Representational Art A work of Art that represents an object or subject. For example, any work of art that you can “tell what it is.”

Examples of Representational Art: Portraiture

Still Life

Landscape

Anything recognizable can be considered a Representational piece of Art.

Non-Representational A work of art that does not represent any recognizable subject matter.

Non-objective A piece of art that does not mean to portray any recognizable object.

Abstract Art Taking recognizable subject matter and ABSTRACTING it to the point of it being no longer recognizable

Piet Mondrian

Knowing the difference Just remember, if you can tell what it is, the artwork is Representational.

If it doesn’t look like anything… It’s Non-Representational, also referred to as Non-Objective. If you do a drawing and don’t mean it to look like a certain object, it’s Non-Representational.

If it started out as something… … but ended up looking way different, it’s ABSTRACT Art. When you take an actual object and abstract it so it’s not recognizable, you create Abstract Art.