abstract art
Art that does not depict recognizable scenes or objects, but instead is made up of forms and colours that exist for their own expressive sake. Much decorative art can thus be described as abstract, but in normal usage the term refers to modern painting and sculpture that abandon the traditional European conception of art as the imitation of nature and make little or no reference to the external visual world. Abstract art in this sense was born and achieved its distinctive identity in the second decade of the 20th century and has played a major part in modern art, developing into many different idioms—from cool geometric precision to explosive spontaneity. Some exponents of such art dislike the term ‘abstract’ (... ...
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