420 artworks found. Abstract paintings arose in painting for the first time after 1900. In contrast to the hitherto prevailing painting styles, the contents of abstract paintings were completely detached from nature and real existing objects. The painting is reduced to forms, color tones, inner-image references or opposites. Some art historians see abstract painting as a backlash to photography, with its high quality in the reproduction of natural objects. One of the first abstract painters was
Wassily Kandinsky with his expressive abstraction, which focused on the effect of individual colors or the combination of colors in the content of the pictures. However, Frantisek Kupka disputes this honor. He probably painted the most radical abstract image with the black square on a white background. From 1910 on, geometric abstraction created another style in abstract painting. Among the most famous painters of this style include Kasimir Malevich and
Piet Mondrian.
Abstract painting has always polarized art critics. What some thought was the pinnacle of artistic creation was only graffiti for others. Oil on the grinders of the negative critics was an incident that occurred in 1954 in London. Pictures painted by the chimpanzee Congo found their way into an art exhibition and were highly praised by critics. As the artist's identity became known, the discussion about the artistry of abstract painting once again erupted violently. Later, the artists even renounced the brush as a classic tool, and composed abstract images by dripping paint (Jackson Pollock) or pouring (Hermann Nitsch). Cy Twombly works with lettering-like drawings. The American trend has been summarized by the term abstract expressionism. Other well-known abstract painters are Robert Delauney, Willem de Kooning or Joan Miro.