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.
Artist Comments
Set against a deep blue background, cut-outs of the sky, a tree, and the moon's surface are enclosed within a strip of paper and geometric-shaped thread. The ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Plexiglass, Mixed Media, Handmade Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Plexiglass, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Linen, Ink
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Rice Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Digital, Cotton
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Artist Anna Yoo depicts two distant people sitting away from each other. She paints from imagination and portrays how we move through the world and the people w...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Scott Dykema demonstrates a roaring lion with a fierce look in its eyes. One of the biggest pieces in his series of collaged mixed media portraits and an...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Rice Paper, Pigment
Artist Comments
Artist Anna Yoo paints an expressionist scene from a dance party through two windows. She depicts it as a visual bridge between the inside and the outside. Anna...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
LED Light, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Linen, Ink, Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Textile, Tapestry, Wool, Thread
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Latex, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Part of artist Patrick O'Boyle's Ethereal Abstraction series. A play of electric pink and cool blues stands out with dynamic paint application. Various patterns...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Digital Pigment, Resin, Panel
Artist Comments
This piece is a continuation of artist Terri Bell's Geometria Grid series. It incorporates simple geometric shapes in organic and interesting arrangements. "T...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Mixed Media, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Mixed Media, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Fabric
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Glitter, Acrylic, Pen
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Canvas
Artist Comments
This painting is part of Wes Sumrall's current mixed media series, Aerials, influenced by the overshots of Earth from the International Space Station. The metal...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Gouache, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Latex, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Wood Panel