Abstract Art: A Global History

by Pepe Karmel

A leading authority on the subject presents a radically new approach to the understanding of abstract art, in this richly illustrated and persuasive history. In his fresh take on abstract art, noted art historian Pepe Karmel chronicles the movement from a global perspective, while embedding abstraction in a recognizable reality. Moving beyond the canonical terrain of abstract art, the author demonstrates how artists from around the world have used abstract imagery to express social, cultural, and spiritual experience. Karmel builds this fresh approach to abstract art around  five inclusive body, landscape, cosmology, architecture, and man-made signs and patterns. In the process, this history develops a series of narratives that go far beyond the established  figures and movements traditionally associated with abstract art. Each narrative is complemented by a number of featured abstract works, arranged in thought-provoking pairings with accompanying extended captions that provide an in-depth analysis. This wide-ranging examination incorporates work from Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America, as well as Europe and North America, through artists ranging from Wu Guanzhong, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, to Hilma af Klint, and Odili Donald Odita. Breaking new ground, Karmel has forged a new history of this key art movement. 250 color illustrations

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction

344 pages, Hardcover

Published November 17, 2020

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm old enough to recall the declaration that painting was essentially dead, and that art, unless it was conceptual, was finished. However, the last time I noticed, it doesn't appear that artists have been daunted enough to stop throwing paint at canvas, so I was hoping this work would give me a good sense of the current state of play. Part of the issue is, according to Karmel, a misunderstanding of the problem that artists painting in the abstract mode were trying to address. It's less about trying to "abstract" reality, or directly painting emotional and spiritual states in a non-representational fashion, but in seeing what might be accomplished when one leaves behind the conventions of classic receding perspective. Once that is understood, abstract art becomes less of a periodization in itself, but simply one more artistic approach. Along with being an introduction to a fair number of artists I've never heard of, this book was very enlightening.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art book that delves deep into the global abstract art movement, built around themes that show how artists have made sense of human emotion, social issues and the built and natural world around them.
It's a big book with lots of pictures (duh) so I had to read this with the book sitting on a stool, but it was worth the hunched back to learn a lot more about abstract art than I could hope to learn visiting the art gallery every now and then. Pleased to see a few NZers pop up too - interesting to see how their indigenous-inspired art is perceived on the global stage.

[Robin Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pg 19, 39, 40, 41, 52, 53, 60, 73, 93, 95, 98, 108, 128, 136, 138, 143, 145, 152, 159, 168, 172, 178, 184, 187, 200, 202, 206, 219, 232, 252, 262, 269, 272, 280, 284, 286, 287, 290, 300, 309, 312-313, 316, 318-319.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vast and imaginative, a superior collection of abstract art, even for someone who might not like it, international in scope