The art of painting
In this computer age, abstract painting remains one of the best loved art forms. Abstract painting is the space where "flatlanders" live. "Who disparages the art of painting loves neither philosophy nor nature", said Leonardo da Vinci. It's especially the two-dimensional nature of abstract painting (hence "flatlander") that made Da Vinci consider abstract painting to be more demanding than, for instance, sculpture.	Painting is not a static art form. The art of painting has changed through the ages, especially during the 20th century. During the last decennia of the 19th century the first signs of systematic abstraction where beginning to become visible in impressionism and the work of Cézanne and the development of painting during the 20th century is best characterized by the transition from figurative painting to abstract painting.
Today this contraposition is a thing of the past as painting has become a synthesis between figurative painting and abstract painting. The painting to the left is an example of this development. Pablo Picasso was the outstanding innovator, responsible for the definitive transition from figurative painting to abstract painting. Around 1910 he and Georges Braque formulated a pictorial language now known as cubism, a style which still relied on nature's examples, but deformed in such a way that it opened the door to pure abstract art. Piet Mondrian, who contributed to the development of cubism and Kazimir Malivich, who also went through a cubist phase, were among the first to paint in a purely abstract style. Mondrian's neo-plasticism and Malivich's suprematism, have in common that these styles are both expressions of geometric abstraction, a style of abstract painting which uses geometric objects such as squares, rectangles and circles only. In Mondrian's case these would be rectangles and Malevich was particularly fond of the square, 'the zero of form', as he called it. Another important precursor to geometric abstraction is futurism, an Italy based artistic movement, which, as far as abstract painting is concerned, elaborated on cubism by adding an illusion of movement and dynamism which was typical of the futurists (rather polemic) intentions and temperament. To Malevich futurism was still too naturalistic and bewteen 1913 and 1915 he created his suprematism, which greatly influenced Piet Mondrian and his art-movement "De Stijl".