This radical style resulted in powerfully lyrical paintings that emphasized color, composition, and emotion.
Likewise, Kazimir Malevich’sBlack Squareis an oft-cited abstract piece due to the purity of its simplicity.
Here, we will explore10 famous abstract paintingsand uncover what it is that made them so important.
Broaden your art history knowledge by learning about these 10 famous abstract paintings.
Hilma af Klint,No.
7, Adulthoodis part of Af KlintsThe Ten Largestseries.
Hilma af Klint, “No.7, Adulthood,” 1907 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
The collection represents the stages of life, including childhood, youth, maturity, and old age.
They combine botanical elements and recognizable organic objects that reference birth and growth.
The central yellow symbol resembles a flower, while spirals and biomorphic forms are symbols of growth and fertility.
Wassily Kandinsky, “Composition VII,” 1913 (Photo:Tretyakov GalleryviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Composition VIIwas made when the artist was living in Munich, Germany.
The theme of this painting is battle and redemption.
It depicts a flock of birds on a wire with a cranking mechanism.
Kazimir Malevich, “Black Square,” 1915 (Photo:Tretyakov GalleryviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Klee made this mixed-media illustration with watercolor, ink, and oil.
The painting illustrates the circle of life and the emotional ups and downs that everyone in the world experiences.
He was suffering from a condition known as scleroderma, which caused painful joints and rashes on his hands.
Kurt Schwitters, “Das Undbild,” 1919 (Photo:MoMAviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
The warm juxtaposition of colors evokes a sense of joy.
It features large fields of bright red that are broken up by the occasional, vertical zip lines.
She invented the soak-stain process, which involved pouring turpentine-thinned paint onto the canvas.
Piet Mondrian, “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow,” 1930 (Photo:Kunsthaus ZürichviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Wassily Kandinsky, “Composition X,” 1939 (Photo:Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-WestfalenviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Paul Klee, “Death and Fire,” 1940 (Photo:Zentrum Paul KleeviaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
