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
Brit says her inspiration for this piece was the William Faulkner quote, "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have the cour...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
This piece contrasts an irregular, linear mesh grid with small, structured metallic circles. The background, built from layered papers, creates an organic and s...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Textile, Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media, Oil, Magazine Paper
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Gouache, C Print
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Aquatint
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Magazine Paper, Newsprint
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Plastic, Mixed Media, Permanent Marker
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Paper, Handmade Paper
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 patter...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
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
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Plaster
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Plastic, LED Light
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic Polymer, Automotive Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Paper
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
Acrylic, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Gouache, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Varnish, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Crayon, Ink, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Mulberry Paper, Monoprint, Monotype, Stencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paste, Fabric, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Ink, Watercolor, Pen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gesso, Oil, Wood Panel, Muslin
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Crayon, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Ink, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Gouache, Permanent Marker
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Pastel, Pencil, Graphite
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Charcoal
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Jute, Acrylic, Washi Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Metal, Steel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Plywood
Artist Comments
Liquid silver metal painted in directional palette knife strokes over a white ground. "Each stroke is purposeful in drawing the eye through the piece," explai...
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 individual pieces. "No matter the side, there is a natural middle - a common ground - to meet upon," says artist Heather Patterson. "I bring together materials as disparate as flooring, piano parts, driftwood and crown molding, seeking to visually verbalize the opportunity for unity. Though we are many parts, we can join together to form a new mosaic...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Laid Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, 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 patter...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Monotype
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Brass