Concrete art

Concrete art is geometric abstraction stripped of all reference to the outside world. Theo van Doesburg formulated the term in his 1930 manifesto for the Paris group Art Concret, insisting that works be conceived entirely by the mind before execution, built from purely plastic elements - surface and color - and carried out with mechanical exactness. After van Doesburg's death in 1931, Max Bill carried the program forward from Switzerland, organizing the first international exhibition in 1944 and exporting the style to Latin America, where groups such as the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención in Buenos Aires and Grupo Ruptura in São Paulo gave it local form. Concrete art's "cold" geometry fed optical, kinetic and programmatic art, while the Brazilian Neo-Concrete manifesto of 1959 loosened its rigor into bodily experience.

Defining characteristics

• Pure geometry: line, plane and color with no reference to nature
• Works conceived entirely in the mind before execution
• Mechanical, exact, anti-impressionistic technique
• Simple, visually controllable construction
• Universal ambition: art free of symbolism, lyricism and drama

Key figures

• Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) — Formulated the term and the 1930 Art Concret manifesto
• Max Bill (1908-1994) — Bauhaus-trained designer who spread concrete art internationally
• Joaquín Torres-García (1874-1949) — Carried the constructive idea back to South America
• Richard Paul Lohse (1902-1988) — Zürich master of serial, modular color systems
• Camille Graeser (1892-1980) — Zürich painter of rigorous geometric relationships

Example works

• Continuity (Colossus of Frankfurt) — Max Bill (1986)

Sources

• Concrete art - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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