ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors review some of the movements in art in which color played a major or dominant role in the underlying aesthetics of the artworks created. In some sense, contemporary art started with Impressionism. Impressionism was a clear and dramatic break from the past and traditional academic painting. The Impressionists' goal was to bathe the subject in light and paint the atmosphere to capture a moment in time. A more contemporary use of pointillism can be seen in the work of Patrick Bremer. Abstract expressionism and its descendant, color-field painting, seemed to be natural outgrowths of the cubist and surrealist movements. Color-field painting was directly concerned with the application of color to the canvas. Minimalism was in sharp contrast and direct opposition to the more ephemeral and emotional aspects of abstract expressionism and color-field painting.
