Abstraction
- Bryleigh Pierce
- Dec 29, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 12
Abandoning the long-standing belief that art was a reflection of visible reality, Abstract artists used line, shape and colour to depict forms that lie somewhere on the non-representational linear continuum in order to question not only what art could represent, but also how it could embody ideas and sensations independent of narrative or figuration. As one of the most transformative developments in the history of art, many twentieth century art movements are encompassed by the banner of Abstract art, such as Expressionism, Lyrical Abstraction, Spiritualism and Conceptual art among others.
At its core, Abstract art is concerned with the autonomy of visual language. Form, line and, above all, colour, became the principal agents of meaning, liberated from its descriptive function. This shift reflected a broader modern sensibility and an embrace of the invisible structures underlying individual experiences.
While the early decades of Abstraction were defined by experimentation across Europe and the United States, encompassing a spectrum from geometric precision to lyrical spontaneity, by the mid-twentieth century Abstraction had evolved into a more existential and process-driven practice where viewers are engaged through sensory and contemplative experiences rather than through identification with the subject matter. This absence of representation opens a space for personal interpretation, transforming viewing into a form of participation and revolutionising the way that art is made and experienced.
Abstract women
Bernice Bing
(China-United States of America, 10/04/1936 - 08/1998)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Sonia Delaunay
(Ukraine-France, 14/11/1885 - 05/12/1979)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn
(Netherlands, 19/10/1881 - 25/05/1962)
Period: Nineteenth and Twentieth century
Movement: Spiritualism, Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Cynthia Hawkins
(United States of America, 29/01/1950 - )
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Camille Henrot
(France, 21/06/1978 - )
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting, Sculpture
Barbara Hepworth
(England, 10/01/1903 - 20/05/1975)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Sculpture
Evie Hone
(Ireland, 22/04/1894 - 13/03/1955)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Modernism, Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Mainie Jellett
(Ireland, 29/04/1897 - 16/02/1944)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Cubism, Modernism, Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Buffie Johnson
(United States of America, 12/02/1912 - 11/08/2006)
Period: Twentieth and Twenty-first century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Hilma af Klint
(Sweden, 26/10/1862 - 21/10/1944)
Period: Nineteenth and Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction, Spiritualism
Medium: Painting
Maruja Mallo
(Spain, 05/01/1902 - 06/02/1995)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Julie Mehretu
(Ethiopia-United States of America, 28/11/1970 - )
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Louise Nevelson
(Ukraine-United States of America, 23/09/1899 - 17/04/1988)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Sculpture
Georgia O'Keeffe
(United States of America, 15/11/1887 - 06/03/1986)
Period: Nineteenth and Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Tomie Ohtake
(Japan-Brazil, 21/11/1913 - 12/02/2015)
Period: Twentieth and Twenty-first century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting, Sculpture
Judit Reigl
(Hungary, 01/05/1923 - 06/08/2020)
Period: Twentieth and Twenty-first century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
(Switzerland, 19/01/1889 - 13/01/1943)
Period: Nineteenth and Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction, Dada, Constructivism
Medium: Painting, Sculpture
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva
(Portugal, 13/06/1908 - 06/03/1992)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Flora Yukhnovich
(England, 1990 - )
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
Fahrelnissa Zeid
(Turkey, 07/01/1901 - 05/09/1991)
Period: Twentieth century
Movement: Abstraction
Medium: Painting
