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.
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Wood, House Paint, Cardboard
Artist Comments
Artist Melissa Gannon created this piece as her interpretation of High Rocks Canyon in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. "Thousands of wagons traveled through ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Fabric, Wood, House Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Panel, Laid Paper, Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
Gestural strokes of solid gold spread against a black surface. This energetic piece has a continuously shifting luminosity that is dependent on the viewer’s vantage point. "It provides an infinitely evolving viewing experience," says artist M. Clark. She rendered this piece using a technique where gold foil is sculpted using heat and varying pressure over the course of many weeks. The edges are finished in gold foil creating a halo effect around the artwork as light reflects off the sides of the piece.
About the Artist
M. Clark manipulates metallic foil in order to create rich surfaces that are highly reactive to shifts in light. She strives to continually push the bounds of her gold foil medium, including working directly with a manufacturer to develop foil in specific sizes and colors that were not previously available...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Painterly strokes of gold move about on a black background. "The edges are finished in gold foil creating a halo effect around the artwork as light reflects off the sides of the piece," shares artist M. Clark. The technique used to create this is one where gold foil is sculpted using heat and varying pressure over the course of many weeks. "This work has a continuously shifting luminosity that is dependent on the viewer’s vantage point. This provides an infinitely evolving viewing experience."
About the Artist
M. Clark manipulates metallic foil in order to create rich surfaces that are highly reactive to shifts in light. She strives to continually push the bounds of her gold foil medium, including working directly with a manufacturer to develop foil in specific sizes and colors that were not previously available...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Fabric
Artist Comments
"This is a piece about trees and the spaces in between, the undefined - where mysteries and dreams abound," says artist Melissa Gannon...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Board, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Mixed Media, Pigment
Artist Comments
"This work has a continuously shifting luminosity that is dependent on the viewer’s vantage point," says artist M. Clark. "This provides an infinitely evolving viewing experience. And the edges are finished in gold foil creating a halo effect around the artwork as light reflects off the sides of the piece."Created by carefully manipulating metallic foil with heat and varying pressure over the course of many weeks. This is a highly specialized and unique technique developed by M. to achieve her goals of bending light and drawing out distinctive elements in the foil.
About the Artist
M. Clark manipulates metallic foil in order to create rich surfaces that are highly reactive to shifts in light. She strives to continually push the bounds of her gold foil medium, including working directly with a manufacturer to develop foil in specific sizes and colors that were not previously available...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Other Medium
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
"Even in the middle of winter when the colors are muted, beauty abounds and promises spring," shares artist Melissa Gannon. Insp...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
A prismatic abstract in swaths of bright yellow, orange, red, and purple. "This piece was inspired by a huge and close rainbow which almost gave the feeling t...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
"Sometimes you need a refuge to find yourself," says artist Yamilet Sempe. Abstract eddies of color, in Yamilet's signature palette, open up to reveal a templ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
An abstract view through dense trees and colorful leaves, arranged in layers of transparent and opaque red and green mixed with yellow, orange, purple, and turq...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Crayon, Spray Paint, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Acrylic, Wood Panel
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Found Objects
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Wood Panel
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Plywood, Oil, Acrylic
Artist Comments
A rich abstract garden scene with layers of leaf-like structures in complementary colors of red and green mixed with yellow, orange, turquoise, and purple. "Thi...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Watercolor, Pen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Charcoal, Oil, Spray Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Paint, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Driftwood, Oil, Acrylic, Magazine Paper, Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Plexiglass, Wood, Wax, Pigment
