Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Handmade Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, India Ink
20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, India Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mylar, Color Pencil
Artist Comments
This is my interpretation of a section of the American River near my home. I tried to convey the feeling of peace that I get when walking in this area with the ducks and birds for company. I added the path for a little sense of mystery as to what we might see in those trees beyond the river. I created this piece on Ampersand Pastelbord and it will need framing for display.
About the Artist
Pastel artist Patricia Prendergast creates impressionist artworks that depict the rivers and landscapes near her home in Sacramento, California. With each nature vignette, she captures the sense of larger natural rhythms through quick mark-making, mauve undertones, and a tranquil and serene haziness. Her work recalls the paintings from the Hudson River School such as Thomas Cole and Asher Brown Durand. Before working on her pastels at home in her studio, she spends hours studying nature on walks along the river near her home. Since becoming an artist, she says “everything is more vivid - the beauty of light and shadow in the trees, the subtlety of the color of clouds, the sparkle and reflections in water.” Her work as been exhibited in solo shows around California. She is represented by UGallery.
View down the River...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor, Permanent Marker
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media, Canvas
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Carbon Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Pen
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Cotton, Paper, Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1930s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Artist Comments
Artist Siyuan Ma shares an ethereal outlook of a snowy mountain range with an abstract approach. After the rain, sunlight shines on t...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil Pastel
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Crayon
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Cardboard
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache, Lithograph
Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar enjoys living in Northern California with the wine country of the Bay Area within easy reach. "I found the softly rolling hills of p...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Watercolor, Gouache, Laid Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, India Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Cardboard, Graphite
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil Pastel, Watercolor, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor, Rice Paper