In an art context, abstract refers to a means of composition liberated from any figurative or recognizable reference. A wide-reaching concept that relates to nonfigurative art, nonobjective art, and nonrepresentational art, abstract art originated out of Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism. The expressive works of Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh gave way to what many consider the first truly abstract movement, Cubism. The fragmented paintings of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, as well as Futurism in Italy, and the non-figurative works of Kazimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian, paved the way for modern interpretations of abstraction. Wassily Kandinsky is often credited with creating the first purely abstract paintings, such as his now iconic Untitled Watercolor (1910).

In the mid-twentieth century, abstract art was further explored through the lens of various artistic movements and styles, from the grand splattered canvases of Jackson Pollock to the color field works of Mark Rothko. Abstract art is often divided into two categories, Semi-Abstraction, in which the imagery is still tethered to figurative shapes or styles, and Pure Abstraction, in which the visual elements are completely independent. Contemporary artists including Yves Klein, Gerhard Richter,Christopher Wool, Robert Ryman, and Sean Scully continue to explore the boundaries of abstraction, producing non-objective work across all mediums.