Abstract Art
Abstract Art (or Non-Objective Art) is a distinct realm in which artists have abandoned the depiction of reality in favor of non-objectivity - the language of pure forms, lines and colors. Instead of telling a story with recognizable images or simply copying reality, abstract art appeals to pure perception and pure emotion through visual means.
Abstract art is not limited to painting alone - it extends to sculpture, architecture, literature, cinema, and, of course, music. The early abstractionists often spoke of music's freedom from narrative; it was precisely this that led them to realize that painting, too, could be non-objective.
This path, begun at the beginning of the 20th century, led to the emergence of many diverse movements, each offering its own vision of non-objectivity.
The birth of abstraction
At the turn of the 20th century, a need arose in painting to break through the boundaries of figuration. Artists began to ask themselves: how can one depict what cannot be seen, for instance, the music of a violin, the feeling of nostalgia, or the freshness after rain? Is art even capable of conveying the full complexity and diversity of the world? The invention of photography played a significant role, as it could capture reality more accurately and quickly. New scientific discoveries also had an impact: if, as Einstein suggested, even time is relative, then where is one to look for a stable reference point?
Attempts to answer such questions can be seen in the work of many early 20th-century artists — and each of them arrived at abstraction in their own way. Hilma af Klint was inspired by theology and spiritualism. Arthur Dove developed his concept of "extracting" the essence of objects. Kazimir Malevich minimized the number of objects and colors on the canvas. Wassily Kandinsky, however, built his approach on a solid theoretical foundation of his own.
Music of Color: Orphism
Orphism became one of the key movements of early abstract art. The term, coined by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1912, was a reference to the ancient Greek Orpheus, who could work miracles with the music of his lyre. Apollinaire apparently had in mind the miracles of creation performed by the Orphist artists - something entirely new, never seen before. However, one of the founders of Orphism, Robert Delaunay, himself described his painting as "simultaneous" — that is, combining color contrasts.
Orphism emerged from Cubism as an impulse to abandon visual games with real-world subjects and to focus exclusively on color and form. It is built on the interplay of vivid, contrasting colors and the intersection of dynamic forms, creating a sense of movement and rhythm.
Key works: Robert Delaunay, "Le Premier Disque" (1912-1913); Sonia Delaunay, Prismes électriques (1914); František Kupka, "Amorpha, Fugue in Two Colors" (1912); Francis Picabia, "Edtaonisl" (Ecclesiastic) (1913)Manifestos: Rayonism, Suprematism and Neoplasticism
At that time in Russia, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova published The Rayonist Manifesto (1913), in which they introduced a new style based on the idea that the human eye does not perceive objects themselves, but the light (rays) reflected from them. The Rayonists proposed depicting both the rays reflected by the object itself and all other rays entering the field of vision.
Also in Russia, having refused to depict any objects, Kazimir Malevich declared "the superiority of pure feeling in creative art," and his most famous work, "Black Square" (1915), the simplest form of black, extreme simplification, in fact - the zeroing of painting. Not a painting, but a manifesto, Suprematism prioritizes color itself: line, square, circle, and rectangle are secondary.
Interestingly, it was the Suprematists who managed to connect abstract art with architecture. Constructivism served as the bridge, and the connecting link was El Lissitzky's concept of "PROUNs." Lissitzky, a student of Kazimir Malevich, described his system as a "transfer station on the way to architecture." PROUN (a Russian acronym for "PROekt Utverzhdeniya Novogo", meaning "Project for the Affirmation of the New") is a Suprematist composition where elements begin to take on volume.
A parallel movement was unfolding in the Netherlands, Neoplasticism, which sought to reflect universal harmony and balance in painting. In terms of pictorial means, Neoplasticism went even further — it manifested elementarism: lines are exclusively horizontal and vertical, the palette is limited to pure primary colors (or their absence), and the canvas is organized with balanced proportions and a sense of ideal order. The main figures of the movement were the Dutch artists Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian.
Mathematics and the study of forms: Geometric Abstraction, Concrete Art, Biomorphic Abstraction
Geometric abstraction is, to some extent, a development of Suprematism. There is also a view that it was influenced by decorative and applied arts, which for centuries have used geometric patterns and ornaments. In this movement, pure colors and clear shapes dominate — rectangles, triangles, circles, lines. They are often placed in a context devoid of depth, reducing the canvas to a single dimension.
