Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
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.
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ballpoint Pen
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Tempera, Illustration Board
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, India Ink, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Etching, Aquatint
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Digital
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, India Ink, Rag Paper
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Enamel
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1940s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Crayon
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Fabric, Wood, Paint, Charcoal, Pigment
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Screen
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Paper
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
1930s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Archival Paper, Graphite
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite, Acrylic, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media, Ink, Gouache
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic, Gouache, Graphite
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil, Graphite
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel, Pencil, Graphite
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Glaze, Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Canvas, Gouache, Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Color Pencil, Graphite
Early 20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Parchment Paper, Crayon, Pastel, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil, Vellum
Early 20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pencil
1920s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Chalk
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Tempera
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil