geometric abstraction
geometric abstraction — noun
1. an approach to making pictures and sculpture in which the artist builds the imag
an approach to making pictures and sculpture in which the artist builds the image only from plain forms like squares, circles, and straight lines, instead of showing real people, places, or objects.
Mauricio fell in love with geometric abstraction during his first year at art school.
uncountable: study geometric abstraction with no article
The gallery devoted its largest room to geometric abstraction from the 1920s.
After the war, many Brazilian artists embraced geometric abstraction over realistic painting.
Geometric abstraction grew popular in Europe as artists left lifelike scenes behind.
Élise wrote her thesis on geometric abstraction and its bold use of colour.
- abstract art
broader term; also covers soft or organic shapes, not only measured ones
- non-representational art
stresses that nothing real is shown, but says nothing about shape type
- concrete art
closely related movement; insists the work points to nothing beyond itself
- representational art
art that sets out to show recognisable people, places, or things
- figurative art
centres on the human figure or other real objects
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense: it names the movement or method as a whole, so it takes no article — 'interested in geometric abstraction', never 'a geometric abstraction' (that is sense 2, a single work).
常見錯誤
2. a single painting or sculpture made entirely of flat shapes and lines, prized fo
a single painting or sculpture made entirely of flat shapes and lines, prized for its design alone rather than for picturing anything real.
Rachid hung a small geometric abstraction above the fireplace in his living room.
countable: a (small) geometric abstraction
The auction house sold three early geometric abstractions for record prices.
plural: geometric abstractions
Samir painted a bright geometric abstraction using only red squares and blue lines.
A bold geometric abstraction hung at the centre of the quiet white gallery.
Jin framed a tiny geometric abstraction and gave it to a close friend.
- abstract painting
one abstract work, though not always built from measured shapes
- non-objective work
a single piece showing no real-world object at all
- figurative painting
a single work that depicts recognisable subjects
用法筆記
Countable here, unlike sense 1: it points to one finished artwork, so you can use 'a' and count them — 'two early geometric abstractions hung side by side'.