How to Evaluate Abstract Art

There are a lot of uncertainties when evaluating abstract art due to the constant changes that happen and the plethora of techniques available. Labeling an abstract hard would indeed be a pretty tough task, because not only do those who are not fond of art find it tough, it holds an obvious difficulty even to those who deal with art very often. Abstract art possesses a type of uniqueness that causes people to have great divisions in their opinions and perceptions of it.

Abstract art is not a solid form of art, nor does it have any hints of logic behind it, this illogicality here refers to the fact that abstract art is able to convey expressions that do not exist in the realm of logic. In other words abstract art does not necessarily need to reflect situations in a logical way (some ‘logical’ examples include societal, governmental, economical or even moral issues). Just as when a perfect square is drawn, the reliance on logic is inescapable, but the four-sided picture is just an abstract creation of several lines combined, not that it is required to have any need for logical explanations or a theme.

Abstract art represents a counter-logic visual experience that does not have a theme attached to itself, as for the process of creating this visual experience, it requires logical considerations and appropriate approaches to be done. On top of that, regardless of the type of abstract art done, it will require logical thoughts of the human brain to modify the various elements of art in the process, the certainty of logic in the process of creation and the different forms of abstractions possible reflecting an illogical pattern is most distinct characteristic of abstract art.

By Kajal Zaveri

A reliance on intuition and talent may be one way to understand and evaluate abstract art, but some beautiful artworks may merely be a product of unskilled hands. For this reason, understanding abstract art will require the ability to make proper artistic judgments, which will also involve structured, scientific and coherent methods of analysis. Scientific and coherent standards of evaluation would be more accurate than a subjective analysis of abstract art.

The standard of abstract art evaluation contains at least these four aspects:

 

Originality of artwork

Art originality is the most basic feature of abstract art. Art originality refers to the assured newness of creation of an artwork, and the artist has to be the first author of the artwork. The originality in art includes the newness of the artwork’s presentation and style, the newness of artwork materials, the newness of art techniques, the newness in theme and more.

 

Joyous Celebration - Manisha Vedpathak

 

The person evaluating the artwork will have to have a profound knowledge of art history, and a rich knowledge and thorough understanding of the different styles of abstract art in the world, to be able to discern the originality of the artwork. Only by being appropriately knowledgeable can anyone be sure about their artistic evaluation.

 

Aesthetics

The primary objective of the evaluation of an abstract art is aesthetics. That means beauty becomes the main pursuit of artists. Some argue that art aesthetics would be that life is made up of aesthetics, and so is the human nature. Aesthetics in art does not only have an academic meaning of studying the beauty of something, it also targets the root characteristics of art, and the nature of art is equivalent to the nature of humans. The aesthetic beauty of humans manifests itself in the directions of the yearnings and desires of humans.

Starburst - Marilyn Balke-Lowry

The aesthetics of abstract art could be viewed from certain angles such as colors, structure, lines, dots, surface, details, atmosphere and concepts.

 

The Fineness of Art

Fineness is a technical idea, but at the same time it is also an artistic idea. Fine artistic qualities manifest themselves on the respects artists have for artworks. Fineness does not only demand the usage of great variations in presentation, it also requires the artist to impart an impression of the pleasance of hard work and the worthiness of invested time of the process of creation on the artwork during presentation. The seriousness involved in technique application and the blending of details on an artwork have to be impactful. Fineness in art structures, fineness in the relation of colors, fineness in the ways of creation, and fineness in the techniques applied are a few examples of impact in artworks. Fineness in artwork reveals the preservation of an artist’s mentality and culture.

Cerebral Cessation - Vicki Maheu

Presentations that reflect the fineness of art would be:

1. The techniques involved in creation

2. The difficulty of the technique executed

3. Uniqueness of skills

4. Inimitable styling of product

5. The height of the quality of artwork materials

 

Qualifications of the Artist

Other than the standards of artworks, the educational background, qualifications, achievements and fame in society of an artist are elements that aid in the evaluation of an artwork. The receiving of gifts, the showcasing of portfolios, the presence of artworks in exhibitions, and the keeping of artworks by international groups of people and more can become part of what makes up a good evaluation of an artwork.

 

Lace Doilies – Laura Miller

 

 

 

Pollock is the most famous abstract expressionist artist in America, he had almost become a representing symbol for modernistic art. Pollock’s abstract artwork “No. 5, 1948” was sold for as much as one hundred and forty million US Dollars and has become the most expensive single artwork ever sold in history. How then should the artwork of Pollock be evaluated? Beginning from the style of the artwork, his artwork is considered an “action artwork” that represented abstract expressionism, the artist used the technique of sprinkling to create his artwork. The style of the artwork is free and flexible, the artist seeks to achieve a sense of harmony as well as lucidity by depicting the imagination within a repetition of sprinkles, and every sprinkle seems to be done unpredictably. Pollock’s style of art was a breakthrough in the artistic world that conceived a new style of art, also known as “the sprinkling technique”, which radically extended the distance between his abstract artworks and other abstract artworks in the world causing his artwork to be an independently new form of abstract art.

The artist had gained a high status and massive influence for the originality in his artwork.

Judging by art aesthetics, Pollock’s style of art is both unrestrained and dynamic, giving a pleasant visual experience that is as pleasant as the beauty of rhymes and rhythms in music. The artist is required to make good use of sprinkles to achieve unpredictability by allowing lines and colors to be scattered and achieve a sense of coordination and unification through seemingly mechanical and repetitive movements. However, style and personality are ultimately the most important elements in creating a breakthrough in the artistic world.

Pollock’s action art was influential as America’s symbol of abstract expressionism because his artwork contained the expressions of the values, thoughts, freedom and creative spirit that existed in America at that period of time, which is also why his artwork is considered an abstract art of the greatest value. It is therefore safe to conclude that the abstract artwork created by Pollock with his highly personalized “sprinkling technique” truly deserves the worldwide recognition that it has gotten for itself.

About the author:

I am an abstract oil paintings designer in Collieart studios.