Abstract Artist – The Pioneers of the Trade

The periods of Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism all contributed to the development of the works of abstract art creators. Although this form of art has been evident since primitive times, it advanced in the nineteenth century, when painters of this genre gained artistic independence.

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Abstract Artist - Sneak Preview

James McNeill Whistler, an abstract artist who finished the painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket in 1872, innovated the rich visual sensation of abstract paintings. His techniques became an inspiration to many twentieth century painters who tried abstraction, as well as artists who used his methods to create other types of artwork. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a founder of Theosophy, taught about abstract and metaphysical principles that many abstract artists used to create geometrical abstraction. Geometry was also the subject of certain painters who drew inspiration from mystical teachings of Georges Gurdjieff, who described his instructions as “esoteric Christianity,” and Peter Ouspensky, a Russian esoteric philosopher.

Abstract Painter - Notable Works

Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh made a great impact on abstract expressionism in the 1940s and 1950s with his broad and gestural brush strokes. The abstract painter, along with French colleague Paul Gauguin, called Van Gogh’s Road with Cypress and Star painting an abstraction of a conflation of North and South. Pablo Picasso, the legendary Spanish painter and sculptor, changed his style from a realistic manner to different forms of abstraction beginning the first decade of the twentieth century. In his oil painting entitled Nude Woman with a Necklace, Picasso illustrates irregularities in the woman’s body and uses different hues to highlight different parts of it. The abstract painter also made a 50-foot public Cubist sculpture called the Chicago Picasso, a vague representation of a bird, woman or a mere combination of shapes.

Famous Abstract Artists - Modern Art

Famous abstract artists in the twentieth century specialized in themes of transcendental, contemplative and timeless art. Jackson Pollock, one of the significant forces in the abstract expressionist movement, is perhaps best known for his No. 5, 1948 piece, which consists of thick brown and yellow paint drizzled like a nest on fiberboard. The trademark of American artist Cy Twombly falls somewhere along calligraphic-style graffiti paintings that are often dominated by gray, tan or off-white colors. Filmmaker Andy Warhol, in his introduction of Pop Art, created paintings that emulated abstract expressionism despite having cartoons, advertisements and other subjects from pop culture.