"Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential." -- Wassily Kandinsky.

In its purest form in Western art, an abstract art is one without a recognisable subject, one which doesn't relate to anything external or try to "look like" something. Instead the colour and form are the subject of the abstract painting. It's completely non-objective or non-representational.

A further distinction tends to be made between abstract art which is geometric, such as the work of Mondrian, and abstract art that is more fluid (and where the apparent spontaneity often belies careful planning and execution), such as the abstract art of Kandinsky or Pollock.

Also generally classified with abstract art are figurative abstractions and paintings which represent things that aren't visual, such an emotion, sound, or spiritual experience.