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Conceptual Art

CONCEPTUAL STYLE

In 1967, artist Sol LeWitt wrote that in “Conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” He was giving a name to an art movement that had emerged in the 1960s in which artists were less focused on their medium being something traditionally “artistic” and instead engaged in using any object, movement, form, action or place to express an idea.

LeWitt’s work was featured alongside an assemblage of notes, drawings and outlines by other artists in “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” a groundbreaking show at New York City’s School of Visual Arts curated by Mel Bochner, another leading exponent of Conceptualism. Building on radical 20th-century statements, like Fountain (1917) by French artist Marcel Duchamp, Conceptual artists around Europe and North and South America were not interested in the commercial art scene and rather directly challenged its systems and values.

Stretching into the 1970s, this movement has also been called Post-Object art and Dematerialized art. Conceptual art reflected a larger era of social and political upheaval. Pieces associated with the style range from Roelof Louw’s Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) (1967) — a work of installation art that sees fresh oranges stacked into a pyramid from which visitors are allowed to take one orange away — to On Kawara’s “Today” series, which saw the Japanese artist carefully painting a date in white acrylic on canvases consisting of a single color from 1966 to his death in 2014. Artists such as Ed Ruscha, who created the Twentysix Gasoline Stations book — a collection of photos of gas stations that is widely said to be the first modern artists’ book — made photography a major platform for Conceptual art, as did Bruce Nauman, who burned one of Ruscha's books and then photographed it for his own.

Conceptual art’s legacy of questioning artistic authorship, ownership and how to work with complex ideas of space and time had a significant influence on the decades of culture that followed, and it continues to inform art today.

The collection of Conceptual photography, paintings and sculptures on 1stDibs includes artworks by John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth and others.

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Style: Conceptual
Unbridled Joy - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Africa

Unbridled Joy - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Africa

By John Ali

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

She is my best
She is my best

She is my best

By Nina Fedotova

Located in Zofingen, AG

The painting “My Best” - where chickens appear as women - symbolizes the relationship between a man and a woman. A man leading a chicken on a leash symbolizes his attitude towards hi...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Oscar Niemeyer Staircase, Light Pastel Tones Interior Architecture, Still-Life
Oscar Niemeyer Staircase, Light Pastel Tones Interior Architecture, Still-Life

Oscar Niemeyer Staircase, Light Pastel Tones Interior Architecture, Still-Life

By Ryan Rivadeneyra

Located in Barcelona, ES

"Sexy Miami Futuristic Cocktail Lounge" is a series of photographs by Ryan Rivadeneyra inspired by the Art Deco colors of Miami that show beautiful objects and textures arranged meti...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Giclée, Archival Pigment

Light, Series Drawing From Israel - Large Format, Charcoal On Paper
Light, Series Drawing From Israel - Large Format, Charcoal On Paper

