Pastel Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Abstracted Bay Area skyline against a pink sunset creates beautiful and soft geometries in this small pastel urban landscape by San Francisco artist Chris...

Charles Hinman Untitled Geometric Abstraction (Hand Signed), 1980 Pastel & Graphite painting on Paper Signed and dedicated to "Michael and Rene" in graphite by the artist on the fron...

Beautiful floral still life by American artist Jane Piper (1916-1991) . Pastel, oil crayon and pencil on tracing paper. Image measuring 13 x 15.5 inches in ...

(Comes framed in a maple floater frame, ready to hang.) This is one of a series we have posted on 1stDibs. The first got more clicks and saves on its first day than any of the many hundreds of artworks we have ever posted. If you search on "G. Campbell Lyman" on 1stDibs you can see others in this series. Here's a recent message from a 1stDibs buyer of a painting in this series, a seasoned collector: "Love your work. We collect colorists like Wolf Kahn and Jennifer Bartlett, whom I commissioned a piece from that is in the entrance of Mayo Clinic. We are old fans...

Beautiful floral still life by American artist Jane Piper (1916-1991) . Untitled. 1980. Pastel, oil crayon and pencil on tracing paper. Image measuring 9 x 12 inches in original ...

Rocio Rodriguez July 8, 2013, 2013 pastel, oil pastel, charcoal and pencil on paper 18 x 24 in. This original oil oil pastel drawing on paper by Rocio Rodriguez features abstracted ...

Souleymane Keita, Senegalese (1947 -2014) - Green Symphony, Year: 1982, Medium: Pastel on J Perrigot Arches Special MBM, signed and dated in pencil ...

Untitled Pastel on paper, 1922 Signed with the artist's initials in pencil Provenance: Estate of the artist Francis M. Nauman (label) Private collection, NY A very early abstract/cubist work by Kelly. Created while the artist was studying with Arthur Carles in Philadelphia. Leon Kelly (October 21, 1901 – June 28, 1982) was an American artist born in Philadelphia, PA. He is most well known for his contributions to American Surrealism, but his work also encompassed styles such as Cubism, Social Realism, and Abstraction. Reclusive by nature, a character trait that became more exaggerated in the 1940s and later, Kelly's work reflects his determination not to be limited by the trends of his time. His large output of paintings is complemented by a prolific number of drawings that span his career of 50 years. Some of the collections where his work is represented are: The Metropolitan Museum in New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Boston Public Library. Biography Kelly was born in 1901 at home at 1533 Newkirk Street, Philadelphia, PA. He was the only child of Elizabeth (née Stevenson) and Pantaleon L. Kelly. The family resided in Philadelphia where Pantaleon and two of his cousins owned Kelly Brothers, a successful tailoring business. The prosperity of the firm enabled his father to purchase a 144-acre farm in Bucks County PA in 1902, which he named "Rural Retreat" It was here that Pantaleon took Leon to spend every weekend away from the pressures of business and from the disappointments in his failing marriage. Idyllic and peaceful memories of the farm stayed with Leon and embued his work with a love of nature that emerged later in the Lunar Series, in Return and Departure, and in the insect imagery of his Surrealist work. "If anything," he once said,"I am a Pantheist and see a spirit in everything, the grass, the rocks, everything." At thirteen, Leon left school and began private painting lessons with Albert Jean Adolphe, a teacher at the School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts) in Philadelphia. He learned technique by copying the works of the old masters and visiting the Philadelphia Zoo, where he would draw animals. Drawings done in 1916 and 1917 of elephants, snakes and antelope, as well as copies of old master paintings by Holbein