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Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

ABSTRACT STYLE

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.

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Style: Abstract
Period: 1920s
American Cubist Abstract Art Deco Avant-Garde Constructivism 20th Century Modern
Located in New York, NY
American Cubist Abstract Art Deco Avant-Garde Constructivism 20th Century Modern Florence Henri (American, 1893-1982) Composition 18 1/2 x 12 1/2 in...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Female Nude Study Black Pencil Drawing by G. Debotoiyche
Located in Atlanta, GA
Stunning woman nude pencil study by Russian painter G. Debotoiyche (20th Century). The representation is very modernistic, with only a few lines drawn to render the whole movement an...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Carbon Pencil

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Graphite on paper, 1930 Signed and dated upper right (see photo) Exhibited: Francis Nauman, Leon Kelly: Draftsman Extraordinaire, New York, April 4 - May 23, 2014. (label) C...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Der Hafen von Plit
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Der Hafen von Plit" is a drawing by Paul Klee. The drawing is signed lower left, "Klee". The framed piece measures 25 1/4 x 30 1/2 x 1 3/8 in. Paul Klee was one of the most import...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Laid Paper, Pen

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Pastel on paper, 1922 Initialed lower right (see photo) Exhibited: Francis Nauman, Leon Kelly: Draftsman Extraordinaire, New York, April 4 - May 23, 2014. Condition: excellent Image size: 11 8 7/8 inches Frame size: 18 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches Provenance: Estate of the artist The Orange Chicken...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Pastel on paper, 1922 Initialed and dated lower right (see photo) Exhibited: Francis Nauman, Leon Kelly: Draftsman Extraordinaire, New York, April 4 - May 23, 2014. Provenance: Estate of the Artist The Orange Chicken...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Pastel on paper, 1922 Signed with the artist's initials in pencil Provenance: Estate of the artist Francis M. Nauman (label) Private collection, NY A very early abstract/cubist work by Kelly. Created while the artist was studying with Arthur Carles in Philadelphia. Leon Kelly (October 21, 1901 – June 28, 1982) was an American artist born in Philadelphia, PA. He is most well known for his contributions to American Surrealism, but his work also encompassed styles such as Cubism, Social Realism, and Abstraction. Reclusive by nature, a character trait that became more exaggerated in the 1940s and later, Kelly's work reflects his determination not to be limited by the trends of his time. His large output of paintings is complemented by a prolific number of drawings that span his career of 50 years. Some of the collections where his work is represented are: The Metropolitan Museum in New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Boston Public Library. Biography Kelly was born in 1901 at home at 1533 Newkirk Street, Philadelphia, PA. He was the only child of Elizabeth (née Stevenson) and Pantaleon L. Kelly. The family resided in Philadelphia where Pantaleon and two of his cousins owned Kelly Brothers, a successful tailoring business. The prosperity of the firm enabled his father to purchase a 144-acre farm in Bucks County PA in 1902, which he named "Rural Retreat" It was here that Pantaleon took Leon to spend every weekend away from the pressures of business and from the disappointments in his failing marriage. Idyllic and peaceful memories of the farm stayed with Leon and embued his work with a love of nature that emerged later in the Lunar Series, in Return and Departure, and in the insect imagery of his Surrealist work. "If anything," he once said,"I am a Pantheist and see a spirit in everything, the grass, the rocks, everything." At thirteen, Leon left school and began private painting lessons with Albert Jean Adolphe, a teacher at the School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts) in Philadelphia. He learned technique by copying the works of the old masters and visiting the Philadelphia Zoo, where he would draw animals. Drawings done in 1916 and 1917 of elephants, snakes and antelope, as well as copies of old master paintings by Holbein and Michelangelo, heralded an impressive emerging talent. In 1917, he studied sculpture with Alexander Portnoff but his studies came to an abrupt halt with the start of World War I. Being too young to enlist, he joined the Quartermaster Corp at the Army Depot in Philadelphia, where he served for more than a year loading ships with supplies and, along with other artists, working on drawings for camouflage. By 1920, the family's fortunes drastically changed. His father's business had failed due to the introduction of ready made clothing and his marriage, unhappy from the beginning, dissolved. Broken by circumstance Pantaleon left Philadelphia to begin a wandering existence looking for work leaving Leon to support his mother and grandmother. He found a job in 1920 at the Freihofer Baking Company where he worked nights for the next four years. Under these circumstances Leon continued to develop his skills in drawing and painting and learned of the revolutionary developments in art that were taking place in Paris. During the day he was granted permission to study anatomy at the Philadelphia School of Osteopathy where he dissected a cadaver and perfected his knowledge of the human figure. He also met and studied etching with Earl Horter, a well known illustrator, who had amassed a significant collection of modern art which included work by Brancusi, Matisse, and Cubist works by Picasso and Braque. Among the artists around Horter was Arthur Carles, a charismatic and controversial painter who taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Leon enrolled in the Academy in 1922, becoming what Carles described as, "his best student". In the next three years Leon work ranged from academic studies of plaster casts, to pointillism, to landscapes of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, as well as a series of pastels showing influences from Matisse to Picasso. Clearly influenced by Earl Horter's collection and Arthur Carles he mastered analytical cubism in works such as The Three Pears, 1923 and 1925 experimented with Purism in Moon Behind the Italian House. In 1925 Kelly was awarded a Cresson Scholarship and on June 14 he left for Europe. Paris The first trip to Europe lasted for approximately three and a half months and introduced Kelly to a culture and place where he felt he belonged. Though he returned to the Academy in the Fall, he left for Europe again a few months later to begin a four-year stay in Paris. He moved into an apartment at 19 rue Daguerre in Paris and began an existence intellectually rich but in creature comforts, very poor. "I kept a cinderblock over the drain in the kitchen sink to keep the rats out of the apartment" he once explained. He frequented the cafes making acquaintances with Henry Miller, James Joyce and the critic Félix Fénéon as well as others. His days were split between copying old master paintings in the Louvre and pursuing modernist ideas that were swirling through the work of all the artists around him. The Lake, 1926 and Interior of the Studio, 1927, now in the Newark Museum. Patrons during this time were the police official Leon Zamaran, a collector of Courbets, Lautrecs and others, who began collecting Kelly's work. Another was Alfred Barnes of the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia. In 1929 Kelly married a young French woman, Henriette D'Erfurth. She appears frequently in paintings and drawings done between 1928 and the early 1930s. Philadelphia The stock market crash of 1929 made it impossible to continue living in Paris and Kelly and Henriette returned to Philadelphia in 1930. He rented a studio on Thompson Street and began working and participating in shows in the city's galleries. Work from 1930 to 1940 showed continuing influences and experimentation with the themes and techniques acquired in Paris as well as a brief foray into Social Realism. The Little Gallery of Contemporary Art purchased the Absinthe Drinker...
Category

1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Still life. Watercolour and ink
Located in Llanbrynmair, GB
'Still life’ By George William Bissill Medium - Watercolour and ink Signed - Yes Size - 240mm x 195mm Date - Circa 1920 Condition - very good. 9 out of 10. Colour of picture may not be accurate when viewed on a monitor. George William Bissill 1896 – 1973 was a British miner, painter, and furniture designer. Bissill's paintings are held in a number of important public collections, including the Tate Gallery, National Museum of Northern Ireland and the Manchester Art Gallery. Bissill was known for his landscapes and figurative paintings in oil, watercolour and woodcuts. George Bissill...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Carolyn (Arms raised to her head)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Carolyn (Arms raised to her head) Graphite on laid paper Unsigned Provenance: Estate of the artist by descent to his Grandson Depicts the artist's wife Carolyn. Most probably created in Nashville, Indiana Related to the painting entitled "Maiden" in the Haan Museum, Lafayette, IN (see photo) Condition: Excellent Archival framing with TruVue Conservation Clear glass Image size: 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches Frame size: 18 7/8 x 16 inches Louis Oscar Griffith (1875-1956) Born in Greencastle, Indiana, Griffith grew up in Dallas, Texas where Texas artist and teacher Charles Franklin Reaugh recognized young “Griff’s” artistic talent. At age 18, Griffith moved to St. Louis where he attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. In 1895, he moved to Chicago where he worked making color prints for the firm Barnes and Crosby. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and during a brief stay in New York, the National Academy of Design. A successful commercial artist with a studio in the Chicago Loop, Griffith was a member and president of the Chicago Palette and Chisel Club. He made his first trip to Brown County...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

Early 20th Century Fauvist Abstracted Landscape
By Charles Henry Harmon
Located in Soquel, CA
A colorful, expressive fauvist watercolor landscape of a pond in the forest (Pan Pacific Exposition Palace Ruins) by Charles Henry Harmon(American, 1895-1936). Presented in a giltwoo...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The Bermuda Coast,
Located in Concord, MA
HARRY LESLIE HOFFMAN (1871-1964) Bermuda, c. 1929 Watercolor on heavy paper 11 ½ x 14 ½ inches Estate stamp verso PROVENANCE The artist’s estate Harry Hoffman, born in Cressona, ...
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1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Untitled
Located in New York, NY
Tobey's work resembles Abstract Expressionism and Asian calligraphy.
Category

1920s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

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Russian Constructivist 1920s abstract modern watercolor modernist non-objective. Vladimir Vasilievich Lebedev was active/lived in Russian Federation. He is known for figure, portrait and cubist paintings. He became famous for his exceptional illustrations of the poems of the prominent poet and translator Samuil Marshak, such as Circus, Ice Cream, Tale About a Foolish Mouse, Moustached and Striped, Book of Many Colours, Twelve Months and Luggage. As a young boy, Lebedev started to paint postcards that were sold in a shop in Saint Petersburg. At the age of nineteen, he held his first exhibit at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1913, he began work as a cartoonist for several satirical journals, including the famed "Satirikon" (Сатирикон). At this time he was already a prolific illustrator for the children's magazines "Jackdaw" (Галчонок), "Blue Journal" (Синий Журнал), "Everyone's Journal" (Журнал для всех), and "Argus" (Аргус). He illustrated the children's book "The Lion and the Bull" in 1917. From 1920-1922, Lebedev worked for The Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) and The Department of Agitation" (Agitprop) designing propaganda posters. By the 1920s, Lebedev had friendly relations with many distinguished persons of his time, such as Tatlin, Ivan Puni, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Mayakovsky and the literary critic Nikolay Punin. In 1915 he married the sculptor Sarra Lebedeva. In the 1920s, Lebedev had earned the title of "King of the Children's Book." A pioneer in the field of children's illustration, he would later say on the influence of his works "I still consider to have positively influenced the creation of a new Soviet book for children, and, what is more important, this book acquired a character of its own"[3] Nikolai Punin, who wrote the first monograph on Lebedev, cited Lebedev as one of the most important illustrators of the era: "After his brilliant experiments with "Circus" and "Ice Cream" and a number of other children's books executed by him, bookstores burst into color with numerous imitations of his examples, and book illustrations in the receding cultural tradition—all the 'World of Art' illustrations—paled in comparison, and, in terms of form, began to seem impotent, overly concerned with aesthetics, and unexpressive." In 1930s-1940s he created numerous portraits of his friends, professional models and sportsmen. He always was fond of playing sports himself. From the end of the 1930s he started to use stronger colours and thicker layers of paint, creating effects reminiscent of the works of Renoir. As was the case with many artists and writers working under Stalinism, Lebedev ran afoul of official censorship. The book Inside the Rainbow - Russian Children...
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Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Martin Reyna , Mila Akopova, Jaanika Peerna, and Sumit Mehndiratta. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 0.5 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $400,000, while the average work sells for $1,408.

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