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.
serenity 21, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
2024 acrylic, resin, gilding, holographic glitter (watch video) on cotton paper: /iZI-T4IU-0k True peace can only come through the surrendering of the heart. With a brushstroke of...
Mixed Media
serenity 51, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
2025 acrylic, resin, gilding, holographic glitter (watch video), crushed fire glass on stretched canvas. True peace can only come through the surrendering of the heart. With a bru...
Mixed Media
$480Sale Price|20% Off
Red cherry tomato pill (minimaliste grid round painting on wood dopamine)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
"Great white Shark grey pill" is one of the 30 small tondo paintings on wood comprising the Dopamine mosaic. This 30-piece ensemble was created between January and April 2024 by the ...
Spray Paint
$40,000
Threshold
By Mick Moon
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Mick Moon, British (1937 - ) Title: Threshold Year: 1986 Medium: Mixed Media Collage on Canvas, signed and dated Size: 63 x 82 in. (160.02 x 208.28 cm) Frame Size: 70 x ...
Mixed Media
Spectral Sequence
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Gestural Abstraction, Miniature Abstract Expressionist Korean Modernist Painting
By Don Ahn
Located in Surfside, FL
*Card pictured after painting not included. Dongkuk Ahn (1937-2013), better known as Don Ahn, was a South Korean artist and t'ai chi master who resided in New York City. Don Ahn (A...
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
$481
Pocket Graffiti Wall: PEACE and Pocket Graffiti Wall: WOW By dani humberstone
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Graffiti Wall: PEACE Pocket Graffiti Wall: WOW original Spray paint, acrylic and biro on canvas Image size: H:10 cm x W:10 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:10 cm x W:10 c...
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
$270
Artwork with Embedded Herbarium Flowers and Plants and Herbs “Starry Meadow”
Located in Sofia, BG
Artwork with embedded herbarium flowers, plants and herbs in handmade paper explores the beauty of nature preserved in time in the work “Starry Meadow”. Conceptually, the work explo...
Washi Paper, Tea, Pigment, Mulberry Paper, Handmade Paper, Mixed Media, ...
landscape #22, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
landscape mmixed media on canvas 100x100 cm 2018 :: Mixed Media :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: ...
Mixed Media
Untitled - Triangle, Abstract Minimalist Papercast by Michael Goldberg
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Michael Goldberg, American (1924 - 2007) Title: Untitled - Triangle Year: 1977 Medium: Papercast, signed and dated verso Size: 25 in. x 29 in. (63.5 cm x 73.66 cm)
Handmade Paper
Untitled (Abstraction with musical notes)
By Louisa Chase
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Musical notes abstraction) Mixed media on paper, 1991 Signed lower right center Condition: Very good Archival framing with conservation glass Provenance: ...
Mixed Media
Vapor
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Relief Valve
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
$3,920Sale Price|20% Off
Screen tbd10 (tondo round very peri pink grid deco painting abstract geometric)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
In Melisa’s optical and pulsating compositions, the natural world acts as blue-print while she explores the notion of the sublime through blur and precision. The artist develops an a...
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
$7,500Sale Price|53% Off
Always & Never, with a touch of hope (Textured large scale minimalist abstract)
Located in Maricopa, AZ
A large scale uniquely textured abstract painting by Contemporary artist Svetlana Shalygina. Subtle stencil detailing combined with her soft palette and intricate texture. **It is ...
Oil
Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media on Canvas, Signed, 21st Century
Located in Cotignac, FR
Contemporary Abstract mixed media on canvas signed top left F Bantigny. Presented in custom made white painted wooden tray frame. This is one of t...
Canvas, Tape, Acrylic
Amalgam
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism, ...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
essen 32, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
"Few realize that the worship of the sacred feminine was prevalent among all ancient civilizations. Interestingly enough, remnants of this worship can be found in many of the modern,...
Mixed Media
Stories Uncovered (9)
Located in Columbia, MO
Stephen Gammell St. Paul, Minnesota Signed and dated recto. Stephen Gammell’s studio practice is rooted in an intuitive and deeply personal approach to mark-making. In Stories Unc...
Paper, Archival Ink, Watercolor, Panel
Stories Uncovered (8)
Located in Columbia, MO
Stephen Gammell St. Paul, Minnesota Signed and dated recto. Stephen Gammell’s studio practice is rooted in an intuitive and deeply personal approach to mark-making. In Stories Unc...
Paper, Archival Ink, Watercolor, Panel
Stories Uncovered (7)
Located in Columbia, MO
Stephen Gammell St. Paul, Minnesota Signed and dated recto. Stephen Gammell’s studio practice is rooted in an intuitive and deeply personal approach to mark-making. In Stories Unc...
Paper, Archival Ink, Watercolor, Panel
Stories Uncovered (3)
Located in Columbia, MO
Stephen Gammell St. Paul, Minnesota Signed and dated recto. Stephen Gammell’s studio practice is rooted in an intuitive and deeply personal approach to mark-making. In Stories Unc...
Paper, Archival Ink, Watercolor, Panel
Large American Mod 1990s Mixed Media "LuLu" Carrie McGee
By Carrie McGee
Located in Surfside, FL
Carrie McGee (American, 1954-) Large mixed media. "LuLu" Oxidized metal, acrylic & metal leaf 1994 Hand signed, dated, and titled verso. Provenance: from a Long Island, NY collecti...
