Abstract Mixed Media
Beginning in the early 20th century, abstract art became a leading style of modernism. Rather than portray the world in a way that represented reality, as had been the dominating style of Western art in the previous centuries, abstract paintings, prints and sculptures are marked by a shift to geometric forms, gestural shapes and experimentation with color to express ideas, subject matter and scenes.
Although abstract art flourished in the early 1900s, propelled by movements like Fauvism and Cubism, it was rooted in the 19th century. In the 1840s, J.M.W. Turner emphasized light and motion for atmospheric paintings in which concrete details were blurred, and Paul Cézanne challenged traditional expectations of perspective in the 1890s.
Some of the earliest abstract artists — Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint — expanded on these breakthroughs while using vivid colors and forms to channel spiritual concepts. Painter Piet Mondrian, a Dutch pioneer of the art movement, explored geometric abstraction partly owing to his belief in Theosophy, which is grounded in a search for higher spiritual truths and embraces philosophers of the Renaissance period and medieval mystics. Black Square, a daringly simple 1913 work by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, was a watershed statement on creating art that was free “from the dead weight of the real world,” as he later wrote.
Surrealism in the 1920s, led by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Meret Oppenheim and others, saw painters creating abstract pieces in order to connect to the subconscious. When Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York during the mid-20th century, it similarly centered on the process of creation, in which Helen Frankenthaler’s expressive “soak-stain” technique, Jackson Pollock’s drips of paint, and Mark Rothko’s planes of color were a radical new type of abstraction.
Conceptual art, Pop art, Hard-Edge painting and many other movements offered fresh approaches to abstraction that continued into the 21st century, with major contemporary artists now exploring it, including Anish Kapoor, Mark Bradford, El Anatsui and Julie Mehretu.
Find original abstract paintings, sculptures, prints and other art on 1stDibs.
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Paper, Oil Pastel, Monotype
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Latex, Inkjet
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Thread
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Thread, Found Objects
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Giclée
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Board, Giclée
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Board
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Silver
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Plastic, Thread, Found Objects
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paste, Fabric, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Artist Comments
"I've always been fascinated by what people see in my paintings," says artist Patrick O'Boyle. In this series, he hints at recognizable subject matter abstracte...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Paint, Encaustic, Wax
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Epoxy Resin
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Other Medium
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Other Medium
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Inkjet, Pigment, Archival Pigment