abstract

前缀abs-为ab-变体，离开。词根tract,拉，见attract，吸引。

abstract (adj.)

late 14c., originally in grammar (of nouns), from Latin abstractus "drawn away," past participle of abstrahere "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert;" also figuratively, from ab(s)- "away" (see ab-) + trahere "draw" (see tract (n.1)).

Meaning "withdrawn or separated from material objects or practical matters" is from mid-15c. That of "difficult to understand, abstruse" is from c. 1400. Specifically in reference to modern art, it dates from 1914; abstract expressionism as an American-based uninhibited approach to art exemplified by Jackson Pollock is from 1952, but the term itself had been used in the 1920s of Kandinsky and others.

Oswald Herzog, in an article on "Der Abstrakte Expressionismus" (Sturm, heft 50, 1919) gives us a statement which with equal felicity may be applied to the artistic attitude of the Dadaists. "Abstract Expressionism is perfect Expressionism," he writes. "It is pure creation. It casts spiritual processes into a corporeal mould. It does not borrow objects from the real world; it creates its own objects .... The abstract reveals the will of the artist; it becomes expression. ..." [William A. Drake, "The Life and Deeds of Dada," 1922]

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Then, that art we have called "abstract" for want of any possible descriptive term, with which we have been patient, and, even, appreciative, getting high stimulation by the new Guggenheim "non-objective" Art Museum, is reflected in our examples of "surrealism," "dadaism," and what-not, to assert our acquaintance in every art, fine or other. [Report of the Art Reference Department of Pratt Institute Free Library for year ending June 30, 1937]

abstract (n.)

"abridgement or summary of a document," mid-15c., from abstract (adj.). The general sense of "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or power of a greater" [Johnson] is recorded from 1560s.

abstract (v.)

1540s, from Latin abstractus or else from the adjective abstract. Related: Abstracted; abstracting, abstractedly.

1. His painting went through both representational and abstract periods.

他的绘画经历了具象风格和抽象风格两个阶段。

2. Money was a commodity she never thought about except in the abstract.

钱对她来说就是个抽象的东西，她从不去想钱。

3. In the exhibition, abstract paintings are juxtaposed with shocking photographs.

展览会上抽象画与令人震惊的照片并列展出。

4. I like dogs in the abstract, but I can't bear this one.

一般来说我喜欢狗, 可是我不能容忍这一只.

5. He is an abstract painter.

他是一个抽象派画家.