From 1910
Abstract art of the 20th century could be broken up into three major types:
A. Abstract Expressionism, in USA, whose European equivalent was Lyrical Abstraction, also known as Tachisme (tache is French for stain, which is an appropriate description)
Look for large canvases covered and smeared in blobs, swirls and splatters of paint. The spectacle of creating the artwork was in a sense more important the artwork itself. It was a medium for personal expression by the artist. Jackson Pollock was famously filmed multiple times dripping, flinging and splattering paint from every direction on canvases placed on the floor.
Its main characteristic is drippy paint splattered on the canvas
Jackson Pollock showing off his “action painting” with his wife Lee Krasner watching who’s also an well-known abstract expressionist painter.
No. 5 (1948) by Jackson Pollock
Lavender Mist (1950) by Jackson Pollock
Convergence (1952) by Jackson Pollock
Composition 5 (1911) by Vassily Kandinsky
No.3/No.13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange) (1949) by Mark Rothko
Spiked Red (1969) by Pat Lipsky
B. Suprematism and Constructivism in Russia and De Stijl in Holland
Look for compositions with flat geometrical shapes in primary colors, always in asymmetry.
Black Circle (1924) by Kazimir Malevich
Supremus 55 (1916) by Kazimir Malevich
Composition II with Red Blue and Yellow (1930) by Piet Mondrian
Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red (1921) by Piet Mondrian
Counter composition V (1924) by Theo van Doesburg
C. Minimalism
Minimalism resisted medium-specific forms of art, i.e. it rejected the conventions of traditional painting and sculpture and could not be easily identified as either form. Most of Minimalist works were based on 3-dimensionality. Minimalist art had many of the same aesthetic elements of Abstract art. It could be considered a step towards post-modern conceptual art where an artwork is stripped of all signs of personal expression.
Untitled (1967) by Donald Judd
Mas o Menos (More or Less)(1964) by Frank Stella
Five Open Geometric Structures (1979) by Sol LeWitt
2. How abstract art got its name and what gave rise to it?
3. Why abstract artists were rebels?