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.

HOW THEN DO WE DETERMINE WHETHER AN

ABSTRACT WORK OF ART IS EFFECTIVE or NOT?

Effective Use of Principles of Design &

Elements of Design

Purpose/Intention of artist+