What Is Abstract Art

[Dmitry-Afremov]

# What Is Abstract Art?

People ask all the time:

“What exactly is abstract art?”

And honestly, art historians can explain this for hours. They’ll talk about Picasso, Cubism, Modernism, Pointillism, Surrealism — there are countless styles and directions connected to abstraction.

But if I explain it in simple language, abstraction is something non-specific.

When an artist paints abstract art, you may feel what they are trying to express, but you cannot fully define it.

Every person sees something different in abstraction.

One person sees a giraffe.
Another sees a naked woman.
Someone else sees pain, movement, chaos, or freedom.

That is abstraction.

It’s art without a single concrete answer.

Now, are Leonid Afremov’s paintings abstract?

No.

He was an impressionist. His paintings are not abstract at all.

You always understand what you are looking at: a street, a couple, a violinist, flowers, rain, light, emotion. His style was expressive and emotional, but still very recognizable and grounded in reality.

At the same time, my father loved good abstract art.

He deeply respected Picasso. He liked Marc Chagall as well, although Chagall is difficult to classify strictly as abstraction.

My father appreciated all kinds of great art.

I remember once we visited an Art Deco and conceptual art exhibition together. He looked at some of the works and said:

“These pieces are genius.”

Meanwhile, I personally thought most of it was nonsense.

But he had a true artistic vision. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have that same level of artistic perception.

So what is abstraction?

To me, it’s something without exact definition.

If we paint an apple — that’s an apple. That’s concrete.

But if instead of an apple we paint a square with floating petals and distorted shapes — now we are entering abstraction.

There’s direct thinking, and there’s abstract thinking.

Art works the same way.

That’s how I see it.

Share your thoughts in the comments — I’d honestly love to hear how you personally define abstract art.

[SunnySideKate]

I like this explanation because it makes abstract art feel much less intimidating. Everyone seems to experience it differently, and that's probably part of what makes it interesting. I'm a young artist myself, and I was wondering if you accept work from independent artists — is there any opportunity to sell my paintings through your platform?

[MrBean]

I like how you clearly separate abstraction from recognizable imagery and explain it in such a grounded way instead of overcomplicating it with theory. The comparison between direct and abstract thinking also makes the concept very easy to relate to in everyday perception of art.

I’m a young artist, and after reading this, I wanted to ask: could I sell my paintings through you?

[NorthStarBen]

Afremov has his own exquisite style

[AmberFields]

Your explanation feels a bit contradictory, especially when you try to strictly separate “recognizable” art from abstraction, which in practice is far less clear in contemporary art theory. It also comes across like you’re dismissing other artistic interpretations while positioning your personal taste as a kind of definition, which weakens the argument. At times it sounds less like an objective explanation and more like an attempt to frame preference as principle.

[MapleRunner84]

Abstract art has always felt more about personal interpretation than finding one "right" answer, and that's what makes it interesting. Everyone brings their own experiences to what they see.