Some people love abstract art paintings while others could be said to hate them. The term covers a whole gamut of artistic styles but the simplest explanation is that they do not try to represent what you see in reality. The artist may claim to be painting a man or a dog or a tree, but not everyone will agree as the painting will not reproduce the man, dog or tree as it can be seen by looking out of the window.

Hence with the tide of war and revolution engulfing Europe and America from the late 18th century onwards cultural values slowly began to change so that by the time Queen Victoria left the stage and WW1 was raging, many conventional social customs had begun to change. People wanted more, to learn more and experience more. So it was no longer satisfying to simply paint the flower garden or even images of foreign lands or war. A complete reappraisal was required and happened, slowly, through many movements and cycles.

The use of vibrant color and the discarding of the normal manner of representation may all have been indicators of the turmoil that was beginning to confound the world and rock the very principles that the society of the day had been founded on. Revolutions and counter-revolutions were gathering force. They all claimed a desire to tear down the present and rebuild it with a better future. Culture mirrors the society in which it subsists and so art, music, literature and public morality were all due for drastic change. Jazz music and the flappers of the 1920s were just as abstract as the cubism of Picasso and the post-impressionist work of Gauguin.

Throughout the 1930s Europe was in turmoil with worse to come. Artists grouped together to preserve their art and to explore new avenues. Soon, with changing times and political dictates they began to flee the continent. From Russia and Germany they arrived first in Paris and then in London. As war engulfed them they fled again to a new life and new freedoms in the New World - but always taking their art and their ideas with them. New York City became their headquarters.

But nothing in this world is static and that is especially true of man the explorer and man the inventor. So now there are computers. Abstract art could not have a better partner. The internet allows even the most inchoate artist to show his or her work to millions at the click of a couple of buttons. No need to beg favors of galleries any more. And if you want to look at a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh, well you do not have to move from your armchair.

There is much more to this story however. You can sell your paintings too. Thousands of people look at the internet every day. You can use the social media pages or online market forums and galleries. And you do not need to think of waiting for that one special buyer, you can sell prints and you can offer to frame them too. You can sell cards for different occasions or calendars with different art for every month. In fact the only limitation is your imagination.

And this is not the only change. Think of an artist and your think of an easel, a palette of colors and a bevy of brushes. Not anymore. The paint may be applied with your fingers or a cut potato, bubble wrap and sponges can be used to get the right look and texture and collages are all part and parcel of today's artwork.

Spray painted graffiti can also be considered abstract art paintings. There are no boundaries. Familiar terms are cubism, impressionism and post-impressionism which all denote a phase of development in this awe inspiring art.