Light, Series Drawing From Israel - Large Format, Charcoal On Paper

By Krzysztof Gliszczyński

Located in Salzburg, AT

The artwork is unframed and will be shipped rolled in a tube Krzysztof Gliszczyński is Professor for painting on Academy of fine arts Gdansk. Krzysztof Gliszczyński born in Miastko in 1962. Graduated from the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts in 1987 in the studio of Prof. Kazimierz Ostrowski. Between 1995 and 2002 founder and co-manager of Koło Gallery in Gdańsk. lnitiator of the Kazimierz Ostrowski Award, con-ferred by the Union of Polish Artists and Designers (ZPAP), Gdańsk Chapter. Dean of the Painting Faculty of the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts in the years 2008-2012. Vice Rector for Development and Cooperation of the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts in the years 2012-2016. Obtained a professorship in 2011. Currently head of the Third Painting Studio of the Painting Faculty of the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts. He has taken part in a few dozen exhibitions in Poland and abroad. He has received countless prizes and awards for his artistic work. He is active in the field of painting, drawing, objects, and video. Artist Statement In the 1990s I started collecting flakes of paint – leftovers from my work. I would put fresh ones in wooden formworks, dried ones in glass containers. They constituted layers of investigations into the field of painting, enclosed in dated and numbered cuboids measuring 47 × 10.5 × 10.5 cm. I called those objects Urns. In 2016, I displayed them at an exhibition, moulding a single object out of all the Urns. The Urns inspired me to redefine the status of my work as a painter. In order to do it, I performed a daunting task of placing the layers of paint not in an urn, but on a canvas, pressing each fresh bit of paint with my thumb. In the cycle of paintings Autoportret a’retour, the matter was transferred from painting to painting, expanding the area of each consecutive one. Together, the bits, the residua of paint, kept alive the memory of the previous works. It was a stage of the atomization of the painting matter and its alienation from the traditional concepts and aesthetic relations. Thus, the cycle of synergic paintings was created, as I called them, guided by the feeling evoked in me by the mutually intensifying flakes of paint. The final aesthetic result of the refining of the digested matter was a consequence of the automatism of the process of layering, thumb-pressing, and scraping off again. Just like in an archaeological excavation, attempts are made to unite and retrieve that which has been lost. This avant-garde concept consists in transferring into the area of painting of matter, virtually degraded and not belonging to the realm of art. And yet the matter re-enters it, acquiring a new meaning. The matter I created, building up like lava, became my new technique. I called it perpetuum pictura – self-perpetuated painting. Alchemical concepts allowed me to identify the process inherent in the emerging matter, to give it direction and meaning. In a way, I created matter which was introducing me into the pre-symbolic world – a world before form, unnamed. From this painterly magma, ideas sprung up, old theories of colour and the convoluted problem of squaring the circle manifested themselves again. Just like Harriot’s crystal refracted light in 1605, I tried to break up colour in the painting Iosis. Paintings were becoming symptoms, like in the work Pulp fiction, which at that time was a gesture of total fragmentation of matter and of transcending its boundaries, my dialogue with the works of Jackson Pollock and the freedom brought by his art. The painting Geometrica de physiologiam pictura contains a diagram in which I enter four colours that constitute an introduction to protopsychology, alchemical transmutation, and the ancient theory of colour. It this work I managed to present the identification of the essence of human physiology with art. But the essential aspect of my considerations in my most recent paintings is the analysis of abstraction, the study of its significance for the contemporary language of art and the search for the possibilities of creating a new message. For me, abstraction is not an end in itself, catering to the largely predicable expectations of the viewers. To study the boundary between visibility and invisibility, like in the work Unsichtbar, is to ask about the status of the possibilities of the language of abstraction. The moment of fluidity which I am able to attain results from the matter – matter...

Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational sign at night
YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational sign at night

YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational sign at night

By Frank Schott

Located in San Francisco, CA

large scale original photograph from a series of conceptual motivational messages on classic Americana billboard signs in iconic landscape of the American West YES by Frank Schott ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée

YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational message sign at night
YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational message sign at night

YES - large format photograph of conceptual motivational message sign at night

By Frank Schott

Located in San Francisco, CA

large scale original photograph from a series of conceptual motivational messages on iconic Americana signs in landscape of the American West YES by Frank Schott 48 x 67 inches (122 x 171cm) signed edition of 7 29 x 40 inches (74 x 102cm) signed edition of 25 archival quality fine art pigment print limited art edition published by Edition EKTAlux artist signed + numbered certificate of authenticity _______________ Frank Schott grew up in Germany and attended the prestigious Academy of Arts in Cologne, studying under Professor Arno Jansen, who was an early influence. Moving to California in 1998, Schott's work has evolved to include the epic landscapes and deserts of the American West as well as architectural, conceptual and more formal environments from both home and his travels. Influenced by a number of photographic peers and precursors such as Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall, Ed Rusha...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Giclée, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Random Thought
Random Thought

Random Thought

By John Ali

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

"Random Thought," a captivating creation by artist John Ali, invites viewers into the enigmatic realm of introspection. The artwork features a young man, his head covered with nylon, adorned by an intricate African bead necklace...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Under construction", Original painting with concrete on paper, Art Povera
"Under construction", Original painting with concrete on paper, Art Povera

"Under construction", Original painting with concrete on paper, Art Povera

By TUSET

Located in Carballo, ES

This new series of works by the multidisciplinary artist TUSET (1997, A Coruña) shows us a completely unique dynamic. In these works he uses the concrete of the construction as picto...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Concrete

Remember, Science Art Collection by Anastasia Vasilyeva
Remember, Science Art Collection by Anastasia Vasilyeva

Remember, Science Art Collection by Anastasia Vasilyeva

By Anastasia Vasilyeva

Located in Zofingen, AG

This painting was exhibited at the art exhibition in Innsbruck (Contemporary Art Fair 2019), as well as in Marbella (Excellence Art gallery), Florence (Art Expertise), and Madrid (APPA art gallery). "Remember?" is a conceptual science painting...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Cotton Canvas

