Refers to a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance, and to the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances. It includes the consideration of a thing independently of its associations; or a substance independently of its attributes; or an attribute or quality independently of the substance to which it belongs. It is the idea of something that has no independent existence; a thing which exists only as an idea. For the modern art movement and its products, use "Abstract."

Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus

http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300056508