Tomma Abts

Key facts

Born

1967, German

Movements

• Abstract
• Contemporary

Works held in

7 museums

Plan your visit to see Tomma Abts →

• What is Tomma Abts known for?+

  Tomma Abts is known for her distinctive abstract works, created through an intuitive and methodical process. She works almost exclusively on canvases measuring 48 by 38 centimetres, exploring variations within this defined space.
• What is Tomma Abts's most famous work?+

  Tomma Abts, born in Keil, Germany, in 1967, is known for her non-representational paintings. Her works explore colour and space through subtle shifts, creating movement and depth. Abts's paintings feature sculptural shapes that appear to float on planes of teal blue and green. These geometric forms do not symbolise anything; instead, they focus on the painting as both image and object. Her labour-intensive technique involves applying thin layers of paint, over-painting repeatedly as she intuitively works on a single canvas, often for months. The titles of Abts’s works are derived from German first names. She typically creates small canvases, always of the same size. An example of her work is Uphe (2011), an acrylic and oil painting on canvas.
• What should I know about Tomma Abts's prints?+

  Tomma Abts is known for abstract paintings, but she also produces screenprints that relate to her larger practice. When collecting prints, it is important to consider the printing process, the materials, and how these might affect the work's condition over time. Many photographic processes have been used, with varied results, and prints, like photographs, can be subject to degradation from light exposure or poor storage. Edition sizes can vary widely, and this affects the value of a print. The art market sometimes sees price variations in contemporaneous sales of the same print; this can be due to condition, but also to unpredictable factors. Some photographic printing methods from past decades have proven sensitive, with colours changing after only a few years. Platinum and silver gelatin prints are considered robust. It is generally recommended to avoid direct sunlight, use acid-free materials for storage, and frame prints behind museum glass.
• What style or movement did Tomma Abts belong to?+

  It is difficult to assign Tomma Abts to a single style or movement. Her work has connections with geometric abstraction, which developed from the Bauhaus tradition. Geometric abstraction is a sober art, bearing no personal signature and no trace of craftsmanship. It is based on the ideas of the Constructivists and the De Stijl group, following in the footsteps of the abstraction-création movement of the 1930s. However, Abts's work diverges from pure geometric abstraction in significant ways. Some critics see her work as aligned with contemporary abstraction, which maintains a dialogue between the artist and exterior forces. Younger artists are emphasising more narrative content in abstraction. Ultimately, Abts's individual approach resists easy categorisation.
• What techniques or materials did Tomma Abts use?+

  Without reference to Tomma Abts specifically, the techniques and materials available to artists are wide-ranging. Painters have used natural or chemical pigments in fresco, egg tempera, watercolour, and oil paint. Acrylics, household emulsions, and mixed media are more contemporary options. Mixed media refers to artworks using a range of different materials. Sculptors have traditionally used wood, marble, and bronze. Contemporary sculptors also use cardboard, plastic, and everyday household items. Techniques include applying oil paint thickly in impasto or thinly in glazes. Brushwork may be fine, disguised, or thickly applied with a palette knife. Stencilling is another option. Sculpture involves carving and modelling. Carving is a subtractive process, while modelling, assemblage, and casting are additive processes. Some artists use readymades and found objects. In glass painting, artists scratch out light contours. Washes are often applied to the verso (the side facing outwards). Silver stain can be used to create colours from lemon yellow to saturated golden yellow, depending on the thickness of application.
• What was Tomma Abts known for?+

  Tomma Abts is a contemporary artist known for abstract paintings and prints. Her works often feature geometric forms and muted colours. Abstraction, in general, remains a valid approach to both painting and sculpture in the 21st century. Some living artists have produced innovative modernist art during the postmodern era, despite the presence of contemporary artists whose work addresses social and political issues. Abts's approach involves a methodical process. She typically begins without a preconceived idea, allowing the composition to emerge organically. Her paintings often incorporate shapes that seem both familiar and alien, creating a tension between order and ambiguity. The surfaces of her works are built up through layers of acrylic and oil paint, resulting in a subtle depth.
• When did Tomma Abts live and work?+

