What Does the Word Abstract Art Mean?
Throughout the world, art has become a form of representing culture and history in multiple ways. From the Greeks to the Chinese to the Romans, different types of art represent different periods of time. You can see different types of art in the architectural designs of buildings. You can see it in sculptures that line streets and fountains throughout the world. You can see art represented in famous paintings and not-so-famous paintings. Art is everywhere!
One representation of art is known as abstract art. Your Dictionary.com defines abstract art as:
“A trend in painting and sculpture in the twentieth century. Abstract art seeks to break away from traditional representation of physical objects. It explores the relationships of forms and colors, whereas more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images.”
In simpler terms, art becomes abstract when an artist takes his or her sculpture or painting from a real life object, but then defines the object by using colors, brushstrokes, or different elements to change the depiction as he sees fit.
This type of art makes the average art connoisseur think about the artist’s meaning in a sculpture or painting, as opposed to simply having to glance at it and automatically know what the artist is attempting to depict. Abstract art is one of the most popular art forms of the 20th century.
History of Abstract Art
You cannot truly understand the concept of abstract art without knowing a bit of the history behind the style. Abstract art was first presented in the art world and rose to popularity in the ten-year period from 1910 to 1920. It is known as the most popular art form of the 20th century.
Over time abstract art was split into sub-genres:
- Cubism - The artist is relying on shapes, colors, brushstrokes, and other means for the viewer to understand the value of his or her piece.
- Expressionism - In the second sub-genre, the artist is basically using other elements of abstract art to evoke some sort of emotional response. If the artist is successful in evoking such a response, the response will be what the artist wanted the viewer of the work of art to think or feel.
To Be or Not To Be Abstract
Representational art is self-explanatory to the viewer because the artist simply takes what is in front of him or her and puts it into art form as it would appear in real life. It is not difficult for you, as the viewer, to interpret what you are seeing. However, abstract art is quite the opposite.
Although the artist is attempting to get viewers to see what he or she wants them to see, abstract paintings are sometimes difficult concepts to grasp correctly. For the artist, getting the intended message through properly entails a great deal of hard work with much time paid to the attention to detail, for it is in the detail where you will look for and find the artist’s intended meaning.
The purpose of the depictions in abstract art is to evoke some sort of response from you, the viewer. Deciding to create art that is representational or abstract is a difficult choice. Many people tend to prefer representation art in comparison with abstract art, simply because the artist’s intended meaning is so easy for them to understand.
Final Thoughts on Abstract Art
If you still find yourself scratching your head and wondering just what does abstract art mean besides a conglomeration of colors, shapes and other elements that just look like a big mess to some, the artist Herbert Read has given one of the best definitions ever.
His definition of abstract art as published in his book Art Now in 1948 defined abstract art as
“… all works of art which, though they may start from the artist’s awareness of an object in the external world, proceed to make a self-consistent and independent aesthetic unity in no sense relying on an objective equivalence.”
Always begin looking at abstract art as something that was real, but then look deeper to find the meaning of the artist’s changes to know what the painting is truly trying to say to you, the viewer.