Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), the great abstract-expressionist painter, called art "a search for the real." But what is real, and how is it captured in a painting?

This is a deep philosophical question, but even in everyday life reality is not always obvious. A "dog" is a real thing, but a state of mind, like "confidence," is an invisible abstraction. What you can see and touch is real, like your car, but what you imagine, like a unicorn, is unreal, no?  So whatís real about a painting of a unicorn?

In this search, artists make many different kinds of paintings that we can broadly divide into two categories: realism and abstraction. Realism is thought to represent things as they actually are, while abstraction is devoid of anything recognizable. Most people appreciate realism and are perplexed by abstraction. But how different are they in fact?

What we call realism is a relatively recent phenomenon in art, developed since the Renaissance as a means of creating a three-dimensional illusion on a flat surface. But even the most realistic painting is a simplified (or ìabstractedî) representation of the appearance of something, seen at one time, from one point of view. And what about capturing emotions, ideas or events that evolve? The outward appearance of a subject may be just a starting point toward expressing an artistís feelings about the subject or the artistís intuition of a deeper meaning.

Realism and abstraction could be seen as polar opposites, but perhaps they are more like two ends of a continuum of visual expression, like hot and cold. In our world, there is not just hot or cold, or hot versus cold. Any point on the thermometer is colder or hotter than some other point. In painting terms, realism is relative, and all art is abstract in varying degrees. On one side we have non-objective abstraction resembling nothing but itself, on the other side we have photographic realism, mimicking the appearance of a recognizable subject. The rest of art falls somewhere in between.

Starting from realism, and proceeding along this line, abstraction moves away from detailed representation, simplifying and symbolizing until it finally lets go of any outside reference. Now it is free to create from scratch, using the fundamental elements of art such as line, tone, color and shape. A brush stroke is complete in itself and not dependent on its reference to something else. In combination with other brush strokes, shapes, and composition, it can evoke an experience not limited by external associations, but only by evolutionís visual architecture. An abstract painter might lay claim to art that is actually ìmostî real, in that what you see is what you get. Art for artís sake.

Moving from abstraction towards realism, an artist uses the same fundamental elements, combined according to a set of visual procedures that reproduce the appearance of an external reality. The independent qualities of those elements are subordinated to the purpose of capturing the subject the artist sees. The visible flesh of realism is supported by the hidden bones, muscles and guts of abstraction. Abstract artists have reinvigorated painting by emphasizing the reality of the flat surface, the materiality of paint, the facts of shape and line. The most convincing illusions of realism are still just paint on canvas and can be understood as a highly specialized form of abstraction. 

In the search for the real, there have been successful paintings in both styles. Unfortunately, most of us don't know how to look at an abstract painting, so we prefer the familiarity of realism. It might help to compare abstract painting to instrumental music, which we listen to and enjoy for its own sake. We donít expect music to sound like something "real," like a ringing phone or a babbling brook. The swirling sky of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" expresses the reality of the painter's inner passion, like music. As does Jackson Pollackís skeins of dripped paint, which are pure abstraction without the landscape.

If we look for the fundamentals and their interactions, we can see the abstract in realism, the real in abstraction.

Dan Cooper is a landscape painter and creator of "E-Painting of the Week," a free email service. His work may be seen online at www.dancooperart.com He lives in Northern California.