1. Mrs. Kampf Intro to Graphic Arts
Abstract Art
Mrs. Kampf
Intro to Graphic Arts

2. Abstract Art
does not necessarily depict a person, place or thing in the natural world.
can be extremely distorted or exaggerated.
the subject of the work is based on what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale and, in some cases, the process (action painting)
Abstract art, nonfigurative art, nonobjective art, and nonrepresentational art are loosely related terms.

3. Abstract Expressionism
is an American post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris.

4. Wassily Kandinsky: Composition VIII 1923 Oil on canvas
55 1/8 x 79 1/8 in
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposely, to cause vibrations in the soul." –Vasily Kandinsky, The Effect of Color, 1911

5. Willem de Kooning: Abstract Expressionist
Woman V (1952–53)
oil and charcoal on canvas h x w cm
Woman V is one of a series of six paintings made by de Kooning between 1950 and 1953 that depict a three-quarter-length female figure.

6. Jackson Pollock Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist),1950
Using house paint, he dripped, poured, and flung pigment from loaded brushes and sticks while walking around it. He said that this was his way of being “in” his work, acting as a medium in the creative process. For Pollock, who admired the sand painting of the American Indians, summoning webs of color to his canvases and making them balanced, complete, and lyrical, was almost an act of ritual. Like an ancient cave painter, he “signed” Lavender Mist in the upper left corner and at the top of the canvas with his handprints.

7. Frank Stella Harran II 1967 Polymer and fluorescent
polymer paint on canvas,
10 × 20 feet
A major shift from this work began to
develop in 1966 with his Irregular Polygons,
canvases in the shapes of irregular
geometric forms and characterized by large
unbroken areas of color. As this new
vocabulary developed into a more open
and color -oriented pictorial language,
the works underwent a metamorphosis in
size, expressing an affinity with architecture
in their monumentality. Stella also
introduced curves into his works, marking
the beginning of the Protractor series.
Harran II evinces the great vaulting
compositions and lyrically decorative
patterns that are the leitmotif of the series,
which is based on the semicircular drafting
instrument used for measuring and
constructing angles.
Frank Stella

8. Other Abstract Artists

9. Robert Delaunay: orphism
Rhythm, Joie de Vivre
Robert Delaunay’s gift to us is his bold
use of colour.  His paintings express a
great love of what he sees as the rhythm
of nature and the movement of colors. 
His work using coloured ‘simultaneous
discs’ was influenced by the research of
the 19th century chemist Eugene Chevreul
who concluded that "Two adjacent colours,
when seen by the eye, will appear as
dissimilar as possible".
Delaunay’s work encourages us to see the
world with fresh eyes, to notice the shape
and colour of the world around us.  It fills
us with feelings of light and optimism. 
It calls us to embrace the world and
our sense of place in it.

10. Joan Miró: surrealism Woman Encircled by the Flight of a Bird, 1941
Playful, joyful, energetic and colourful, Joan Miró's paint language appears very simple – bird, star, sun, moon, figure, colour, surface, and so on. But like the best poets, the artist's juggling of these elements is sophisticated and playful at the same time. The results are unique, immediately recognisable and vibrant - a delight to behold.

11. Paul Klee: cubism Senecio, 1922
The art of Paul Klee defies easy categorisation. During his career he experimented relentlessly with creating images in a wide variety of styles, some abstract, some less so. Visionary, subtle, whimsical, sometimes innocent, but always innovative, his prolific output has ensured that he remains one of the favourites of twentieth century abstract artists.

12. Pablo Picasso: cubism Self Portrait with Cloak, 1901 Early Blue Period
Spanish expatriate Pablo Picasso was one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, as well as the co-creator of Cubism.
Born: 25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973

13. Pablo Picasso: cubism
Guernica, 1937