Examples of Abstraction Throughout The 20th Century
The subject of abstraction in fine art contains an infinite number of equally valid denotations. Some argue that “abstract” art while being non-objective, represents the world more accurately than realist artwork because it reduces the vision to its most essential makeup of shapes and characteristics. Others hold firm to the belief that abstraction is purely nonrepresentational and has no tie to the concrete world. Others still believe that all art is an abstract view of reality by its very nature. Regardless, abstraction is a massive umbrella. Two specific artists whose work falls under this category are Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) and George McNeil (1908–1995).
Hilma af Klint was a Swedish painter whose career boasted a wide range of movements and subject matters. She began her career working primarily with realism and naturalism and only ever displayed her landscapes to the public during her lifetime. It was not until two decades after her death that her body of abstract paintings was unearthed and exhibited. Today, her work is known as possibly the first art to fall under the abstraction movement. Much of af Klint’s abstract work was spiritual and inspired by her status as a mystic and a medium, and while she did exhibit it during her lifetime, it did not receive attention outside of spiritual circles. She was known to hold group seances and experimented with automatic drawing (harnessing the subconscious and unconscious to create work). However, she was also involved with botany and scientific approaches to artmaking. Both of these very different influences are evident in her art.
“№3, Youth” is an abstract painting af Klint created in 1906. It is not entirely nonrepresentational; there are seashell and snail-like shapes across the canvas. However, her use of shape, line, and color cements its abstract qualities. This piece is the third in a series of ten massive paintings known as “The Ten Largest”. Each piece embodies a stage in the aging process; “№3” is youth and af Klint embodies this theme well. The piece contains entirely curvilinear lines which allow for gentle movement of the gaze across the canvas. The composition is well-balanced but with the largest shapes contained mostly in the left and top halves of the surface. In addition, nearly every shape is touching and fully contained within the borders of the page instead of bleeding off which may allow for a more childlike feel (in her Adulthood pieces, she allows for a little more breathing room). Her paint application is very smooth with little to no visible brushstrokes, and her edges and colors are well-defined which gives the painting an almost collage-like texture. Elements of af Klint’s experimentation with automatic drawing as well as influences of her background studying flora and fauna are evident here in the curly lines and shell shapes.
Another abstract painter whose work spanned much of the twentieth century was George McNeil. McNeil was an American abstract expressionist who explored Cubism as well as inserting figures into his abstract work. He studied with Hans Hofmann and ran in the same circles as prolific artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. His work is characterized by vibrant colors and dynamic brushstrokes.
Darkling Disco is a 1985 piece by George McNeil. During the 1980s and until his death in 1995, much of McNeil’s work was inspired by graffiti and nightlife including discos. This piece is vibrant and energetic. McNeil includes several abstracted figures and faces, most notably the central triangular shape which resembles two eyes and an open mouth with teeth. Two arm-like shapes with hands attached lie on either side. In the lower right, there is a distinct face rendered in a side profile. This piece embodies the energy and spirit of a New York City disco in the 1980s with its messy splatterings of paint and crowded angles. It is significantly more representational and objective than some of McNeil’s prior work and certainly more so than much of abstract painting as a whole, but he distorts and reduces the event into a just-barely-recognizable and forceful composition.
Abstract art can take any form by its very essence, but patterns tend to arise simply based on human nature. These two works by Hilma af Klint and George McNeil were created seventy-eight years apart, yet they have distinct similarities. Both pieces contain shapes and objects which have a quality of separation from the background and appear to float in the space. Both are largely warm-toned and contain a wide variety of similar colors, including pure white. The two artists came from very different backgrounds and areas of study; af Klint from spirituality and botany, and McNeil from formal art schooling. They lived during different periods in social and cultural history and they are from two opposite genders. McNeil’s work can even be considered a result of af Klint’s delve into abstraction so much earlier than Wassily Kandinsky, who is more widely considered to be the father of abstraction. Regardless, their art can be compared in terms of its harnessing of abstraction. Visibly the two pieces appear drastically different, but thematically they are nearly indistinguishable. Both artists took what they saw in the world and reinvented it with paint and canvas. They used very different subject matter, but in abstract art, nonobjectivity is a tool if not also a goal. Both works are dynamic and excellent examples of abstraction, regardless of their personal backgrounds or how they chose to lay down their paint.
The work of abstract painters Hilma af Klint and George McNeil has proven itself to stand the test of time. Both have established themselves as prominent names in the world of abstract art. af Klint’s work particularly stands out for its use of spirituality which some may call non-traditional, and McNeil’s depictions of city life and the abstracted human form bring an undeniable energy to the movement.
Works Cited
Cain, Abigail. “What Was the First Abstract Painting?” Artsy, 31 Mar. 2017, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-first-abstract-artwork.
George McNeil, https://www.georgemcneil.org/.
Hagen, Charles. “George McNeil, Whose Paintings Explored the Extreme, Dies at 86.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 1995, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/13/obituaries/george-mcneil-whose-paintings-explored-the-extreme-dies-at-86.html.
“Hilma Af Klint the Ten Largest №3 Youth.” Art Blart, https://artblart.com/tag/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest-no-3-youth/.
“Home.” Hilma Af Klint Foundation, 18 Nov. 2022, https://hilmaafklint.se/.
Klint, Hilma af, 1862–1944. №1. 1906. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000861474. Artstor is where I originally found this piece, but as the citation says, it is named “№1” and is attributed to 1906. The measurements listed on Artstor are also drastically different from the true dimensions. Upon further research outside of Artstor, I discovered that every other source labels this piece as “№3, Youth” from af Klint’s “The Ten Largest” series. I also found photographs from an exhibition of all ten pieces in the series and “№3, Youth” is visible there. I believe Artstor mislabeled this piece and I submitted an error report to the site. I am keeping the citation here, however, because it did give me original access to the piece.
McNeil, George, 1908–1995. Darkling Disco. 1985. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/ASMITHIG_10313172032.
Mendelssohn, Joanna. “How the Stunning Abstract Art of Hilma Af Klint Opens Our Eyes to New Ways of Seeing.” The Conversation, 19 Jan. 2023, https://theconversation.com/how-the-stunning-abstract-art-of-hilma-af-klint-opens-our-eyes-to-new-ways-of-seeing-162605.
