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.
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil, Canvas
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Pastel, Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, India Ink, Color
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor
1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
1910s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Paper
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Aquatint
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Cotton, Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Archival Paper
1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Laid Paper, Pen
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
C Print
1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Watercolor, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Thread, Ink, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
Artist Comments
Artist Patricia Prendergast has spent many early mornings painting at this pond near her home, but this is a special piece inspired by the desire to depict th...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
1940s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Crayon
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil, Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil, Ink, Watercolor, Pen
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Postcard, Mixed Media, Offset
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Pen, Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Ink, Graphite, Gouache
1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media, Permanent Marker, Graphite
1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Etching, Aquatint
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Canvas, Gouache, Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Ink, Gouache, Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Watercolor, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Linen, Ink, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Monoprint, Monotype, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache, Handmade Paper, Mixed Media, Pencil
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Thread, Ink, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gesso, Watercolor, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Cotton Canvas, Paint, Canvas
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Archival Paper, Encaustic, Board
Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Chalk, Offset, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Graphite, Lithograph
2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paint, Paper, Pencil