Barr’s chart. “Substitutes for "abstract" such as "non-objective" and "non-figurative" have been advocated as superior. But the noun abstraction is something already drawn out of or away from —so much so that like a geometrical figure or an amorphous silhouette it may have no apparent relation to concrete reality.” (Barr, 1936: 11)
What is called abstract art?
- Wikipedia: Abstract art uses a visual language of shape, form, colour and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.
- TATE: Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect.
Before to start creating my own copy of Barr’s chart, build the genealogy of modern art, I want to challenge the starting point of this chart. Why should I begin similar to Alfred H. Barr from 1890? Although he explains in his book Cubism and Abstract art, 1936 as it is for the sake of “an historical survey of an important movement in modern art. ... in Europe.” And he adds additional period for explanatory reasons – “The first purely abstract paintings were done as long as twenty years ago and many of the conclusions in the development of abstract art were reached before the War.” (Barr, 1936: 11) For me, it remains obvious that all art history brought us where we are now but we cannot proclaim that cubism and abstract art haven't had similar fetchers in the far past. The difference is just in the creation of such terms like “cubism” and “abstraction”, which happened at the beginning of the twentieth century. In other words, if someone paints abstract patterns or strange beings just because we didn’t know how to identify it we can’t say that it was not abstract.
Funeral costume of Dow Wang. Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 9 AD). Jade with gold wire. Found during excavations in 1968 in the tomb number 2 (Dow Wan), Manchchen, Hebei Province (Courtesy of Hebei Provincial Museum, Shijiazhuang).
Carvings, Urnes Stave Church in Lustrafjord, Norway c. 150-1100 [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urnes_Stave_Church#/media/File:La_pared_original_de_la_Urnes_stavkyrkje_(I).jpg [Accessed 30/07/18]
Funeral costume from China or carvings on door jambs and a wall plank of the north wall of Urnes Stave Church in Lustrafjord, Norway c. 150-1100, in these examples could we not agree that it can be a beginning of cubism or abstract in art?
This abstract geometric pattern in the Folio 34 from The Book of Kells (Artist unknown, c. 800 vellum illuminated manuscript, 33x25 cm) could also mean a beginning of the abstract because the artist intended to create shapes independent from the real world. Despite the otter with fish, cats and mice, angels, human heads and letters which refers to the objective and symbolic does not attempt to represent reality.
Mountain market, clearing Mist, Yu Jian, China [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art#/media/File:Yujian_ink_Mercadodemontaña.jpg [Accessed 30/07/18]
Zhu Derun (1294–1365) Primordial Chaos 1349 ink on paper mounted on handscroll [Online] Available from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zhu_Derun_-_Primordial_Chaos_(painting_only).jpeg [Accessed 30/07/18]
“Another instance of abstraction in Chinese painting is seen in Zhu Derun's Cosmic Circle.” It seems to be an ordinary Chinese painting but “free” line and a circle in the middle give an idea of the creativity and artistic research in the XIV century. This perfect circle can refer to Japanese Enso which symbolise enlightenment but nevertheless pure abstract form here took place.
I'm intended to create two charts and both of them will be from “the beginning” as, for example, Picasso would not exist without his Father and Mother.
The first chart is unified only the most important movements in Art which I believe represent the logic of art development in a major concept, and the next period is closer to our times. These five categories appeared consistently and flowed one from the other. Their idea, method and medium were changing dramatically as well. Even can be that each subsequent movement arose as a resistance to the previous one since it does not contain the main object of the previous one. This chart is a draft and as an idea for further analysis.
The second chart will be more detailed as it is interesting to follow the movements and specify new and unique tendencies. As a basement of this chart I will use systems of Alfred H. Barr, Cubism and Abstract Art 1936, Brar V. et al. The Definitive Visual Guide 2008 and Herbert Read (1974) A concise history of modern painting.
As I can not imagine historical Art charts without the beginning of the beginning I will mention main movements which in my opinion had an impact on contemporary art.
Bibliography and references
1. Alfred H. Barr, Cubism and Abstract Art p. 11, 1936, New York The Museum of Modern Art, New York
2. Wikipedia Abstract art by Rudolph Arnheim, Visual Thinking, University of California Press, 1969 [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art [Accessed 30/07/18]
3. TATE Abstract art 1969 [Online] Available from: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-art [Accessed 30/07/18]
4. Brar V. et al. (2008) The Definitive Visual Guide, Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited
5. Herbert Read (1974) A concise history of modern painting. Edition first published in Russia in 2017 by Ad Marginem, Moscow
6. Wikipedia Contemporary art [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_art [Accessed 01/08/18]
7. 15 Most Important Historical Events That Changed The World Forever [Online] Available from: https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-influential/15-most-important-historical-events-that-changed-the-world-forever/ [Accessed 01/08/18]
8. 25 Most Important Events In History [Online] Available from: https://list25.com/25-most-important-events-in-history/ [Accessed 01/08/18]
9. Wikipedia History of China [Online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China [Accessed 01/08/18]