting has become a spontaneous marvelous ink blot with people trying to see as many different things as possible in it. I’ve been impressed with the playfulness and creativity. Thank you again for this wonderful addition to **my practice. It’s taken on more meaning than a painting on the wall.”

• What a wonderful testimony to the power of abstract art. This is precisely** where the beauty of abstract art lies. The color, the texture, and the form do not resemble anything the viewers are familiar with, but instead prompt **the audience to create a meaning in their imagination.
• The responses to the same painting will be as varied as the individual** internal worlds creating them. Therefore, the question of “understanding” of abstract art is pointless. It is not intellectual or objective. It is purely emotional, subjective, and personal.

What is Abstract

• Any art that is not Realistic Thomas Eakins, The Chess Players, 1876 - America George Bingham, The Fir Traders Descending the Missouri, 1845

It is………..

• an exaggeration of one or more

compositional elements:

L

i

n

e

Shape

Color

Value

Texture

Space

Form

2. Non-objective – artwork with no

recognizable images

Frank Stella, (The Science of Laziness) 1984, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950

• 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.

Part 3 Let’s go deeper… Philosophies of Abstract Art

• 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… Philosophies

Abstract Expressionism Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 70, 1961 Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991) Jaskson Pollock, "Lavender Mist" from 1950