Paths to dissolution: Water and abstract art

Abstract

Several of the most significant abstract artists of the 20th century explored water as a subject matter at crucial points on their pathway to pure abstraction. The relationship of water to abstraction is facilitated by the nature of the substance itself, which aids painting beyond a concern with bounded form and reference to the world of everyday material objects. The role of water as a crucial subject on the path toward abstraction can be seen in the work of Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky, two European pioneers of the language of abstract art. Watery themes are also present in the second great wave of 20th-century abstraction, taking place in the United States after World War II, and encompassing artists such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Water continues to be a subject of interest to contemporary painters, such as Pat Steir, who produce work of an abstract or near-abstract nature.