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.
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Handmade Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Encaustic, Digital
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Mixed Media, Laid Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Spray Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic Polymer, Automotive Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Thread
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Acrylic, Magazine Paper
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Brass
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Encaustic, Digital, Panel, Monotype
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Thread
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Acrylic, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Gouache, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Marble
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink, Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Fiberboard
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Marble
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Monotype
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Newsprint, Screen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Muslin, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Panel, Inkjet
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glue, Digital
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Pastel, Mixed Media, Wax, Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Etching, Oil, Printer's Ink
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Encaustic, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Giclée
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Carbon Pencil, Charcoal
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Black and White
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Thread, Acrylic, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Chalk, Tempera
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Encaustic, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Encaustic, Digital
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper
Artist Comments
Playful yellows, greens, and blues, with touches of gray and black, capture a memory of a neighborhood playground. Artist Johnny Karwan created this piece by ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Chalk, Pastel, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media