Learning the Abstracts

With a degree in fine art, of course, I had learned about abstract artists but it was only in the past few years that I have really ‘discovered’ and embraced abstract art – so I thought I would dedicate the next few posts to some of the individual artists who had the vision that led me to where I am now. The goal of painting pre 20th century was to capture, as exactly as possible, reality. In the medieval times, paintings could be read – the size and prominence of an item communicating a specific message of importance to the viewer. Most paintings were descriptive, with a story or allegory in place and created as though looking out a window to the subject. Although the impressionists and cubists were starting to break free of reality in their work, representation of some kind was still very critical to the final piece.

In 1910, Sigmund Freud published “About Psychoanalysis”. This started artists thinking about the disconnection between representational and autonomous art, functioning more as an analogy. In an interesting essay by Dieymar Elger, he argues that abstract art is the most realistic of all since it is not trying to represent anything that exists. In the words of Frank Stella, “what you see is what you see.”

Abstract art is relatively new in the history of art; the first recorded work being labeled “Abstract” was a watercolour by Wassily Kandinsky, dating back to 1910. Even that is under dispute as it is rumoured that he predated the actual work called “First Abstract Watercolour”. Art historians believe that he may have backdated the painting to prove his theories as described in his essay “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”. This also supported his claim of being the inventor of the first work of abstract art.