Abstractionism
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a global revolution in all spheres. And fine arts was no exception. New art currents ignored the conventionality of the classical school, sought to free art from norms and dogmas. Artists tried to experiment with color, form and other expressive means, giving freedom to the unconscious and chaotic.
Abstractionism, which emerged in the 1910s, became a new way of thinking about the world order, where the exact representation of reality was not an end in itself.
By means of certain colour combinations, geometrical figures, artists created the works which were detached from forms of life itself where the stream of consciousness of the author, his impressions and movement of thought played the main role.
The founders and inspirers of this movement are rightly considered to be Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Robert Delaunay, Pete Mondrian and Frantisek Kupka. Despite the fact that it is customary to distinguish two main trends in abstractionism (geometric abstraction - Malevich, Delaunay, Mondrian; lyrical abstraction - Kandinsky), it is impossible to ignore the large independent currents in abstractionism, which played a major role in the development of art. Here are some of them:
Cubism
Speaking of abstractionism, one cannot but mention cubism, on the basis of which abstractionism arose and became its logical continuation.
This new modernist direction implied a complete break with the realistic image. Cubists perceive the world through geometric forms, they sought to "split" real objects into geometric schemes and cubes. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, in particular Picasso's painting "Avignon Girls", are considered to be the founders and the largest representatives of cubism.
It is this painting marked the birth of cubism. The painting itself is a psychological challenge: despising all the basics of the academic school since the Renaissance, Picasso specifically used to depict girls sharp forms that barely resemble real people. We see the angular knees and breasts of the girls, especially the noses and heavy chins. On the contrary, there is no perspective, no light and shade, the background is broken into pieces of different shapes. It is with this work that Picasso himself begins, and it is this painting that confirmed the new aesthetics, the new trend in art, the name of which is cubism.
Pablo Picasso, "Avignon Girls", 1907.
Suprematism
The trend in avant-garde art, founded by Kazimir Malevich, still causes heated debates in creative circles. The "Black Square", presented at the last CuboFuturistic exhibition, became not only the starting point of Suprematism, but also the "icon" of the new movement.
Malevich himself considered suprematism to be the highest step in the development of art, to come out of the "circle of things" - that's the main philosophy of suprematism. Instead of the usual landscapes, people - colored squares, circles and rectangles of different shapes on a white background. Suprematist compositions are based on a balanced combination of sizes and colors of various geometric figures, which seem to be permeated by internal movement.
Kazimir Malevich, "Black Square", 1915.
Neoplasticism
The quest for "universal harmony" through the representation of balanced combinations, clear rectangular shapes separated by perpendicular black lines, the use of the main spectrum colours - all this is characteristic of neoplasticatism. A new trend has emerged in the Netherlands and brought together artists around the magazine "De Stijl" ("Style"). It was on the pages of this magazine that the outstanding artist Pete Mondrian presented the theory of neoplasticism. His most famous work is "Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black". It is this composition that is remembered in the first place, speaking of neoplasticism and the "Mondrian's manner" of writing.
Pete Mondrian, "Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black", 1921.
Orphism
The main color and light are the basic principles of orphism. Artists of this direction declared the plot of the picture a minor matter and paid great attention to the richness of the palette. In addition, the canvases of orphists are distinguished by the fact that the viewer seems to see the picture from many positions at once. This effect the artists achieved by depicting concentric circles and disks of contrasting colors, which created a sense of movement and rhythm.
Robert Delaunay, Piggy Troops in Paris, 1913.
Tashism
The method of "psychic improvisation", as a result of which the paints were applied to the canvas by random rapid movements of the hand, without a premeditated plan, became the basis of a new artistic trend in the 1950s - tashism.
One of the brightest representatives of Tashism was Georges Mathieu. The founder of the new abstract painting arranged a show in the presence of the public. During his performances, the artist dressed up in a medieval costume and under the accompaniment of music, in front of the audience, wrote on canvases commas, dots, curls, using "ecstasy technique".
Georges Mathieu, The Battle of Bouvin
Abstract expressionism
The American answer to French Tashism. The basis of this movement was the complete "liberation of control over the mind of the artist", where the main creative principle - the expression of the inner world of the painter, by spontaneous application of colors on the canvas as a result of emotional states.
Jackson Pollock is a brilliant representative of abstract expressionism. The artist perceived painting as a sacred dance, a ritual of the artist. Working on the painting, Pollock performed a shamanic rite around it, he said, he "entered the painting. His new artistic method of "dripping" - spraying paint out of a jar - made a grand impression on critics who wanted a new word in art and was called "painting in action".
Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm, 1950.
Abstractionism has undergone many transformations. However, no matter what trends the abstractionism developed, no matter what changes it underwent, one thing is certain: its essence. And abstractionism is, first of all, the full realization of freedom, the freedom that allows "to speak everything", "to choose the rule and set it a border, freedom exactly and freedom in one's will".
Lovers of abstractionism are recommended to get acquainted with the pictures in this genre presented in our gallery.