Abstraction

abstraction

• Breaking down a form to its simplest forms

abstract art

• Art which incorporates imagery which departs from representational accuracy

Paul Strand, Abstraction, Twin Lakes, CT 1916

Arthur Dove, Ice and Clouds, 1931

Francis Picabia Red Trees, 1912

Theo Van Doesburg Tree 1916

"Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. A hill or tree

cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or tree. It is lines and colors put together

so that they may say something.”-Georgia O'Keeffe.

Georgia O’Keefe, 1887-1986

Modernism

An art movement characterized by the deliberate departure from

tradition, apparent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

The beginning of “pure abstraction” or non-objective art in

the western world.

Non-Objective Art

A move to make shape and color independent of nature and the already observable visual world

Or giving form to the formless, for example, MUSIC can be converted to shapes and colors!

Wassily KandinskyRussian artist 1866-1944

Some Musical Terms

• Legato …music performed smoothly and connectedly

• Staccato…music marked by disconnected parts, cut short, played crisply

Definitions adapted from the freedictionary.com

Mit dem schwarzen Bogen (With a Black Arc), 1912

Black Spot, 1912

Contrasting Sounds, 1924

Study for Improvisation V, 1910

Stuart Davis Hot Still Scape for Six Colors--Seventh Avenue Style, 1940

Piet Mondrian Broadway Boogie-Woogie 1942-43

Lee Krasner, gothic landscape, 1961

Jackson Pollack, number 23, 1948

Sam Francis, around the blues 1957

Joan Mitchell, untitled, 1959-60

Color and MoodMYTH: Colors have inherent emotional triggers.TRUTH: Our moods and emotions do affect the colors we prefer. So we associate the colors we prefer in those moods, with those moods. What do you associate with each of these colors?

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

VIOLET

Monochromatic Color Schemes

Value equals how light or dark something is. A large value range is when many levels of value are used.

Color also can have a wide value range.

Where does the Pure HUE lie on these Monochromatic Value Scales?

Georgia O’Keefe, oriental

poppies,1927

Georgia O’Keefe, yellow cactus flower

Jackson Pollock, autumn rhythm

Frank Stella, delaware crossing

An attempt to translate sound directly into the visual:

Stop here and play and play the three music videos in this

folder.