and Michelangelo, heralded an impressive emerging talent. In 1917, he studied sculpture with Alexander Portnoff but his studies came to an abrupt halt with the start of World War I. Being too young to enlist, he joined the Quartermaster Corp at the Army Depot in Philadelphia, where he served for more than a year loading ships with supplies and, along with other artists, working on drawings for camouflage. By 1920, the family's fortunes drastically changed. His father's business had failed due to the introduction of ready made clothing and his marriage, unhappy from the beginning, dissolved. Broken by circumstance Pantaleon left Philadelphia to begin a wandering existence looking for work leaving Leon to support his mother and grandmother. He found a job in 1920 at the Freihofer Baking Company where he worked nights for the next four years. Under these circumstances Leon continued to develop his skills in drawing and painting and learned of the revolutionary developments in art that were taking place in Paris. During the day he was granted permission to study anatomy at the Philadelphia School of Osteopathy where he dissected a cadaver and perfected his knowledge of the human figure. He also met and studied etching with Earl Horter, a well known illustrator, who had amassed a significant collection of modern art which included work by Brancusi, Matisse, and Cubist works by Picasso and Braque. Among the artists around Horter was Arthur Carles, a charismatic and controversial painter who taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Leon enrolled in the Academy in 1922, becoming what Carles described as, "his best student". In the next three years Leon work ranged from academic studies of plaster casts, to pointillism, to landscapes of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, as well as a series of pastels showing influences from Matisse to Picasso. Clearly influenced by Earl Horter's collection and Arthur Carles he mastered analytical cubism in works such as The Three Pears, 1923 and 1925 experimented with Purism in Moon Behind the Italian House. In 1925 Kelly was awarded a Cresson Scholarship and on June 14 he left for Europe. Paris The first trip to Europe lasted for approximately three and a half months and introduced Kelly to a culture and place where he felt he belonged. Though he returned to the Academy in the Fall, he left for Europe again a few months later to begin a four-year stay in Paris. He moved into an apartment at 19 rue Daguerre in Paris and began an existence intellectually rich but in creature comforts, very poor. "I kept a cinderblock over the drain in the kitchen sink to keep the rats out of the apartment" he once explained. He frequented the cafes making acquaintances with Henry Miller, James Joyce and the critic Félix Fénéon as well as others. His days were split between copying old master paintings in the Louvre and pursuing modernist ideas that were swirling through the work of all the artists around him. The Lake, 1926 and Interior of the Studio, 1927, now in the Newark Museum. Patrons during this time were the police official Leon Zamaran, a collector of Courbets, Lautrecs and others, who began collecting Kelly's work. Another was Alfred Barnes of the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia. In 1929 Kelly married a young French woman, Henriette D'Erfurth. She appears frequently in paintings and drawings done between 1928 and the early 1930s. Philadelphia The stock market crash of 1929 made it impossible to continue living in Paris and Kelly and Henriette returned to Philadelphia in 1930. He rented a studio on Thompson Street and began working and participating in shows in the city's galleries. Work from 1930 to 1940 showed continuing influences and experimentation with the themes and techniques acquired in Paris as well as a brief foray into Social Realism. The Little Gallery of Contemporary Art purchased the Absinthe Drinker...