  Tomma Abts was born in 1967. The available texts do not offer information about Abts's life and career. Instead, they contain brief biographies and exhibition histories of other artists, such as Elvira Bach (born in 1951), Ina Barfuss (born in 1949), Georg Baselitz (born Georg Kern in 1938), Josef Albers (born in 1888), Thomas Lange (born in 1957), Markus Lupertz (born in 1941), Georg Herold (born in 1947), and K. H. Hodicke (born in 1938). These artists worked across painting, sculpture, and other media. Several of them, including Barfuss, Lange, and Hodicke, lived and worked in Berlin. This suggests Berlin was an important artistic centre during the latter half of the twentieth century. Albers taught at the Bauhaus and later in the United States. The texts also mention various galleries and exhibition spaces in Germany, and elsewhere in Europe and the United States, where these artists displayed their work.
• Where can I see Tomma Abts's work?+

  Tomma Abts's works can be viewed in several museums and galleries around the world. These include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles; the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York; and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts at 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis. Other locations include the Museum of Modern Art at 11 West 53rd Street in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum at 100 Queens Park, Toronto, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond. In Europe, Abts's art can be seen at the Bakelite Museum, Orchard Mill, Williton; Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton; the Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London; Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester; the National Museums of Scotland-Royal Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London.
• Where was Tomma Abts from?+

  The provided texts do not contain information about Tomma Abts's place of origin. However, they do discuss the German artist Hannah Höch, who was born in south-east Germany. Höch studied at the School of Applied Arts in Berlin, initially focusing on glass design before joining Emil Orlik's graphics class. During her studies, she became involved with Raoul Hausmann, a member of the Berlin Dada movement. After completing her graphics course, Höch worked for Ullstein Verlag, designing dress and embroidery patterns for magazines. She joined the Berlin Dada group, where she faced challenges as a female artist. Despite initial resistance, she contributed photomontages to their International Fair in 1920. These photomontages, created from cut-out images from popular magazines, offered satirical commentary on contemporary society. Höch claimed to have invented photomontage during a Baltic holiday with Hausmann in 1918, inspired by German soldiers' altered photographs, though she had been creating collages since 1916.
• Who did Tomma Abts influence?+

  It is difficult to say definitively who Tomma Abts has influenced, as this requires analysis of developing artists and their inspirations. However, we can examine artists who explore similar themes or methods. Abts is a contemporary abstract painter; other artists working in abstraction during the postmodern era include Julian Schnabel, Elizabeth Murray, Song Su-nam, and El Anatsui. Murray experimented with alternate shapes, rather than the standard rectangle. Anatsui is known for artworks that exist somewhere between sculpture and textile design. Another artist, Tobi Kahn, equivocates between abstraction and reality. Kahn draws inspiration from the formal qualities apparent in the work of American modernists such as Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Milton Avery. He also acknowledges Alberto Giacometti and Martin Puryear as important influences.
• Who influenced Tomma Abts?+

  Tomma Abts, born in Germany in 1967, creates non-representational paintings exploring colour and space. Her technique involves a labour-intensive layering of paint, often reworked intuitively over months on small canvases of consistent dimensions. Like Jasper Johns, Abts is interested in a painting as both image and object, representing nothing beyond itself. Another possible influence is the Bauhaus school, particularly Josef Albers's teachings. Albers, who taught at Black Mountain College, distinguished between material studies (Materialstudien) and matter studies (Materienstudien). The former focused on the structural nature of materials, while the latter emphasised the appearance and feeling of texture. Albers stressed the importance of colour interaction and the objective experience of colour, ideas that resonate with Abts's focus on colour and form. The Bauhaus approach encouraged an understanding of materials and their inherent qualities, potentially informing Abts's method of layering and manipulating paint to create subtle shifts in depth and movement.
• Who was Tomma Abts?+

  Tomma Abts is a contemporary German artist known for her abstract paintings. Born in 1967 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, she studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Abts's work is characterised by geometric forms, muted colours, and a meticulous approach to composition. Her paintings often feature layered shapes and lines that create a sense of depth and complexity. While her works are non-representational, they evoke a sense of structure and order. Abts's process involves creating preparatory drawings and collages before beginning a painting, allowing her to carefully consider the relationships between different elements. In 2006, she was awarded the Turner Prize, a prestigious award for British visual artists, marking the first time a painter had won in six years. Abts continues to live and work in Berlin.