Representational, Abstract, and Nonrepresentational Art

• Representational art or figurative art represents objects or events in the real world, usually looking easily recognizable. For example, a painting of a cat looks very much like a cat – it is quite obvious what the artist is depicting.
  
  
• Romanticism, Impressionism, and Expressionism contributed to the emergence of abstract art in the 19th century as artists became less interested in depicting things exactly like they really exist. Abstract art exists on a continuum, from somewhat representational work to work that is so far removed from its actual real-world appearance that it is almost impossible to easily discern what is being represented. Abstract art is always connected to something visual from the real world.
  
  
• Work that does not depict anything from the real world (figures, landscapes, animals, etc.) is called nonrepresentational. For example, nonrepresentational art may simply depict shapes, colors, lines, etc., but may also express things that are not visible – emotions or feelings.
  
  

Johann Anton Eismann, Meerhaven. 17th c.

This figurative or representational work from the 17th century depicts easily recognizable objects – ships, people, and buildings. But artistic independence was advanced during the 19th century, resulting in the emergence of abstract art. Three movements that contributed heavily to the development of these were Romanticism, Impressionism, and Expressionism.

Abstraction indicates a departure from reality by depicting imagery in art. Abstraction exists along a continuum; abstract art can formally refer to compositions derived (or abstracted) from a figurative or other natural sources. (Some people also use this term to refer to nonrepresentational (non-objective) art that has no derivation from figures or objects.) Picasso is a well-known artist who used abstraction in many paintings and sculptures: figures are often simplified, distorted, exaggerated, or geometric.

Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror, 1932, MOMA

Even art that aims for verisimilitude (accuracy and truthfulness) of the highest degree can be abstract, at least theoretically, since perfect representation is likely to be exceedingly elusive. For example, we can call artwork that takes liberties or alters color and form in conspicuous ways partially abstract.

Robert Delaunay, Le Premier Disque, 1913

Delaunay's work is a primary example of early nonrepresentational art, bearing no trace of any reference to anything recognizable from the real world. In nonrepresentational art, for instance, one is unlikely to find references to naturalistic entities.

Figurative art and nonrepresentational art are almost mutually exclusive. But representational (or realistic) art often contains partial abstraction. These terms are confusing, but try to understand the basic definitions of representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational.