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‘Everything starts from a dot …’- Kandinsky
As our thoughts and ideas come in no definite shape or order, we can channel our emotions through points, dots, strokes, haphazard lines and all other abstract expressions. Here, abstract doesn’t mean nonsensical or erratic! The abstract form transcends the boundaries of realism, stepping into a territory of unrestricted imagination. It reflects truth as free flowing in the abrupt strokes, haphazard alignment of the subject, juxtaposed shapes, and geometric lines created by artists.
This unique form has changed the way modern art is perceived, giving more freedom to the creators to rely on their insights and intuitions rather than looking for realistic cues and objects for the artworks. Through this blog, we will try to figure out the basics of abstract inspirations and how they’ve produced the most captivating watercolor pieces you shouldn’t miss out on! First, let’s break the ice of abstract, the much talked about non-representational form!
What is Abstract Reality and how does it Influence the World of Art and Expressions?
Abstract is intangible, more aligned to the higher form of thinking, a subtle form of reasoning that opens up a complex universe of thoughts and feelings. It identifies the intricate patterns that work to solve some latent issues. Likewise, abstract art is supposed to make you feel connected ‘one to one’ with the artwork, and embrace the hidden universe that lies within the piece of art.
This 'hidden universe' could be different for different people as decoded by individuals. But all great forms of art involve dialogues, discussions, and conflicts. That’s how people get stirred by great masterpieces of art, as they find repose, love, or a sense of celebration in them. The massive mural installations by Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko can be the perfect example of expressionist abstract art.
What about Abstract Watercolor Paintings and its Lasting Impact?
Watercolor paintings started long ago in the prehistoric cave walls, or can be traced back to the hieroglyphs on papyrus reeds in Egypt, as Egyptians used some water-soluble plant resins to create colored images. But from the time of Renaissance, the use of watercolor as a medium of expression was much popularized with topographical drawings. Though not taken as seriously a painting vocation like oil painting in the Europe, the significance of watercolor art shot rapidly with painters and artists taking this further to paint abstract watercolor pieces, using water-based pigments to create fluid, expressive, and often non-representational images like our unrestrained thoughts.
However, abstract watercolor art was to change the stereotypical representation of normal color washes! Abstract portrayal used the medium's fluidity and transparency and the wonderful chemistry between colors and textures, giving this formless form a unique charm. Let’s trace back to the origin of abstract watercolor paintings and how they changed the contemporary canvas.
The Form of Abstract and its Origin:
In the early twentieth centuries, artists and painters like Wassily Kandinsky and others started to break free with the conventional techniques and representational forms of art. The spontaneous flow and the flexible strokes made watercolor the most convenient and ideal medium for abstraction. Artists and painters were free to experiment with forms, color mixing, and textures without having to adhere to the realistic portrayals.
There were the surging waves of overlapping art movements like Expressionism, Cubism, and Abstract Expressionism when abstract watercolor painting started to take place in the beginning of the twentieth century. Emotional and surreal expressions were the driving forces behind these formless paintings with artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Paul Klee, etc. taking this new found form and techniques to a new height, inspiring generations to follow their footsteps.
There were painters like Georgia O'Keeffe and Arthur Dove embracing the watercolor medium to express their desires, angst, and feelings aesthetically to stay relevant in the tumultuous times of the early twentieth century. John Marin, Jack Pollock or Mark Rothko’s atmospheric watercolor canvases showed the sublime abstract watercolor landscapes characterized by the delicate color washes, unfolding an intricate metaphysical world.
Few Great Minds and Souls behind Abstract Watercolor Pieces of All Times:
Kandinsky and Watercolor Abstract Art
For the famous Russian abstract watercolor artists like Kandinsky, art was a luxury forbidden to the Russians during the last decades of the nineteenth century. After he moved to Germany to have a career in painting, he started to get influenced by the waves of Impressionism and the Art Nouveau movement, following Pointillism, European Expressionism and French Fauvism.
Wassily Kandinsky and his Great Improvisation Series
Wassily Kandinsky, the name associated with the foundation of abstract art composed some dynamic compositions like his much-acclaimed ‘Improvisation’ series. He let his inner world dominate the strokes, choice of colors, interpretation of forms etc. The watercolor paintings from the Improvisation series looked almost like some musical compositions, showing his emotional resonance and innate attachment with music. Some of the abstract compositions like Improvisation 12 (Rider), or Improvisation deluge (1913), Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), showcase his use of bold and vibrant colors, spontaneous brush strokes and effortless color play that resemble some musical symphony.
Paul Klee and Harmony of Squares
Paul Klee, another remarkable abstract artist of the era made his mark with unique experimentation of shapes and geometric grids. When we see the geometric shapes, squares, and rectangles in Paul Klee’s abstract watercolor paintings, we are at once taken by awe and the sheer harmony of the designs. The lines are not always straight, but haphazard, whimsical like his thoughts, which he wants to combine in geometric forms and harmony of colors.
He is widely known for his shape manipulation and redefining the angle of representational reality. Some of his iconic works are ‘Castle and Sun’, 1928, Twittering Machine’, 1919, etc. where subtle narrative perspectives are artistically blended in abstract forms. The ‘Magic Squares’ series is the ideal description of sophisticated lines, forms, grids and contours, and his deep understanding of the harmony of colors. His much-visited artwork ‘Twittering Machine’ faced controversy during the World War and still evokes much aura and awe in the minds of the visitors worldwide. It remains a source of wonder!
The Color-Field Revolution by Mark Rothko
During the overlapping and fervent waves of various art revolutions, the Russian artist Mark Rothko found his own way of expressing the truth, with a never-before artistic dimension, far away from conventional watercolor canvases. With his fellow artists & painters like Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning, Rothko also embraced the waves of Abstract Expressionism to convey his latent emotions and the truth.
Though Rothko’s experimentation with abstract watercolor went beyond just abstract expressionist portrayals, he created something remarkable and pathbreaking like his ‘Color-Field’ concept. These newly found color expressions made a great contribution to art history and evolution, creating a great impact on how one interprets a color canvas like Rothko’s.
He has attached a surreal dimension of human emotions to his canvases that transcends mere understanding of color psychology. Within his artist statement Rothko is vocal about his intentions -
"If you are only moved by color relationships, you are missing the point. I am interested in expressing the big emotions - tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on. And the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions… The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them. And if you, as you say, are moved only by their color relationship, then you miss the point."
Georgia O’Keeffe and Blue Abstraction
Georgia O’Keeffe, often known for her large floral representations have created such abstract watercolor artworks like ‘Abstraction Blue 1927’ showcasing a deep sense of emotion and layered feelings through her confident washes. She has used nature elements to use the fluidity and transparency of the watercolor medium, allowing the thin line between objective and abstract to vanish. Her magnified portrayal of the blue flora tries to blend the objective and abstract in a harmonious whole, not with the intention to separate them.
Celebration of the Human Spirit Continues through Abstract Watercolor Paintings
Abstract watercolor paintings have a lot to say about the inner world of thoughts and expressions, the complexity of visual representations, emotional depth and the fluidity of the medium. Watercolor abstraction unlike any other art form embraces versatility, lightness of form, and greater access to the subconscious.
While the legacy of Kandinsky, Klee, Rothko and Frankenthaler continues to inspire the art world even in the twenty-first century, the gap between convention and tradition seems to wash away. It’s a constant inspiration for the newcomer artists and painters working with this fluid medium to find new ways to experiment and reconstruct forms of expression.
From Kandinsky’s improvised compositions to Rothko’s abstract landscapes, these works show the magic of watercolor transcending all the boundaries of representation through delicate brush strokes, bold lines and contours, captivating the visitors across the globe, celebrating human spirit all the way. With the advent of digital art and technology, modern tools have been introduced to share the magic of watercolor abstraction through a virtual medium, but the legacy of unpredictability still continues …
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