Niemand and Soldier Duo
Niemand and Soldier Duo

Niemand and Soldier Duo

By Viktor Frešo

Located in Denver, CO

"Niemand and Soldier Duo" is of a limited edition of 25 works, edition 17/25 and signed. The Duo will be shipped directly from the artist's studio in Slovakia to your location. Ship...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Polyurethane

Reinhard Görner 'Francke Foundations II' (Library, Halle, Germany)
Reinhard Görner 'Francke Foundations II' (Library, Halle, Germany)

Reinhard Görner 'Francke Foundations II' (Library, Halle, Germany)

By Reinhard Görner

Located in Los Angeles, CA

This large-scale architectural photograph by German photographer Reinhard Görner depicts the Francke Foundations library in Halle, Germany. Arches open like portals into the interior, bringing public cultural heritage into private space in the rich, aged tones of wood and marble, taupe, blue and gray. Reinhard Görner is known for invoking an atmosphere of awe, meditation and contemplation through crisp, richly detailed scenes of grand historical and cultural public narratives. This effect is enhanced through aesthetically striking compositions, which might include stunningly perfect (or interestingly-off) symmetry, portals through a series of doorways, and other careful choices of perspective and scale. Reinhard Görner Francke Foundations II Halle, Germany 2014 50 x 52.6 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 60 x 63.2 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 70 x 73.7 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso Paper is trimmed to the image: actual image size listed Internal Search: Reinhard Görner, Library series, Halle, Germany, Large-Scale Photography, Large-scale German photography, German Libraries, German Monuments...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Lambda, C Print

Decorate!
Decorate!

Decorate!

By Nina Fedotova

Located in Zofingen, AG

The painting “Decorate!” is a reflection on the power of female presence in the world and a call to action. Against the backdrop of a light gray sky with light clouds, the earth stre...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Raspail Red, Paris Metro Series
Raspail Red, Paris Metro Series

Raspail Red, Paris Metro Series

Located in Surfside, FL

these are original (signed with initials) proof prints c-print on Fuji crystal archive paper. there is some minor wear to the surface but it cannot be photographed and will probabl...

Category

1990s Conceptual Art

Materials

C Print

Pearl of Heritage - 21st Century Mixed Media with Oil and African Women Fabrics
Pearl of Heritage - 21st Century Mixed Media with Oil and African Women Fabrics

Pearl of Heritage - 21st Century Mixed Media with Oil and African Women Fabrics

By Bakare Abubakri-sideeq Babatunde

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Bakare Babatund...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Fabric, Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic

Self-Portrait (Bison and Hare), Conceptual Etching by Mel Chin
Self-Portrait (Bison and Hare), Conceptual Etching by Mel Chin

Self-Portrait (Bison and Hare), Conceptual Etching by Mel Chin

By Mel Chin

Located in Long Island City, NY

Mel Chin, American (1951 - ) - Self-Portrait (Bison and Hare), Year: 1996, Medium: Etching on BFK Rives, signed, numbered and dated in pencil, Edition: 25, Image Size: 11 x 21.5 ...

Category

1990s Conceptual Art

Materials

Etching

Face to Face
Face to Face

Face to Face

By Aba Linus

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

"Face to Face" by Aba Linus is a thought-provoking and enigmatic artwork that presents a powerful visual representation of human connection and communication. In this piece, two youn...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Dialogue
Dialogue

Dialogue

By John Ali

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

"Dialogue," a thought-provoking creation by artist John Ali, beckons viewers into a realm of symbolism and introspection. The artwork features a young man with his head covered in ny...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Caius Flavius from The Romans by Enrico Baj
Caius Flavius from The Romans by Enrico Baj

Caius Flavius from The Romans by Enrico Baj

By Enrico Baj

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: Enrico Baj, Italian (1924 - 2003) Title: Caius Flavius Valerius Claudius Constantinus Year: 1972 Medium: Aquatint Etching with Collage, Signed and numbered in pencil Edition:...

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Etching, Aquatint

Shapeshifter No16 Archival Pigment Print, Conceptual, Signed, 2023
Shapeshifter No16 Archival Pigment Print, Conceptual, Signed, 2023

Shapeshifter No16 Archival Pigment Print, Conceptual, Signed, 2023

Located in Vancouver, CA

Jennifer Latour Shapeshifter no16, 2023 Edition of 7 plus 2 artist proofs. Signed in pencil by the artist. Archival pigment print mounted to Dibond, UV laminated, with cleat. Descri...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Next Sign, Large Format Color Photograph, Signed Edition of 7, 48x64"
Next Sign, Large Format Color Photograph, Signed Edition of 7, 48x64"

Next Sign, Large Format Color Photograph, Signed Edition of 7, 48x64"

By Frank Schott

Located in San Francisco, CA

Next Sign by Frank Schott from a series of works capturing conceptual roadside signs in iconic American landscapes captured with a large format camera to allow epic scale print s...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée

Found Object Wall Sculpture/Relief by Gertie Lowe
Found Object Wall Sculpture/Relief by Gertie Lowe

Found Object Wall Sculpture/Relief by Gertie Lowe

By Gertie Lowe

Located in Long Island City, NY

Wall sculpture assemblage by Gertie Lowe, from 1978, is a conceptual abstract with everyday objects. Muted neutral tones are contrasted with vibrant accents. Signed and dated verso...

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

Plastic, Wood

Reinhard Görner, Sleeping Beauty, Old National Gallery, Berlin

Reinhard Görner, Sleeping Beauty, Old National Gallery, Berlin

By Reinhard Görner

Located in Los Angeles, CA

60 x 45 inches ed. of 5 $6,000 80 x 60 inches ed. of 5 $9,000 93.2 x 70 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner, with his large format photographs orchestrates the monumentality of historical architecture, gardens, and masterpieces. An active architecture photographer since 1985, is a master of perspectives and precise spatial compositions, and he thus considers classical sculpture, in all of its possible facets, a special challenge. "Görner’s photographs sometimes open the doors to another world and take the viewer with them on a journey through time. Here the palace is no longer a museum but both royal residence and a site steeped in history. The viewer does not have to share the halls with the masses of visitors; instead the images offer him exclusive impressions of the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) and the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles) as even the king of France was probably never granted. The halls are empty of people, yet they seem to be able to unfurl their individual characters of their own accord. These places practically breathe history, and this aspect is also part of the essence captured in the photographs. King Wilhelm of Prussia was named German Emperor Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors after France was defeated in 1870–1871 in the Franco-German War. The Treaty of Versailles following World War I was also signed there in 1919. In this sense, the architectural photographs of Versailles’s ceremonial rooms have an edge on Renaissance paintings; here even a sense of world history arises within the viewer – one which continues to exert an influence today". Horst Klöver Notes on the Old National Gallery and Sleeping Beauty: The Old National Gallery (Alte Nationalgalerie) is the original home of the Nationalgalerie, whose collections today are divided between the New National Gallery, the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum for Contemporary Art – Berlin, the Friedrichswerder Church, Museum Berggruen and the Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg. The idea of establishing a cultural and educational centre across from the Berlin Palace...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Lambda

Biblioteca Gambalunga I, Rimini, Italy

Biblioteca Gambalunga I, Rimini, Italy

By Reinhard Görner

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Biblioteca Gambalunga I Rimini, Italy 2022 In this photograph, a series of echoing doors serve as a portal into the interior of the Biblioteca Gambalunga in Rimini, Italy. One of ...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Joyful Moment 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Children
Joyful Moment 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Children

Joyful Moment 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Children

By Oluwatobiloba Amusan

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Oluwatobiloba A...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Coffee, Watercolor

Flora 11, 2015 - Summertime Wildflower Meadow Grasses Frozen in Ice Color Print

Flora 11, 2015 - Summertime Wildflower Meadow Grasses Frozen in Ice Color Print

By Marisa Culatto

Located in Brighton, GB

Flora 11, 2015 - Summertime Wildflower Meadow Grasses Frozen in Ice Color Print Flora 11 is a Giclée print on Ultra Bright Hahnemuehle paper, available in this size only from a Limi...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Color, Giclée

Harvest
Harvest

Harvest

By Nina Fedotova

Located in Zofingen, AG

This painting depicts a wide sky filled with clouds above a brown field, where orange chickens are scattered across the land, improvising as if pecking at the soil. The repetitive mo...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sky ( artist framed ) - large scale abstract gradient monochromatic photograph
Sky ( artist framed ) - large scale abstract gradient monochromatic photograph

Sky ( artist framed ) - large scale abstract gradient monochromatic photograph

Located in San Francisco, CA

large scale monochromatic abstract observation of mesmerizing atmospheric color palette, from Raymond Meier's series Renderings Sky (Rendings 04) by Ray...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper

Conceptual art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Conceptual art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Reinhard Görner, Kojun, Jose Sierra, and xulong zhang. 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 Conceptual art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $45 and tops out at $500,000, while the average work sells for $2,465.