Although a great deal has been written about abstract painting,
there is no one work available which gives a comprehensive historical
survey of the subject for all countries in which this new development
has manifested itself. The study published by Michel Seuphor
some years ago was confined in its historical scope to the first ten
years of abstract art and hence gives little indication as to what
happened after 1920.

The present work does not pretend to list the name of every
abstract painter -- obviously an impossible task -- nor to make a
final critical selection. It will however, we venture to think,
provide the general public, students of art and artists themselves
with a source of information which has been lacking up to the present
time.

This book may be used in three ways: it may be read as a
historical work, it may be perused from time to time as an album, or
it may be kept at hand as a reference work full of accurate and ample
information.

The illustrations have been chosen so as to give the widest pos-
sible view of the subject, although this concern has not been allowed
to take precedence over such important considerations as the quality
of the work illustrated or the proven value of the artist.

The chronological chart given on pages 106 to 113 provides an
ever-present guide to the reader who wishes to place a particular
development in its historical context as he reads, or to take in at a
glance the whole history of abstract art from 1910 to 1956.

THE PUBLISHER