TWO MAJOR BASIC CATEGORIES: Realism and Abstraction:
1. "Realism" (as a category, as opposed to the historical style/movement of the late 19th century, which is a bit different) means the artist is being very true to observed visual facts and details in making the work.
2. "Abstraction" (as a category) means the artist is creating a world with its own rules and visual language, one that is not entirely dependent on truth to observed visual facts and details. Abstraction often involves an emphasis on basic elements of art, like line shape and color.
SUBCATEGORIES THAT MOSTLY APPLY TO ABSTRACTION:
Abstraction may be representational, or it may be non-representational (see item 2a below).2a: "Representational" and "Non-Representational":
"Representational" refers to art that depicts objects we can recognize and name.
"Non-Representational" refers to art that presents pure visual elements, which does not depict any objects from the world that we can recognize or name.
So, to repeat....
Abstraction can be representational or non-representational:
-Representational abstraction depicts objects we can name, but in a way that is not "realistic".
-Non-representational abstraction focuses on basic visual elements, and does NOT depict objects we can name.
Realism is always representational, because it depicts nameable objects from the world.
2b: Two other major categories of abstraction would be expressionism and minimalism. In Expressionism, color, shape and form are exaggerated to increase emotional impact. In Minimalism, the artist reduces the content of the work to a small number of very simplified elements.
Henri Fantin-Latour, 19th century. "Realism" (as a category) means the artist is being very true to observed visual facts and details in making the work.
Milton Avery, 20th Century. "Abstraction" (as a category) means the artist is creating a world with its own rules and visual language, one that is not entirely dependent on truth to observed visual facts and details. This painting is REPRESENTATIONAL abstraction because it depicts objects and forms we can name.
Mark Rothko, 20th Century. This painting is NON-REPRESENTATIONAL abstraction because it focuses on basic visual elements, and does not depict objects we can name. It also belongs to the category of "minimalism" since it's made of a very small number of visual elements.
Edward Munch, "The Scream", 1890's. Another major category of abstraction would be expressionism. In EXPRESSIONISM, color, shape and form are exaggerated or distorted to increase emotional impact.
Donald Judd, 1960's. Another major category of abstraction would be MINIMALISM. In minimalism, the artist reduces the content of the work to a small number of very simplified elements. Aside from being minimalist in a general sense, this piece is made by someone who belonged to a small group of artists in the 60's who were called "Minimalists". (As we discussed, there were quite a few art styles/movements in the last 150 years, each with its own label. "Minimalism" is one of those terms that can be used in two related but different ways. When used generally, the term can describe certain artworks of any time or place that have a pared-down "simplicity". But the term is also used by art historians/critics to label the work of a small group of individuals working at a certain place and time in art history. In this sense, the term refers to some artists in the mid-sixties who were intensely focussed on a certain kind of simplification in art).
We would also call this piece non-representational since it doesn't depict nameable objects, other than geometric shapes.