Roger Cecil. Welsh ( b.1942 - d.2015 ). Llangorse, Brecon Beacons. Watercolor & Pastel Mixed Media On Paper. Signed Lower Left. Image size 19.5 inches x 29.5 inches ( 49.5cm x 75cm...

Arietta series 2 (Abstract drawing) Charcoal ink and pastel on paper - Unframed. Margaret Neill works for a time on a group of pieces in a series, using classic almost primal mater...

"Abstraction" Mid-20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field Modernist James Daugherty (1887-1974) "Lascaux" 5 ¼ x 8 ¼ inches Pastel on paper Initialed lower left, titled lo...

Bold mid century modern abstracted pastel on paper still life of several terra cotta jugs and vessels distilled down to their most basic shapes and ar...

This artwork titled "Sedona Dream" 2004 is a pastel on paper by noted American artist Richard Benjamin Royce, born 1941. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner by the artist. The artwork size is 22.25 x 30 inches, framed is 27.25 x 33.75 inches. It is custom framed in silver aluminium frame. The artwork is in excellent condition, frame has scratches and will be replaced by a new one before shipping. About the artist: After getting his BA and MA in fine art at the University of Wisconsin, Richard Royce went to France to study with Stanley W. Hayter, On returning to the US he opened a studio where he produced etchings, cast paper, paintings and sculptural commissions of his own work while at the same time helping other artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Marisol, George Segal, Raphael Soyer, Francoise Gilot and Jim Rosenquist to realize works in various media. Selected collections Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France State Historical Society of Wisconsin Portland Art Museum, Oregon Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, New York International Paper Corporation, New York Isla Center, University of Guam, Micronesia Byer Museum of the Arts, Evanston, Illinois Musee du Petite Format, Couvin, Belgique Uyasuda Life Insurance Company, Japan Selected solo exhibitions 1991 Prestige Gallery, Danvers, MA 1989 Watermark/Cargo Gallery.. Kingston, NY 1986 ARRAS Gallery, NYC, NY 1985 The Tremellen Gallery, Lancaster, PA 1982 Linden Gallery, New York, NY 1979 Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR Keller Gallery, Salem, OR The Tremellen Gallery, Lancaster, PA 1970 Ventura College, Ventura, CO University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 1969 Comsky Gallery, Boston, MA Ohio University, OH 1968 Thompson Gallery, Boston, MA The Galor Hagen Gallery, Dallas, TX University of Southern California Gallery Selected group exhibitions 2004 Living Space Gallery, Cornville, AZ 2001 Rodman Gallery, Stockbridge, MA 1997 Dalton Fine Art, Boston, MA Boston Corporate Art, Boston, MA Prestige Gallery, Atelier Royce Group Show, Danvers, MA 1996 Copley Society Gallery, Group Sculpture Show, Boston, MA 1995 Barbara’s Hang Up Gallery, Group Show, Beverly, MA 1991 Creative Framing Gallery, Boston, MA 1989 5e Exposition International "Petit Format de Papier" Cul-Des-Arts (Couvin), Belgique 1988 Premiere Triennale Mondiale D'Estampes Petit Format (Traveling show to museums throughout France) 1987 "Eight Upstate Sculptors", Woodstock Artist Assn., NY 1986 First International Biennial of Paper Art, Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Dueren, Germany 1985 '85 Mini-Exhibition, Isla Center, University of Guam, Micronesia 1984 Paperworks: A National Invitational, Chevey Cowles Memorial Museum, Spokane, WA Paper, Canvas & Glass, Gallery Mack, Seattle, WA Atelier Royce Group Show, Eclipse Gallery, New York Contemporary Paperworks, Hurlbutt Gallery, Greenwich, CT 1983 Paper As Images - Traveling exhibition: Six galleries throughout England 1982 Papermaking USA, American Crafts Museum, New York Atelier Royce Group Show, State University, Purchase, NY New American Graphics 2, Art Museum Association of San Francisco Traveling...

Black_X, 2016 pencil, white pastel on black cardboard 27.55 H x 19.68 W in. 70 H x 50 W cm Alina Aldea's drawings project all the possible forms which appear to rapidly disappear, w...

Rocio Rodriguez February 25, 2013, 2013 pastel, oil pastel and charcoal on paper 18 x 24 in. This original oil oil pastel drawing on paper by Rocio Rodriguez features abstracted rec...

This artwork "Untitled" 1998 is in an original pastel on paper by noted American artist Pia Stern, b. 1953. It is hand signed and dated in pencil by the artist. The artwork size is 16 x 8 inches, framed size is 26.25 x 17.5 inches. Custom framed in a wooden silver frame, with off white matting and bevel. It is in excellent condition. The frame is in fair condition. It has some small scratches Please see pictures. About the artist: Pia Stern spent her junior year abroad in Aix-en-Provence, the town in the south of France where Paul Cézanne lived and worked. There she took her first painting course and felt instantly at home with her instructors’ philosophical and visual perceptions of the world. Returning to UC Berkeley as a senior, she enrolled in the art program and was greatly influenced by several artists who were integral to the Bay Area Figurative Movement including Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Joan Brown and most notably, Elmer Bischoff, with whom she worked very closely. Stern is primarily a process painter, and is known for her exploration of symbolic language. As stated by noted author and art critic Sister Wendy Beckett in "Contemporary Women Artists:" “Pia Stern…has an unusual power of transforming her ‘dreams’ into our own…The artist seeks out the great secrets of the heart and bodies them forth.” Using oil paints and drawing materials in an intuitive manner, she rarely approaches her work with a preconceived idea. She may put down a quick gestural stroke, a dab of color or a general shape, yet this is just a starting point for her. Like an archeologist, she approaches the canvas as if on a ‘dig’, adding and subtracting, waiting for the meaning of the piece to reveal itself through the mark making process. Her work is held in galleries, museums, public and private collections nationwide, and has been critically acclaimed in newspapers, books and journal reviews. She has a studio in Little Italy in San Diego, and her work is currently represented in San Francisco at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery and The Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, and in Honolulu by Fine Arts Associates. EDUCATION 1978 University of California, Berkeley, M.F.A. 1977 University of California, Berkeley, M.A. 1975 University of California, Berkeley, B.A. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2014 Blue Azul Gallery, La Jolla, CA 2008 The Lobby Gallery, 455 Market, San Francisco, CA 2007 Cheryl Pelavin Gallery, N.Y., N.Y. Palette Café Art...

