Abstract painting explained – Part 3

To fully appreciate abstract art, you really do need an understanding of what the artist is trying to achieve. With many types of art, you can look at it with no prior knowledge, and can appreciate it for what it is. In some ways, this is true of abstract art, if the shapes and colors are pleasing, but to really gain a full appreciation of it, you need to know a little about the history.

Abstract art has been around ever since man first tried to express himself in form and color. Many of the first paintings are abstract in nature, and in several cultures, representational art is forbidden, so abstract art abounds.

Abstract art can readily be confused with expressionist art. This type of art is produced by artists such as Jackson Pollock. Expressionism is the result of an artist trying to express a thought, idea or emotion on canvas. This is often a very traumatic experience, as the artist feels that there is no other way to express himself, and the paintings reflect this trauma.

Abstract art, however, does not come purely from feelings. Abstract art is an artists representation of a physical form, but he has taken it beyond what he/she sees in front of him.

An artist might look at a landscape and see the colors, shapes and textures before him and decide to produce a purely representational picture. This painting will be true to life and almost photographic in its reality. Another artist might look at the same landscape and see the way the curves of the hills interact with each other, and the way colors flow and repeat themselves. This second artist might produce a painting full of wavy lines and rhythmic color changes, and this is abstract art.

An abstract painting starts with a real concrete form, and then it is abstracted, or taken forward. An artist might take all of the scene before him, or only a piece. He might take the windows of a building and paint them large and multicolored, taking what he sees one step further, bringing the colors in the reflections forward until they dominate the painting.

One of the most famous abstract artists is Piet Mondrian. You might know his paintings as being rigid and for their use of primary colors. You might not know that these paintings are based on landscapes. If you study Mondrian’s work, you will be able to find the scenes that he was representing. Once you see a still life next to a Mondrian interpretation, it all suddenly becomes clear.

So if you want to produce an abstract painting, concentrate on one aspect of the thing you are trying to paint. In a church or cathedral, it might be the repetition of arches and the multitude of shades of gray. If you are looking at a seascape, it might be the horizontal divisions in color between the waves that get you excited. Break things down in to their component parts. Simplify the shapes to take out frills and clutter. Represent buildings are rectangles and bushes as squares, and moves things up and down so that lines coincide eg made the bushes larger so that they are the same height as the house.

If you want to learn about abstract art, there is no substitute for looking at the masters. Read books, use the IMAGES section of search engines, and go to museums and galleries.

Abstract paintings aren’t just random blobs on a canvas. The choice of colors and shapes all have their meaning. Learn the history behind it and you’ll learn to love it.

The different types of art

Postmodern art proves difficult to define for several reasons. Among those are the differences between the broader distinctions of contemporary art as it relates to the more specific, what genres of art are included in this more specific term and, most cumbersome, the relative inability to specify exactly what postmodernism, in general, truly entails. In any case, one of the best, and most basic understandings of this somewhat vague term, is that it truly is post-modern, or, to spell it out truly, after modernism; which gives us not only a better understanding, but a clearer starting point in the pursuit of that understanding.

There must withstand a clear distinction between the difference of contemporary and postmodern art. The main reason for this distinction is that some disagree that we truly are in a stage after modernism, thus making the art produced not so much in disregard or contradictory to Modern art, but rather an extension or possibly a subgenre of that. Many subgenres fall under the classification of Modern art including impressionism, surrealism, cubism, pop and abstract art. Therefore, some think that postmodern art is not really its own distinct art form, but rather a subgenre of the larger context of Modern art.

When dissecting the idea of postmodern art we must keep in mind the clear distinctive characteristics included in the formation of an entirely different form of art. In other words, we must be able to understand what distinguishes this genre of art from any other. As listed above, Modern art includes many different subgenres that give better definition, character and understanding to the actual, larger genre. However, when trying to separate art into categories of time, influence and style, there will usually always be some sort of discrepancy. In this case, what some see as clearly Modernist art, such as Cubism, Pop and Abstract, other see as Postmodern, or at least precursors to that movement. The difficulty in defining this genre of art comes from the confusion of what forms and influences get included.

In general, in order to understand this movement, one must pay clear attention to the name, in order to get the best understanding and definition of what Postmodernism truly entails. Though the continual persistence of the relativity of definitions largely adopted within the postmodern mindset, it is helpful to think in terms of after Modernism. Most agree that it truly is a movement that both arises from and simultaneously reacts against its predecessor.