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Contemporary paintings or abstract paintings have their beginning back in the 19th century. These types of paintings are supposed to be representations of the subject rather than photographic type images. They are to capture the essence of the material instead of the precise images. Abstract art utilizes visual communication using color, form, and line in a creation of a conceptual picture.

The antecedents of abstract paintings include Expressionism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism, each of which had an influence on its development. Expressionism brought the use of bold colors and distortions of the subjects form to create something which was recognizable as depicting its subject yet also conveys the subject's essence.

Impressionism followed; using a more understated style, impressionist painters produced largely realistic depictions of their subjects while also capturing the painter's emotional state and laying out parts of the creative process itself for the viewer to examine through the use of visible brush strokes in their work.

Post Impressionists including Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne and Vincent Van Gogh came along shortly after and were often cited as inspirations by painters working in the abstract style.

The early 20th century saw the advent of the Fauvist (fauve is French for "beast") school including painters like Maurice de Vlaminck, Raoul Dufy and Henri Matisse. These paintings bore their expressionist and post impressionist influences on their sleeves with bold palettes, often depicting their subjects in unnatural colors. The landscape paintings of Fauvist painters in particular were to play an important role in influencing abstract paintings and contemporary paintings.

Cubism was another form of abstract art that came about in the 20th century. Pablo Picasso was a cubist and based his first paintings on ideas the originated with Cezanne. You had various styles of cubism that were practiced by various artists.

Abstract art is too complex of a subject to cover comprehensively here, but some of the 20th century developments in contemporary art include the Neo-plastic style common between the World Wars, the WW II and post-war Abstract Expressionist movement, the Contemporary Realist and Conceptual Art schools which came about in the 1960s, Hyperrealism, Photorealism and Neo-Expressionism.

1975 and on are generally referred to as the Postmodern era; this marks the approximate period when abstract paintings and contemporary paintings became a common style. From 1975 to today there has been an explosion in abstract art of all types.

Working artists today use more than paint and canvas to create their work. Many do digital painting using computers, a tool which is changing the art world. While computer art will never replace the plastic arts, many artists are educating themselves of the possibilities now available for internet art and other digital art outlets.

Search out your favorite artist's works today, and you may find some contemporary paintings or abstract paintings that you will enjoy. As you can see, there is a fascinating history to abstract art.

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