Theory of abstract painting and Plato’s conception of art

Abstract

The thesis of the paper is the statement that in theoretical assumptions of abstract painting the Platonic conception of art is to be found. It is an interesting coincidence, especially that it is independent and does not arise from inspiration of abstractionist painters by Plato’s philosophy or their reference to his conception of art. Plato, likewise, did not predict a development of such an art movement but despite that, in theoretical foundations of abstract painting the same truth cognitive assumptions can be identified as in Plato’s conception of art. They define its essence as well as function and value. They are also expression of Plato’s negative attitude to imitative painting.