Abstract Art came about in the last few centuries where artists sought to move away from pure realism painting and put in their own style and emotion into the subject of their painting. From the Renaissance and Baroque styles of almost photo-realistic paintings, abstract contemporary art began to become popular.
Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism followed on from the traditional art styles and started to allow artists to impress their own creativity. Such styles laid the foundations for the later art movements which are collectively referred to as Abstract art, in the modern era.
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Post-Impressionism continued the change towards abstract art yet further, thanks to works by the likes of Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. Inspired by the likes of Paul Cezanne, Fauvism & Cubism were created, bringing famous artists like Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Wassily Kandinsky & Pablo Picasso to the public's attention. Synthetic Cubism also followed. The Abstract Contemporary style that we have now was ready to be created at this point.
In Britain the first Abstract art exhibition was opened in 1935, with paintings by the likes of Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson on display the following year at a more international event.
The attack on art by the Nazi party in the 1930s and 1940s forced some abstract artists to flee to America which resulted in the likes of Modernism, Late Modernism, American Modernism, and Surrealism starting to gain popularity, particularly in New York. These attempts to control art's direction actually helped to spread communication of these new art movements to the rest of the world.
The 1950s to now have brought us the likes of Neo-Dada, Fluxus, Conceptual Art, Neo-expressionism, Installation art, Performance Art, Video Art and Pop art. Pop Art of course remains hugely popular today with the likes of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein still selling well.
Modern Abstract Contemporary art styles include the likes of Abstract expressionism, Color Field, Lyrical Abstraction, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Sculpture, and Minimal Art, though new movements appear all the time, particularly with the influx of computer based artists, and different styles of digital art.
Famous Abstract Contemporary Art Paintings
Tom Gurney, Expert Art Blogger. If you fancy finding out lots more about abstract contemporary art paintings & famous abstract artists, then check out my extensive art blog covering many different art movements, including Abstract Contemporary Paintings.
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