Art workshop resources
Abstract Artists 1880-2026
The rise of western Abstract Art, its historical contexts and a list of my top 21 artists
By Bridget March|Artist
Thu, Sep 17, 2026
What circumstances gave rise to Abstract Art? The first was the invention of photography which made portrait and urban artists redundant. Here are a few other events that have influenced art.
The modern bicycle was invented, public transport on railways, the telephone , the light bulb, , machine gun,. commercial flights, motor cars, WW 1, Russian Revolution, Irish Civil War, Radio & Television, Cinema, Psychology, Spanish Civil War, WW 2, Atomic Bomb, Space exploration, Rock Music, End of Empire, communication satellites, Woodstock, computers, AIDS, Nuclear Fusion, Berlin wall comes down, the rise of ecology, Globalization, Mobile phone. International space station, Climate summits.
In chronological order
Hilma af Klint - Swedish - 1862-1944 - kept her work secret until after her death
Wassily Kandinsky - Russian - 1866 - 1944 an orchestral violinist and synesthesiac who saw colour in sound and sounds in shapes
Piet Mondrian - Dutch - 1872-1944 - reduced trees and windmills to straight lines and primary colours
Kazimir Malevich - Kiev - 1879-1935 - writer and artist - geometrics
Josef Albers - German - 1888-1976 - Geometrics and expressionism
Lucio Fontana - Argentinian Italian - 1899-1968 - introduced the third dimension to painting by slashing his canvasses
Mark Rothko - Latvian American - 1903-70 - colour field art
Willem de Kooning - Dutch American - 1904-97 - 1st artist to have a solo show at MOMA - most influencial on 21st c artists
Barrett Newman - American - 1905-70 - Colour field expressionist
Franz Kline - American - 1910-62 - Expressionist action painter - bold black brush strokes.
Jackson Pollock - American - 1912-56 - Expresionist action drip painter.
Agnes Martin - Canadian American - 1912-2004 - Inner silence and zen
Ellesworth Kelly - American - 1923-2015 - Colour field minimalist
Kenneth Noland - American - 1924-2010 - Colour field minimalist
Francois Morellet - French - 1926-2016 - Painter - sculptor and neon light artist
Cy Twombly - American - 1928-2011 - Highly influential - drips and scribbles
Bridget Riley - English - 1931-present - Geometric - op art (Optical Illusions)
Gerhardt Richter - German - 1932-present - Abstract and photorealistic - experimental
Frank Stella - American - 1936-2024 - Colourist, geometrics minimalist
David Hockney - English - 1937-2026 - Colourist - narrative - experimental - digital
Banksy - English - 1973-present - Documentary, grafitti, satirist
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