Abstract art can take many distinct forms. As an artistic category, abstract art has been prominent since as far back as the beginning of the 20th Century. The most general definition of abstract art is art which bears little or no literal resemblance to the form or concept that it is trying to illustrate. Nevertheless, this is a rather simplistic meaning for a type of art that is so complicated and distinct.

The term abstract is made use of more to describe a style of art rather than a creative motion, since many periods have actually seen abstract designs being implemented in painting and sculpture. The pinnacle of this style actually became apparent in the works of the abstract expressionists throughout the mid 20th century.

During the 19th century, we saw the rise of expressionism. Expressionist painters such as Munch and Van Gogh experimented with abstraction to portray vibrant, non-representational forms. Other creative movements such a cubism, favism and impressionism were to follow with works that pushed the borders of non-representational expression.

The very early 20th century artist Piet Mondrian was considered the high priest of abstraction or modernism with his paintings which contained geometric forms meant to illustrate abstract concepts or sensations. For example, Mondrian\’s collection of Jazz Paintings were supposed to be depictions of new music.

Taking all these influences into account, it was the the fushion of popular music, psychology and post-war national politics which eventually inspired the works of the gestural painters in the 1950\’s to 60\’s. Among the most popular of these painters are Kline, Pollock and the slightly more figurative painter, DeKooning.

Artists of this period use abstract art to formulate large and expressive canvases. This was a very influential period in terms of abstract art as the viewer became accustomed to interpreting the non-representational paintings in terms of paint, light and color. Abstract art arguably forms the basis of contemporary art and it is here to stay.