There’s a fortune in abstract paintings

Abstract paintings command a fortune, now or in the future. If they’re abstract paintings by famous abstract artists like Picasso or Pollock, the price can be astronomical. If they’re by an unknown or up-and-coming abstract artist, you can bet that they’ll be worth a fortune in the future. Abstract paintings are based on the use of lines, colors and usually geometric forms to depict objects differently from the way we see them in, say, photographs. The feelings and emotions of abstract artists are a prominent factor in abstract paintings.

As early as 1872, the painter James McNeill Whistler started to lean towards feelings and emotions rather than a straight depiction of an object in his painting “Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket”. Post Impressionist artists like Van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin gave further impetus to the development of abstract art. From there, Fauvism with its multi-colored landscapes and figure paintings stepped over the threshold into modern art with paintings like “View of Notre Dame” and “Yellow Curtain” by Henri Matisse.

Among the best known abstract paintings by famous abstract artists are those of Pablo Piccasso. Using his new technique of Cubism, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, Picasso utilized the idea of Cézanne that depicting nature can be done with a cube, sphere and cone. Umberto Boccioni painted “Train in Motion” which is another of the abstract paintings that influenced modern art in Europe.

Meanwhile, another famous abstract artist, Piet Mondrian, was developing Neoplasticism. His signature style of lines and colored rectangles resulted in many abstract paintings that foreshadowed the work of many other abstract artists in the years to come. Mondrian’s “Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red and Gray” is one of the better know examples of abstract paintings. Mark Rothko, another advocate of this technique, in his work “Untitled” used large, hazy rectangles, a style made famous in the murals of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas.

Another step in the evolution of abstract art came with the emergence of the New York School. Abstract artists like Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline placed emphasis not just on the abstract paintings themselves but on the way they were painted. Pollock’s “Lavender Mist” and “The Deep” are examples of his intricate color patterns.

As abstract painters experiment with new technology, abstract paintings are expected to take on new forms especially in the use of digital media.