Unlike to representational style or figurative art that is centered to display an illustration of reality, abstract art has no subject or object that is relatable to the real-life elements as we know them.
If you look up the existence of abstraction in art, its existence can be seen in artworks that are centuries old.
However, the term got its popularity during the early 20th century. It was this spectacular time epoch that witnessed the creation of some of the best abstract artworks by renowned artists of the last century.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the well-known abstract paintings of the human era:
1. ORANGE, RED, YELLOW – 1961 (Mark Rothko)
This art piece is an exemplary epitome archetype of color field painting style. This particular art form, i.e. ‘color field’ is typically regarded under the umbrella of abstract expressionism.
The feat of this exquisite art style is that the main theme of the painting is color itself.
It means that Mark Rothko, who was considered as a trailblazer of color field painting, utilizes commensurable rectangular blocks of multiple conflicting but commutual colors together.
His work, “ORANGE, RED, YELLOW” is considered as an unforgettable contribution to the world of art.
It is the otherworldly appeal, the silent hue of colors, and the epicness in the plain texture that got this painting sold at a staggering $86.9 million dollars at Christie’s in May 2012.
2. MOUNTAINS AND SEA – 1952 (Helen Frankenthaler)
The best part of abstraction is that it opens up doors for new possibilities. This is what happens when lyrical abstraction was derived.
In generic meaning, lyrical abstraction is all about freeing yourself from any interference other than your instantaneous consciousness.
It’s all about how your intuition can drive you to create something mesmerizing quickly without any pre-set thought or notion.
Helen Frankenthaler, who was a pioneer in making lyrical abstract paintings and one of the first expositors of this art style, created her best composition, MOUNTAINS AND SEA in 1952.
What’s more amazing is that this was Helen’s first exhibited work too.
The technique she adopted in developing this impeccable piece of art was soak-stain, where she cascaded turpentine-thinned paint onto a canvas.
This process produces lustrous color washes that seem to blend with the canvas.
3. COMPOSITION VII – 1913 (Wassily Kandinsky)
He is the father of abstract art – the man who brought the mystique and impeccable world of abstraction as we know it.
Wassily Kandinsky produced one of the most distinguishable paintings of his career, COMPOSITION VII, in his early days as an artist.
His collection of paintings made during the onset of his career is termed as First Abstract Watercolor.
For every composition that he created, Kandinsky studied several techniques and art styles. For COMPOSITION VII, he studied the most.
The final version was however prepared in just 3 days. This painting is known for displaying a fateful subject matter of inundation, Doomsday, Revival, and Heaven.
This makes it one of the highly famous abstract paintings made since its dawn.
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