The document discusses the origins and development of abstract art through key figures like Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich. It notes that Kandinsky was inspired by an exhibit of Claude Monet's paintings to pursue non-representational art focused on color, form and line. Kandinsky went on to develop his own abstract style and founded the Der Blaue Reiter group to promote the genre. The document also covers Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement, which stripped art down to primary colors, black, white and gray, straight lines and rectangles.