The rise of abstraction meant freedom from the strictures and constraints of naturalism and representation. For some, it means stripping away the visual irrelevancies of nature in order to explore different subjects, an exploration of the artist’s own imagination, or finding the essential qualities a form observed in the real world. The freedom of abstraction rests on a paradox: the liberation of non-objective art often meant the new focus on order, form, and purity.

ABOUT THE JUROR:
Julia Halperin is executive editor of artnet News, where she oversees editorial operations for the world’s most widely read art news site and manages a staff of editors and writers in London, Berlin, and New York. Previously, she served as museums editor of The Art Newspaper, where she oversaw international coverage of museums and other major art institutions, and as news editor of Art + Auction magazine. Her writing has appeared in WIRED magazine, the New York Observer, and New York magazine. Halperin holds a BA in art history and English literature from Columbia University.