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.
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Felt Pen
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Crayon
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Pastel, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Board, Crayon, Oil
1920s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1990s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1930s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Pen
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache, C Print
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel, Acrylic
1940s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink, Gouache
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Paper
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Crayon, Graphite
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1950s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Tape, Archival Paper
1980s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache, Laid Paper
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel, Color Pencil
1990s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media