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.
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Gouache, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Pastel, Illustration Board, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Pastel, Illustration Board, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Monotype
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Chalk, Offset, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Graphite, Lithograph
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Felt Pen, Color Pencil, Graphite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Crayon, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Color Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media, Gouache
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Graphite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Pastel
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Permanent Marker
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor, Permanent Marker
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil, Paper, Monotype
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pencil, Charcoal
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Lucite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Graphite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Paper, Graphite
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel, Archival Paper
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil Pastel
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor