Abstract Landscape 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.
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
1960s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Polyester, Oil, Acrylic, Gouache, Mesh
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Color Pencil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Pen
1990s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Oil Pastel
1990s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor, Permanent Marker
Artist Comments
A breathtaking panorama of mountains emerges from the mist in artist Siyuan Ma's piece. The abstract imagery takes the viewer into a ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Paper
1970s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media, Permanent Marker
1950s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
1950s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Rag Paper
1990s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel, Watercolor
1950s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Laid Paper, Charcoal
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
Artist Comments
I enjoy making trips to Palm Springs to collect inspirational material for paintings. I am especially drawn to the bougainvillea blossoms that grow so well in...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1950s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Laid Paper
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Tissue Paper
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic, Archival Paper
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Oil Pastel, Paint
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
Early 19th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
Early 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Tempera
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Archival Paper
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Archival Paper
Early 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Lithograph
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1970s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Canvas
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache, Laid Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
1940s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Laid Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
Early 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Canvas, Paint, Acrylic, Board
1980s Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor