Abstract Art

Abstract artwork, introduced in the early 20th century, is a subjective form of art presenting an intensely personal and internal viewpoint of a subject, sans any photo-realistic representation or objective viewpoint. Abstract art viscerally uses concepts, symbolism and ideas to convey the meaning of its subject, as opposed to representational artwork which intentionally is meant to appear similar to the subject.

Pablo Picasso is generally accredited with first establishing abstract as an art form with cubism. However abstraction in art has existed for many millennium. Music is an art form that is in essence abstract, for except sound effects, doesn't represent its subject. Likewise poetry is often abstract while prose is more representational. As there are abstract variations in most art forms, abstract painting styles along with cubism would include: expressionism, Dadaism, surrealism, conceptual art, some photography, some graffiti, among others.