New Figuration

Nieuwe Figuration is a group of artists who gained renewed interest in figurative elements in art in the 1960s and 1970s. These painters wanted to breathe new life into figuration in an age of abstraction, without reverting to realism. The group was called New Figuration because it was a new narrative painting. Within the group there was a clear common painterly approach. There was a particular interest in the ambiguous relationship between representation and reality and much use was made of elements from popular culture. There is also a tension between the flat surface and the illusion of space, and bright colors and sharp contours are used. Simultaneously with New Figuration, the Pop Art movement developed in the United States.