"'Abstraction' in its many forms has been a dominant presence in art for the best part of a century. Yet despite being the subject of countless exhibitions and a central focus of critical debate and of art historical investigation, abstract art continues to perplex many viewers." In a new approach to the subject, Mel Gooding rejects the widely accepted notion that the story of abstraction can be traced as a succession of stylistic trends each set within its own art historical context. He offers instead readings of specific works by artists as diverse as Kasimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Naum Gabo, Piet Mondrian, Willem de Kooning and Lucio Fontana, treating them as exemplary of particular tendencies within the overlapping histories of abstraction. In doing so, he defines distinctions between types of abstract art that may seem similar and discovers underlying correspondences between those that may seem different.