In 1928, Theo van Doesburg, whom we have already mentioned, conceived the idea of bringing together a group of like-minded artists who would work in the direction of concrete art and promote it. In 1930, the group released the journal Revue Art Concret, which clearly outlined the principles of the new movement: speculative controlled abstraction, purely formal plastic elements, a completely mechanical technique, and absolute clarity.
A kind of response to the strict straightness of geometric abstraction was biomorphic abstraction, which was inspired by living natural forms: waves, bends of branches, curls of microorganisms and, of course, the lines of the human body. Joan Miró, Jean Arp, Arshile Gorky and Wassily Kandinsky (in the late period of his work) worked in this direction.
Post-war experiments: Abstract Expressionism, Tachisme, Lyrical Abstraction, Color Field Painting
From this point on, most of the key works discussed are protected by copyright law. For those who wish to see them, links will be provided. The illustrations in this section have been chosen from works that are freely available.
After World War II, the art world was in a state of confusion and fear. What humanity had revealed itself capable of shattered the ideals that had been built over centuries. It was unclear where art was to go next — or whether it even needed to.
The first reaction was rejection. The cold intellectual constructs of geometric abstraction gave way to expression and the spontaneity of pure action. Emerging in the United States in the late 1940s, Abstract Expressionism declared that for the artist, what mattered most was action — the canvas was an "arena for action," and emotion was the primary tool. The Action Painters developed entirely new techniques: Jackson Pollock dripped and poured paint onto canvas laid flat on the floor; Willem de Kooning, using broad brushes and palette knives, applied paint in strike-like strokes; while Franz Kline confined himself to black and white.
Key works: Jackson Pollock - "One: Number 31" (1950); Willem de Kooning - "Gotham News" (1955); Franz Kline - "Chief" (1950).
Meanwhile, in post-war France, the Art Informel movement was emerging, literally, "art without form." Like Abstract Expressionism, it rejected logical approaches and embraced the instinctive and the subconscious. Yet, perhaps because Europe's trauma ran deeper, the movement was, on an ideological level, far more radical. The rejection of form here must be understood in the broadest possible sense — a complete refusal of any system or structure. It is no accident that the book in which the term first appeared was titled Un Art Autre (Another Art, Michel Tapié, 1952).
Art Informel brought together several tendencies, two of which — Lyrical Abstraction and Tachisme — proved to be the most influential. Technically, Tachisme (from the French tache — spot or stain) is characterized by spontaneous, expressive paint application — through spots, splatters, and blotches, while Lyrical Abstraction leans toward greater refinement and an emotional engagement with color.
Key works: Hans Hartung - "L 116" (1963); Georges Mathieu - "Théorème d’Alexandroff" (1955); Pierre Soulages - "Peinture 202 x 143 cm, 21 septembre 1967" (1967).
A distinctive response to Action Painting emerged in the form of Color Field Painting. Its leading figures - Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still - moved away from brushwork and applied paint in broad fields of color, often spanning the full width or height of the canvas. Their monumental canvases invited the viewer into a meditative, almost mystical experience: expansive areas of even color created a sense of pulsation and total immersion.
Key works: Mark Rothko - "Untitled (Red, Orange)" (1968); Helen Frankenthaler - "Flood" (1967); Barnett Newman - "Vir Heroicus Sublimis" (1950-1951), and Clyfford Still - "1957-D-No. 1" (1957).
Neo-Avant-Garde: Hard-edge painting, Op Art, Minimalism, American Lyrical Abstraction
A natural reaction to the emotional intensity of Abstract Expressionism was a search for its opposite: minimal means, the rejection of expression, and even the erasure of the artist's individual touch - the depersonalization of art. Hard-edge painting emerged as a reaction against the soft, atmospheric edges of Color Field painting. Representatives of this trend, such as Ellsworth Kelly, used uniform colors and simple shapes with sharp, clear boundaries between them.
Minimalist artists such as Agnes Martin or Jo Baer went even further toward absolute geometric purity.
Op-art stands out here , short for "optical art." Its founders, such as Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely, created compositions of repeating shapes and colors arranged to generate the illusion of movement, rotation, or pulsation.
Key works: Ellsworth Kelly, "Red Blue Green" (1963); Agnes Martin, "Untitled #1" (2003); Bridget Riley, "Movement in Squares" (1961); Victor Vasarely, "Vega-Nor" (1969)Today, in the 21st century, abstract art continues to live and evolve across a multitude of directions. The very notion of "movements" is losing its relevance: they intersect, blend, and complement one another, much like the waters of a great river. The use of AI blurs the boundaries between author and code. The functions, language, and values of art themselves become subjects of artistic reflection. All the more intriguing to see where the current leads.
