Cubism is one of the most famous Modern-art movements of the 20th century, and one of its pioneering artists was among the most famous painters in history: Pablo Picasso. Cubist paintings may be immediately identified by their signature flattening of three-dimensional objects into distorted two-dimensional images.
Abstract art is a more general term that encompasses, but is not limited to, Cubist art. Abstract art is really any art that is not directly and intentionally representational, or art which seeks to only loosely represent the object being painted.
TIme Frame
"Abstract art" is a term applied generally to different forms of modern art. Abstract art began to surface in the middle of the 19th century. Cubism is an art movement instigated in the early 20th century by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
Defining Abstract Art
Abstract art is fine art that may or may not visually reference the real world but that may often not be identified as referencing anything at all. Its distinguishing characteristics are its lack of resemblance or lack of accurate resemblance to objects in real life.
Defining Cubism
Cubism breaks up objects and displays them rearranged at unnatural or impossible angles, displays multiple views of objects or flattens three-dimensional objects to a pointedly two-dimensional format. Cubism is fundamentally striving to present objects from reality in abstracted form.
Categorization
Abstract art is a term that may apply to many different art movements, including Cubism.
Function of Cubism Within Abstract Art
Abstract art does not define artistic credos or intentions. Abstract art covers a range of movements that all applied their own specific artistic values, methods and beliefs. For example, the Cubist painters were striving to emphasize the two-dimensionality of the canvas, rather than the three-dimensional quality of the objects they were painting.
Techniques With Paint
Cubism, as may be inferred by its name, breaks subjects up into distinct cubes and other geometric figures. The lines used in Cubism are harsh and well defined, painted clearly and deliberately. In contrast, Abstract art may be splashed, splattered, dripped or brushed onto the canvas in traditional methods. The effects in Abstract art can vary wildly from piece to piece.
