A groundbreaking account of the meaning of abstract painting
From Mondrian's bold geometric forms to Kandinsky's use of symbols to
Pollock's "dripped paintings," the richly diverse movement of abstract
painting challenges anyone trying to make sense of either individual
works or the phenomenon as a whole. Applying his insights as an art
historian and a painter, John Golding offers a unique approach to
understanding the evolution of abstractionism by looking at the personal
artistic development of seven of its greatest practitioners. He
re-creates the journey undertaken by each painter in his move from
representational art to the abstract--a journey that in most cases began
with cubism but led variously to symbolism, futurism, surrealism,
theosophy, anthropology, Jungian analysis, and beyond. For each artist,
spiritual quest and artistic experimentation became inseparable. And
despite their different techniques and philosophies, these artists
shared one goal: to break a path to a new, ultimate pictorial truth.
The book first explores the works and concerns of three pioneering
European abstract painters--Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky--and then
those of their American successors--Pollock, Newman, Rothko, and Still.
Golding shows how each painter sought to see the world and communicate
his vision in the purest or most expressive form possible. For example,
Mondrian found his way into abstraction through a spiritual response to
the landscape of his native Holland, Malevich through his apprehension
of the human body, Kandinsky through a blend of religious mysticism and
symbolism. Line and color became the focus for many of their creative
endeavors. In the 1940s and 50s, the Americans raised the level of
pictorial innovation, beginning most notably with Pollock and his
Jung-inspired concept of action.
Golding makes a powerful case that at its best and most profound,
abstract painting is heavily imbued with meaning and content. Through a
blend of biography, art analysis, and cultural history, Paths to the
Absolute offers remarkable insights into how a sense of purpose is
achieved in painting, and how abstractionism engaged with the
intellectual currents of its time.
