"Art should be purely about the creation of beautiful effects."
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin's thought perfectly describes what abstract art is all about. It uses form and colour to represent something different than the material world. The idea of abstract art was first seen in ancients Greece. The philosopher Plato, thought that 'the highest form of beauty lies not in the forms of the real world but in geometry'. The abstract artists reject all the rules, such as perspective, and often use geometrical, flat shapes to create representation of 'order, purity, simplicity and spirituality'.
One of the abstract art pioneers was Wassily Kandinsky, born in 1866. He was a Russian painter whose works were one of the very first modern abstract pieces. However, before he started creating abstract works he was developing different styles. Many of his early works, in my opinion, were inspired by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism (left: 'Autumn in Bravia' 1908). His first abstract pieces started to appear around 1910. The painting Improvisation 7 (below, left), although it is kept in the similar style as his previous works, has become rather abstract.
During following years Kandinsky was developing his style and joined the Bauhaus movement as teacher at Bauhaus School in Weimar, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. During that period he went completely abstract creating one of his most famous pieces - 'On white II' (above, right) painted in 1923. Personally, I am not a huge fan of abstract art, however in some way I quite like Kandinsky's works. I like the way he used simple shapes to create quite interesting compositions. Also the colours that he had chosen for his paintings work perfectly.
Important part of abstract art was a movement that developed in Netherlands, 1917 - De Stijl. It involved furniture design, architecture and painting and what's more it was all about abstract art.
Theo van Doesburg - a painter and founder of De Stijl along with Piet Mondriaan were the most important figures in the movement. Their styles were quite similar and were represented by different coloured squares and lines. However the difference between them (which appeared in later years) is the layout - Mondriaan would only paint them straight, vertical and horizontal when van Doesburg's paintings were often rotated 45 degrees.
Their work influenced the look of the whole movement and are still influential today. Fashion designers often use Mondriaan's paintings for the patterns. Also the influence can be seen in the architecture.
(selected quotes from: www.tate.org.uk/)
One of the abstract art pioneers was Wassily Kandinsky, born in 1866. He was a Russian painter whose works were one of the very first modern abstract pieces. However, before he started creating abstract works he was developing different styles. Many of his early works, in my opinion, were inspired by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism (left: 'Autumn in Bravia' 1908). His first abstract pieces started to appear around 1910. The painting Improvisation 7 (below, left), although it is kept in the similar style as his previous works, has become rather abstract. During following years Kandinsky was developing his style and joined the Bauhaus movement as teacher at Bauhaus School in Weimar, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. During that period he went completely abstract creating one of his most famous pieces - 'On white II' (above, right) painted in 1923. Personally, I am not a huge fan of abstract art, however in some way I quite like Kandinsky's works. I like the way he used simple shapes to create quite interesting compositions. Also the colours that he had chosen for his paintings work perfectly.
Important part of abstract art was a movement that developed in Netherlands, 1917 - De Stijl. It involved furniture design, architecture and painting and what's more it was all about abstract art.
Theo van Doesburg - a painter and founder of De Stijl along with Piet Mondriaan were the most important figures in the movement. Their styles were quite similar and were represented by different coloured squares and lines. However the difference between them (which appeared in later years) is the layout - Mondriaan would only paint them straight, vertical and horizontal when van Doesburg's paintings were often rotated 45 degrees.
Their work influenced the look of the whole movement and are still influential today. Fashion designers often use Mondriaan's paintings for the patterns. Also the influence can be seen in the architecture.
(selected quotes from: www.tate.org.uk/)
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