This Vicente has a color glow akin to a Mark Rothko. Vicente explored parallel ideas to Rothko and others of the abstract expressionist and color field era. The pastel gives this w...

Increspature is a beautiful artwork realized by  Maurizio Gracceva in the 2014. Colored mixed media on plywood.  Title, date, techinique and sign on the back. Author of numerous p...

D. Tongen "Olive Green and Black" 1980s 19.75"x12.5" Soft pastel and pencil on paper Initialed in pencil lower right

Phyllis Ciment Abstract Pastel Painting c.1970s Red, white and blue - Fine colorful abstract painting 24" wide x 18" high The frame measures 33" wide x 28" high Signed by the art...

D. Tongen "Yellow,Blue, Black" 1980s 12.75"x10" period frame 17.75"x16.75 Soft pastel and pencil on paper Initialed in pencil lower right

"Untitled" Mid 20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field Abstraction James Daugherty (1887 – 1974) Untitled 9 x 16 inches Initialed lower right Dated November 1, 1966 lower ...

A view over the loch by Natalie Bird [2022] original Pastel Image size: H:36 cm x W:28 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:25 cm x W:20 cm x D:0.5cm Sold Unframed Please note that ...

Bold abstract large-scale vertical pastel with textural red, black and orange forms in a sweeping diagonal composition by Renee Harwin (Austrian, b. 1924). Tag on verso with artist's name, title, and mediums. Unsigned and unframed. Image size: 54"H x 33.5"L. As a young Viennese woman, Renee Harwin found her artistic development interrupted by Hitler's arrival to her city. Soon after, Renee and her family left and moved to the United States. Harwin says that while "one can drawn his or her own conclusions from my work, I believe that the tremendous impact of change from Nazism to free America has left deep impressions on me that are played out on these canvases." Her work combines the influence of Midwest painters such as Clyfford Still and San Francisco Art Institute instructor Jack Jefferson...

Professor George De Goya. PhD. MA. FRSA. Born In Budapest, 1915-1992, related to the Spanish artist Goya on his mother’s side. Educated in Budapest and France where he received a de...

pastel and micron pen on paper, framed b. 1979, Poole, Dorset, UK In this new series of work, I explore the intersection of minimalist architecture, design, and the raw beauty of ma...

A really striking and original work by mid century Modern British artist, Ewart Johns (1923 - 2013). This eye-catching piece depicted in contrasting yellows and blues was executed i...

Domenick Capobianco (American, b. 1928), "Percy II", Mixed Media on Paper, 1983, pastels, abstract composition, titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, unframed. 45.25" H x ...

"Untitled" Mid 20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field Abstraction James Daugherty (1887 – 1974) Untitled 12 ¼ x 15 ¼ inches Initialed and dated February 21, 1966 lower ri...

Blue and pink toned abstract landscape by Texas artist Patrick Palmer. The painting depicts two architectural arches against a cool and warm sunset sky. Pencil inscriptions are seen ...

Untitled 2003 (Abstract Painting) Pastel, acrylic and pencil on paper - Unframed. In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and ...

Untitled 1914 (Abstract Drawing) Pastel and pencil on paper - Unframed. In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and harmonies ...

Blue sky over the loch by Natalie Bird [2022] original Pastel Image size: H:36 cm x W:28 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:25 cm x W:20 cm x D:0.5cm Sold Unframed Please note tha...

Untitled 1915 (Abstract Drawing) Pastel on paper - Unframed. In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and harmonies that emerge...

Pastel on paper - Unframed. In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and harmonies that emerge when structure meets intuition. H...

Pastel and acrylic on paper - Unframed In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and harmonies that emerge when structure meets i...

Souleymane Keita - Rainbow Field, Year: 1983, Medium: Pastel on Paper, signed and dated lower left, Size: 22.25 x 30 in. (56.52 x 76.2 cm), Descript...

