Understanding Abstract Art

Almost all artwork in the western world has depicted a subject easily recognizable to the viewer up until the beginning of this century. Art without a recognizable subject matter, known as ?abstract art?, is unique to this period. Abstract art hasn?t been analyzed on its own in as much detail as other styles of art more easily defined. Instead it often times gets placed in a more general category called ?Modernism?. This, perhaps, is …

…woman, or some anecdote ? is essentially a plane surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order.? Maurice Denis Works Cited Milner, John. Mondrian. New York: Abbeville Press, 1992 Moszynska, Anna. Abstract Art. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1990 Read, Herbert. A Concise History Of Modern Painting. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1974 Rosenthal, Mark. Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline. NewYork: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1996 Whitford, Frank. Understanding Abstract Art. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1987