Abstract art by Bruno Vackier, Abstract painting derives from Antiquity, notably decorative Celtic art. Similar designs were later taken up by early Christian artists for use in illuminated manuscripts, and also appear in Islamic art, notably in its interior and exterior designwork on mosques. The 19th century genius JMW Turner (1775-1851) was arguably the first abstract expressionist, while modern abstraction is commonly attributed to Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) who employed geometric solids in some of his fin de siecle landscapes. These caught the attention of Picasso and Braque, who founded the revolutionary abstract movement known as Cubism. Other major styles of 20th century abstraction include: Futurism (exemplified by Giacomo Balla and Gino Severini); Rayonism (founded by Mikhail Larionov); Orphism (Robert Delaunay); Suprematism (Kasimir Malevich); Constructivism (Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko); Vorticism (Percy Wyndham Lewis); De Stijl (Van Doesburg); Neo-Plasticism (Piet Mondrian); Abstract Expressionism, including action painting, (Jackson Pollock); hard edge painting (Kenneth Noland); plus the European school of Art Informel, which incorporated Lyrical Abstraction (Nicolas de Stael) as well as Tachisme (Sam Francis), and the gestural painting of the Cobra Group (Karel Appel). The 60s featured the new geometric abstraction style of Op Art, (pioneered by Victor Vasarely and popularized by Bridget Riley) and Minimalism (exemplified by Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman and Frank Stella); while the 1980s and 1990s witnessed the Neo-Expressionism of Georg Baselitz and Anselm Kiefer.

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