What Is Abstract Art?
Speaker: Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
Abstract vs. representational art
This video is a brief overview of abstraction and abstract art. A single definition of abstraction can be challenging, even if, on the surface, it is art that doesn’t seek to capture a naturalistic depiction of reality. This video focuses on a variety of modern and contemporary art by artists such as Piet Mondrian, Alma Thomas, Joan Miró, Diego Rivera, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Willem de Kooning, and many others.
Video Chapters
0:00 Introduction to abstraction and abstract art
1:03 Early 20th-century abstraction: Piet Mondrian
1:39 Joan Miró
2:26 Jeffrey Gibson and Diego Rivera
3:10 Alma Thomas and Yuki Katsura
3:38 Donald Judd and Ruth Asawa
Learn more
Learn more about the modern world.
Check out our entire glossary of art history.
Interested in taking a course to empower you to look and talk about art? See our Learning to Look Course!
