by "abstract," writes robert herbert, "writers and painters of the period did not mean "devoid of reference to the real world", as we now use the term. they meant to draw away from nature, in the sense of disdaining imitation in order to concentrate upon the distillation of essential shapes and movements. these distilled forms were superior to nature because they partook of "idea", and represented the dominance of the artist over the mere stuff of nature. in embryo, the symbolists and neo-impressionists did establish the philosophical defense of pure abstraction, but nature still formed part of the basic dialogue."