Finding 15: Hilla Rebay on Nonobjective Art

From 1936 to 1952 Baroness Hilla von Rebay was director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, then known as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. Rebay often created drawings to explain her philosophy of nonobjective art. According to Rebay, nonobjective art was essentially artwork without a recognizable subject. In the drawing on the right, Rebay explained the development of a composition through the use of certain lines, colors, and shapes. She compared the fluid “lyrical” line to the decisive “dramatic” line. She used geometric shapes to illustrate the blue, red, and green motifs. The drawing on the left shows a color-coded diagram utilizing these elements. The dotted lines emphasize the placement and balance of these elements within the composition, which when done correctly, could achieve an aesthetic harmony.

—Martha Horan, archives assistant