Abstract art uses forms having no direct reference to external or perceived reality; it is usually synonymous with various types of 20th-century avant-garde art. The term abstract also refers to images that have been abstracted or derived from nature, but which in the process have been considerably altered or have been simplified to their basic geometric or biomorphic forms.

Most contemporary art critics and historians have abandoned the term nonobjective, once used to describe certain kinds of abstract art. Abstract art is found in Surrealism, Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism, and of course, Modern art.