Abstract Mixed Media
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 Mixed Media
Wax, Encaustic, Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Glitter, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Found Objects
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Muslin, Silk, Wood, Ink, Rice Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Margriet Hogue created this abstract view of a mountain meadow by applying numerous warm colors of paint to handmade pape...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Organic Material, Mixed Media, Encaustic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Artist Tiffany Blaise offers a view of a golden evening sky, inspired by the work of William Turner. An expressive yet minimal scene capturing luminous light on...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Wood
Artist Comments
Spring is here! I wanted to show the first changes where the leaves are just beginning to become visible along with the pinks. I created some interesting textur...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Plywood, Oil, Acrylic, Board
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Tar, Wood, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Plywood, Oil, Acrylic
Artist Comments
When asked about the character in this expressionist portrait, artist Darlene McElroy shared that, "he is pausing on a walk through changing leaves to savor t...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
An intricate assemblage of reclaimed wood, carefully cut and placed together to form a balanced composition that also highlights the character of the individu...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Yarn, Wood, Paint, Adhesive, Mixed Media
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Conté, Crayon
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Panel, Burlap
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Organic Material, Mixed Media, Encaustic, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
I have used grade one Braille as a form for recognizing what is unknowable and unseeable, until we feel it. As a way of connecting sight with feeling, intertwining the two. This piece is meant to be touched, explored, felt. Made in honor of Gerda Klein, after reading her autobiography of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor. In Braille it reads and then there was one, from whom came many. Found, reclaimed and resurrected- an abstract wood relief ;painting; in an assortment of soft and hard woods puzzled together within a salvaged antique window...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Plywood, Oil, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Acrylic, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Vinyl
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Giclée
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Organic Material, Mixed Media, Encaustic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Layers of liquid gold metal applied in expressionist strokes over geometric black and white stripes. Thick, painterly texture provides numerous angles to refl...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
"Woods in autumn vibrate with color which shimmers on everything," says Melissa. "This is my tribute to this beautiful time of year. The layering of transpare...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Silk, Masonite, Glaze, Ink, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Wax, Oil, Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Black and White
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Spray Paint, Vinyl
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Felt, Paper, Acrylic, Woodcut