You think a child could do that
And you would like to know whether you are missing something.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to understand abstract art when you see it
Look at modern and abstract art with questions that open it up.
Start with what changed around 1900 and why artists moved away from copying what they saw, then learn a way of looking that begins with what is actually on the canvas. Each movement is explored through a few works, so you form your own view instead of borrowing one.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to understand modern and abstract art. When I stand in front of a painting that is only colour or shapes, I do not know what I am supposed to see, and I would like to know how to look at it and what the artists were trying to do.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Describe before you interpret
Spend two minutes on one work and write only what is there, for example: 'large canvas, two soft-edged blocks of dark red over maroon, edges blur.' Then ask what those choices do to you. Plain description slows you down enough to notice what the artist controlled.
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Ask whether it started from something real
Tate distinguishes abstraction that simplifies a real subject, such as a figure or landscape, from abstraction with no source in visible reality at all. Decide which kind you are looking at, then search the canvas for any trace of a subject.
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Notice the scale
Many Abstract Expressionist canvases are taller than a person. In a gallery, stand close enough that the painting fills your view, then step back across the room. If you have only seen a work on a phone, you have seen a very different object.
Sources: Tate: abstract art, its definition and kinds. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Art & music
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What do you find hardest: abstract painting, conceptual art, or knowing what counts as good?
- Do you visit galleries, or mainly see art online and in books?
- Is there an artist or work that puzzled you and that you want to understand?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
Gallery labels leave you more confused
The wall text uses words you never use.
You like some of it and not the rest
You want to know why one canvas moves you and another does not.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06Why art stopped copying
Photography, new ideas about perception and the push beyond representation.
Cubism and fragments
Showing several viewpoints at once and breaking objects into planes.
Pure abstraction
Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevich on colour, line and form for their own sake.
Abstract Expressionism
Pollock's gestures, Rothko's fields of colour, and why scale matters.
When the idea is the art
Duchamp, conceptual art and works that ask a question more than they show a picture.
Forming your own judgement
Saying what works for you and why, without waiting for permission.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Know why it changed
Explain why many artists moved away from realistic representation in the early twentieth century.
Look before reading
Describe colour, scale, surface and composition before turning to the label.
Tell movements apart
Recognise the aims of Cubism, abstraction, Abstract Expressionism and conceptual art.
Ideas this course corrects
Abstract art is random
Many abstract artists planned colour, proportion and placement carefully, and several wrote at length about their aims.
There is one correct meaning you are failing to see
Many abstract artists wanted a direct response to colour and form, and critics have long disagreed about the same works.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to understand abstract art when you see it: what can I do today?
Describe before you interpret. Spend two minutes on one work and write only what is there, for example: 'large canvas, two soft-edged blocks of dark red over maroon, edges blur.' Then ask what those choices do to you. Plain description slows you down enough to notice what the artist controlled. Ask whether it started from something real. Tate distinguishes abstraction that simplifies a real subject, such as a figure or landscape, from abstraction with no source in visible reality at all. Decide which kind you are looking at, then search the canvas for any trace of a subject. Notice the scale. Many Abstract Expressionist canvases are taller than a person. In a gallery, stand close enough that the painting fills your view, then step back across the room. If you have only seen a work on a phone, you have seen a very different object.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
Start with what changed around 1900 and why artists moved away from copying what they saw, then learn a way of looking that begins with what is actually on the canvas. Each movement is explored through a few works, so you form your own view instead of borrowing one. It sits under Art & music in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to understand modern and abstract art. When I stand in front of a painting that is only colour or shapes, I do not know what I am supposed to see, and I would like to know how to look at it and what the artists were trying to do.