Abstract work of art. Charcoal, pencil, pastel, and acrylic on paper.

MAGIC CASEMENT, Abstract Non-Objective Mid-Century Pastel Color Field Drawing "Magic Casement" 16 x 20 ¾ inches Pastel on paper Initialed JD and dated February 22, 1967 lower left, Titled lower right The framed work measure 18 x 23 inches. Provenance: James Daugherty...

Rocio Rodriguez December 3, 2011, 2011 pastel, oil pastel and charcoal on paper 18 x 24 in. This original oil oil pastel drawing on paper by Rocio Rodriguez features abstracted rect...

This stunning artwork features an expressive blend of vibrant green, orange, blue, and purple tones, capturing the dynamic beauty of Colorado’s mountainous terrain. Created by renown...

Oil and pastel on paper - Unframed In her abstract drawings, collages and paintings, Fieroza Doorsen brings to life the tensions and harmonies that emerge when structure meets intui...

Jene Highstein Untitled, 1982 Pastel and Chalk on Paper Hand signed and dated by artist on the front 32 × 40 inches Frame included Original hand signed pastel and chalk drawing, with...

Simon Samsonian (1912-2003) Two Sisters, 1995 Poster color and mixed media on paper Sight size: 16 1/2 x 14 3/4 in. Framed: 26 x 23 1/2 x 1 in. Signed ...

Sonia Gechtoff Flag Icon, 1963 Pastel, graphite and collage Frame included: elegantly framed in hand made wood frame with UV plexiglass Evocative mixed media mid century modern work...

Sandi Gehring (1957), American artist living and working in Amsterdam. Education; Art Students League, NY and Wackers Academie, Amsterdam. Currently repr...

Red and Yellow Galaxy Abstract on Wrapper of Interview Magazine Acrylic on Paper Saturated abstract composition by Ricardo de Silva (Brazilian, 20th Century). Splashes of red, yello...

Abstract Landscape Mid 20th Century Work on Paper Hamptons, NY Drawing Pastel. Signed and dated '62 lower right. 9 x 12 inches (sight) and 15. 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches framed. BIO Robert Dash is known for his Hamptons paintings...

Ink and pastel on paper Signed by the artist in ink lower left; titled in pencil verso From the Estate of the artist

Modern abstract pastel on paper, the work is signed to the back of the paper, Djoklevic. A bright and colourful abstract pastel in the style of Alexander Calder. It could be an inte...

ARIATTA 6 (Abstract drawing) Pastel and acrylic on paper - Unframed. Margaret Neill works for a time on a group of pieces in a series, using classic almost primal materials such as...

Bold abstract black and white pastel landscape drawing by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999). Unsigned, but was acquired from the estate of the artist. Presented in a new black mat with foam core backing. Provenance: Estate of Earle Loran; David Carlson...

Souleymane Keita, Senegalese (1947 -2014) - Sunset over Mountainscape, Year: 1983, Medium: Pastel on J Perrigot Arches Special MBM, signed and dated...

This expressive abstract drawing is made with Chinese ink and pastel on heavy white paper. Looking at it you can feel the freshness of instant impu...

Black_XIII, 2017 pencil, white and black pastel on black cardboard 27.55 H x 19.68 W in. 70 H x 50 W cm Alina Aldea's drawings project all the possible forms which appear to rapidly...

Simon Samsonian (1912-2003) Untitled, 1991 Poster color and pastel on paper Sight size: 19 1/2 x 14 3/4 in. Framed: 28 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. Signed lower le...

Bold abstract geometric landscape, an expressive black and white line drawing done in pastel, by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999). Unsigned, but was acquired from the artist's estate. Presented in a new black mat with foam core backing. Provenance: Estate of Earle Loran; David Carlson...

An exquisite work of geometric abstraction by this celebrated artist Winston Roeth Untitled, ca. 1996 Pastel on handmade paper Hand signed on the front Frame included: Floated and fr...

Daniel Brice Untitled NY 8, 2015 watercolor, charcoal and pastel on paper 29 x 42 in. This original abstract oil painting on paper by Daniel Brice is bold and modern, anchored by a ...

Vibrant and playful abstract composition by Sherry Schrut (American, b. 1928). Soft yet bright shades of teal, orange, and purple create a filed of color...