Abstraction in Painting  Back to Painting Home

 All painting is abstract to the extent that it speaks through the abstract, formal elements of line, color, shape, light and texture.  Some paintings use these elements more directly and with less reference to recognizable imagery or symbols.  Some paintings speak directly with color, shape or line. Others distill some essential element from reality, leaving behind the extraneous.

Each of the examples below take a different approach to abstraction.  Identify what approach to abstraction the artist is taking, what is being emphasized and why the artist took that approach.