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All art was representational -- that is, it depicted recognizable objects -- throughout most of human history. The prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux depict horses, bison and bulls. Ancient Egyptian and Minoan art gave even gods recognizable faces and bodies. In the early 20th century, abstract art -- art that did not attempt to depict an object, person or scene realistically -- came into prominence. Nonrepresentational art takes abstract art a step further and completely divorces color, line, shape and volume from recognizable representations.
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Look for the subject of the art. Nonrepresentational art usually has no defined subject; it relies on line, form and color to evoke a response from the viewer. Representational art, whether realist or abstract, has a subject or subjects.
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Try to find recognizable elements in the artwork. The artist may abstract or distort the elements, but viewers seeing the art will agree that the painting depicts a recognizable object, person or view. Pablo Picasso's Cubist portraits and Keith Haring's energetic human figures represent people in an abstract fashion. Piet Mondrian's lines and squares express the artist's explorations of form and color, but do not attempt to depict a scene.
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Examine the art for a sense of depth. Representational artists typically use perspective and shading to give their images a sense of space, while nonrepresentational artists generally treat the canvas