abstraction of painting

The written word became more specialized, more abstract and less and less like pictures. Pictures, meanwhile, began to grow in the opposite direction: less abstract or symbolic, more representational and specific. By the early 1800's, western art and writing had drifted about as far apart as possible. One was obsessed with resemblance, light and color, all things visible...the other rich in invisible treasures, senses, emotions, spirituality, philosophy.

However starting in the late 19th century, modern art movements such as impressionism, expressionism, futurism, dadaism incorporated abstraction back into art. Strict representation styles were of little importance to the new schools. The main thrust was a return to meaning in art, away from resemblance, back to the realm of ideas. Meanwhile, the written word was also changing, poetry began turning away from the elusive, twice-abstracted language of old toward a more direct, even colloquial style (Keats, Whitman). In prose, language was becoming even more direct, conveying meaning simply and quickly, more like pictures. "Meaning" was not abandoned by any means, but authors were definitely moving toward a more straightforward means of communication.

Paintings increasingly took on symbolic, even calligraphic meanings (Klee), while some artists addressed the ironies of words and pictures head-on. Paintings became so "unrealistic" and abstract, that modern art itself became virtually incomprehensible to the average viewer.

- Scott McCloud