It is commonly known that abstract art was first practiced in the early 20th century, but what many do not know is how abstract art evolved into what it is today. Abstract art took a different path than traditional painting because of its roots in the Dada and Surrealist movements of the early 1900s. These movements were primarily concerned with creating anti-art that was free from any descriptive or narrative content. The use of such techniques as collage, found objects, canvases covered in layers of paint and unorthodox brushstrokes were all used to create paintings that defied description.

Tensions between artists and their audiences were rising during this period, and as a result, modernist artists were often met with hostility when they exhibited their works. Because of this, many artists felt a need to develop a form of art that could not be understood by those outside the avant-garde community. This led to great experimentation in the development of abstract art.

Dadaism was an international movement based largely in Europe; however, American artists such as Man Ray (1890-1976) and Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) embraced its anti-art philosophy. As a result, Dadaism became a major influence on several American abstract painters.

Abstract art is a surprisingly recent development in the history of art. The first abstract painting was done in 1912, by Wassily Kandinsky. It was inspired not by the idea of abstraction but by the contemporary fascination with spiritualism. Kandinsky wanted to reach a greater truth than that available through figurative art, and believed that the spiritual realm could be captured only through abstraction.

In many cases, abstract art was developed as an expression of emotion. For example, Franz Marc created the colorful forms of his horses with the intention of creating a sense of movement and emotion, rather than defining them as specific objects in nature.

Towards the end of his life, Marc began to feel that there was more to his paintings than he had originally intended. They were beginning to capture something more universal, and he felt that they could express things other than just movement and emotion. This progression away from meaning started a new kind of art which would be called “abstract expressionism.”

Abstract art is a form of art that is created in such a way that the end product does not resemble any recognizable thing. In other words, the piece of art is entirely non-objective.

Tone:matter-of-fact

Abstract art is a form of art that does not represent any physical object. Rather, it uses color and form to create a composition which may have emotional resonance but does not depict any person, place or thing. The movement was originally termed “abstract impressionism” by an art critic in the early 20th century.

The term “abstract” relates to the fact that no object is represented in the work; it may be abstracted from nature or conceived through the mind of the artist. A work of art may be both figurative and abstract – in visual art, for instance a landscape painting may be representational as well as abstract. Art that represents objects as they are perceived would be considered realistic art, whereas more subjective forms of representing objects would be considered abstract.

Tone:informative

Abstract art is a form of art that has no representational content and does not attempt to represent or depict anything. It may consist of text, random forms, symbols, or geometric shapes, or may be composed of abstract shapes.

Tone in art is an element of two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art that creates the effect of a particular mood or emotional response (Wikipedia)

Abstract art doesn’t have to mean non-representational art; you can make an image that looks like something, but there’s no meaning behind it. This was the case for many abstract expressionist paintings.

The difference between abstract and non-representational is that the latter does look like something in some way, and you can recognize it as such, but there is no implied meaning behind the image. The content is all up to you to decide what it could be.

In the world of sculpture, abstract means that the work doesn’t have a specific shape or form. It might be made up out of simple geometric shapes such as spheres or cubes, smooth surfaces with texture applied to them, or materials used in ways they aren’t normally used. For example if someone were to make a sculpture out of chunks of foam instead of carving stone or wood into a statue.*

Abstract art, sometimes more precisely called non-representational art, is a modern art style. It is characterized by the absence of recognizable imagery. Instead, abstract art takes on the form of geometric or mathematical shapes, lines, color blocks and other non-representational imagery.

Tone:matter-of-fact

Abstract art is an art form in visual art that does not represent or imitate a particular object. Abstraction implies the lack of an illustrative subject, and in visual art, this often means a lack of pictorial content/subject.

Canvases which are completely abstract are quite rare, although there are instances where the general design elements of the composition, such as color and shape, may be given emphasis.

Abstract art uses a visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.

Tone:matter-of-fact