History

The concepts behind the forces of abstract and realist art will help you to better
understand what constitutes abstract realism. Abstract art is art that doesn't have a
definable focus. It is art that exists through patterns, colors, texture and line without the
need for an external motivation. Realistic art consists of art that aims to replicate nature.
When these two elements combine to create an abstract impression of real life, you get
abstract realism.

Abstract Realism
Abstract realism is difficult to explain because of the infusion of two distinct styles of art:
abstract and realistic. Abstract does not attempt to depict real objects, as it is concerned
only with the colors, lines, shapes and rhythms that create the artwork. In a sense,
abstract art is art without a concrete, physical construct to work from. Realistic art aims
to create realistic interpretations of real objects. When you combine these two concepts,
you get a new style of art that attempts to depict the emotions behind a particular real-
life object.

Techniques
The goal of abstract realism involves using abstract painting techniques to slightly
distort a real object. Artists take an image and distort it through impressionist,
surrealistic and expressionist techniques to make the painting recognizable but
somewhat blurred and distorted. You might think of the technique of abstract art as
looking at an object through the bottom of a clear glass. The image is still there, but it
has been misshaped by the refractions from the glass.

Artists
Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning are some of the leaders of the
abstract realism movement. Pollock worked in several forms of media, including print
and film. He also created a drip technique in which paint was dripped onto a canvas.
Kline used wide, strong strokes of paint across an entire canvas and created extremely
abstract paintings. Both of these artists took an originally recognizable object and
distorted it to the point it was no longer recognizable. De Kooning was an abstract
realist in the more literal sense. In his painting "Woman and a Bicycle," he paints an
image of a woman on a bicycle, then uses strong, violent brushstrokes to paint over the
woman in a way that leaves the woman still present in the painting, but muted.

Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter, and the leading force behind the
abstract expressionist movement in the art world.

He was widely noticed for his technique of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a
horizontal surface (‘drip technique’), enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all
angles. It was also called ‘action painting’

To produce in Jackson Pollock's 'action painting', most of his canvases were either set on the
floor, or laid out against a wall, rather than being fixed to an easel. From there, Jackson Pollock
used a style where he would allow the paint to drip from the paint can. Instead of using the
traditional paint brush, he would add depth to his images using knives, trowels, or sticks.
Franz Kline was an American Abstract Expressionist known for his distinctive monochromatic
paintings. Employing black brushstrokes on white canvases, Kline created calculated compositions
distinct from other artists of his generation.
Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline is known for his large black-and-white paintings that treat the medium
of oil with a calligraphic freedom

DeKooning preserved the energy of paint while showing how strong the visual symbolism is by which
humans decipher reality.