Study Questions: Schapiro, "The Nature of Abstract Art"

Study Questions: Meyer Schapiro, "The Nature of Abstract Art"

1. What are the "two aspects of abstract painting" that Schapiro refers to? How does the example of non-Euclidean geometry help to define these two aspects?

2. According to Schapiro, Barr's account of abstract art as an historical movement is unhistorical. What does Schapiro mean?

3. What is the "theory of exhaustion and reaction"? What is the theory supposed to explain? Give an example.

4. What reasons does Schapiro give for rejecting the theory?

5. How does Schapiro propose to explain changes in artistic styles?

6. How does Schapiro's discussion of French painting in the late 19th century support his theory of stylistic change?

7. What are Barr's two assumptions about the nature of painting?

8. In what way, according to Schapiro, are these assumptions mistaken?

9. How does Schapiro explain the relation between natural form (representation) and abstract design? How does the discussion of Kandinsky's painting illustrate Schapiro's claims?

10. How does Schapiro explain the development of linear perspective in the Renaissance?

T. R. Quigley, 2005