Geometric abstraction

Although the genre was popularized by avant-garde artists in the early twentieth century, similar motifs have been used in art since ancient times.

Wassily Kandinsky, one of the forerunners of pure non-objective painting, was among the first modern artists to explore this geometric approach in his abstract work.

Georges Vantongerloo[3] and Max Bill,[4] for example, are perhaps best known for their geometric sculpture, although both of them were also painters; and indeed, the ideals of geometric abstraction find nearly perfect expression in their titling (e.g., Vantongerloo's "Construction in the Sphere") and pronouncements (e.g., Bill's statement that "I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of mathematical thinking.")

Abstract art has also historically been likened to music in its ability to convey emotional or expressive feelings and ideas without reliance upon or reference to recognizable objective forms already existent in reality.

Wassily Kandinsky has discussed this connection between music and painting, as well as how the practice of classical composition had influenced his work, at length in his seminal essay Concerning the Spiritual in Art.