Mixed Media
$1,100
Abstract Mixed Media Biomorphism Wall Sculpture. Miami Artist Carol K Brown
Located in Surfside, FL
This is a wall sculpture of a protruding abstract organic appendage form. They are in the form of Surrealist fantastic flora and fauna. It is from her 1990-1995 series called tondos & squares. This is a mixed media sculpture composed of plastic/resin (it looks like blackened steel), rubber and metal wire. Hand signed verso. This sale is for one. I have 5 of them available, they make a great wall installation grouping. Carol K. Brown is an American woman artist born in Memphis, Tennessee and lives and works in New York and Miami Beach, Florida. Brown works with sculpture, painting, photography, video, digital and installation art. She has received the State of Florida Fine Arts Fellowship (1983), Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Fellowship (1986), and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1984 and 1986). Her work is owned by the Perez Art Museum Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. She is a professor of sculpture at the New World School of the Arts in Miami. She was included in the show Making Art in Miami along with Jose Bedia; Consuelo Castaneda; Quisqueya Henriquez...
Metal
$1,056Sale Price|20% Off
Plaster and ceramic composition by Gilbert Pauli - Mixed media 61x78 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Born in 1944 in the canton of Fribourg, Gilbert Pauli currently lives in Geneva, where he devotes himself to painting and sculpture, a passion he developed from his childhood. His fa...
Ceramic, Plaster, Acrylic
Birth and mourning n8 by Gilbert Pauli - mixed media 66x70 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Born in 1944 in the canton of Fribourg, Gilbert Pauli currently lives in Geneva, where he devotes himself to painting and sculpture, a passion he developed from his childhood. His fa...
Plaster, Acrylic
Alpha Particle
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Beta Particle
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
No title
Located in Paris, FR
Collage, 1988 Handsigned by the artist in pencil Mixed media and collage on cardboard Dated October 23, 1988 Frame dimensions: 48 x 54 cm 36.00 cm. x 42.00 cm. 14.17 in. x 16.54 in...
Cardboard
$743Sale Price|20% Off
The Memory of Warmth — Abstract Painting on Cardboard by Emmi Iida
Located in Lahti, FI
“The Memory of Warmth” is an original 54 x 47 cm acrylic painting on cardboard by Finnish multidisciplinary artist Emmi Iida, whose work explores the dialogue between emotion, energy...
Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Cardboard, Pencil
Groove Gulag
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
‘Energy’ by Steven H. Rehfeld - Orange/Pink/Black Mixed Media Abstract Painting
Located in Carmel, CA
Steven H. Rehfeld (American, born 1954) 'Energy' 2022 Oil paint, pencil, mixed media, canvas, stretcher bars The artist signed the back of the painting. Steven Rehfeld's 36" x 36" m...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Pencil, Stretcher Bars
Horizon d'Ete
By Holly Addi
Located in Boston, MA
Holly Addi, living and working in Salt Lake City, UT, USA is an abstract painter using acrylic and charcoal on canvas. Her gesture and surface quality is reminiscent of the Abstract ...
Charcoal, Acrylic
No. 2.41, Mixed Media on Wood Panel
Located in Yardley, PA
No. 2.41 paint, metal, wood 16.5"x13"x1.5" :: Mixed Media :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Y...
Mixed Media
Bessie Smith - If You Don't Like My Peaches - Don't Shake My Tree
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Bessie Smith - If You Don't Like My Peaches - Don't Shake My Tree Collage, 1980 Signed and dated in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled in pencil lower left Original price verso '3,000' (see photo) Provenance: Acquired from the artist Joseph M. Erdelac, Cleveland, friend and patron of the artist Condition: Very good Usual minor condition issues (wrinkling) associated with the artist's creation process Stephen Longstreet (1907-2002) The artist’s own grandchildren attempt to fathom the real life and nature of Stephen Longstreet, prolific author, artist, screenplay writer, and jazz aficionado. Born Chauncy Weiner (sometimes spelled Wiener) in New York City in 1907, Longstreet reinvented himself on a regular basis. Changing his name first to “Henry,” then “Henri,” he started his career as a commercial artist for a department store. In various public biographies he claimed to have studied in New York, London, and Paris, and said he was a student of cartoonist Ralph Barton (1891-1931). Facts that can be documented are that he was art editor for Golfer and Sportsman magazines, and was a contributor to various other magazines including The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Life, and Hooey, among others. He wrote sketches for NBC radio and the Rudy Vallee Show. In the 1930s, Longstreet worked and wrote under the names Thomas Burton, David Ormsbee, and Paul Haggard...
Magazine Paper
Paul Manes - Eight Bells, Painting 2007
By Paul Manes
Located in Greenwich, CT
Paul Manes was born May 4, 1948, in Austin, Texas. He began his professional career in New York City in the early 1980s. His art has been widely exhibited in America and Europe and h...
Canvas, Paint, Oil
Aqua Fusion
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Aqua Fusion captures the enchanting depths of the ocean. Two elegant black seaweeds sway gracefully in the vastness of the deep ocean. They stand as maje...
Mixed Media, Oil
$680
537, Jessie Woodward, Original Abstract Acrylic And Glitter Painting, Colourful
Located in Deddington, GB
537 by Jessie Woodward [2021] original Acrylic, Posca Pen and glitter on canvas Image size: H:30 cm x W:30 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:30 cm x W:30 cm x D:4cm Sold Unframed...
Canvas, Glitter, Acrylic, Pen
PDP739ct14 11 x 14
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
collage on canvas, signed verso Cecil Touchon Born 1956 Austin, Texas is a contemporary American collage artist, painter, published poet and theorist living in Pagosa Springs, Color...
Paper
$4,160Sale Price|20% Off
Secret Language, blue, green, white, abstract, gestural abstraction, graffiti
Located in New York, NY
I'm interested in the physicality of the painting process, and how this physical process connects me to the messy processes of paint application and decision-making. I'm interested i...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Alison Britton-Patterson, Quiet Haze, Affordable Abstract Art, Mixed Media Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Quiet Haze by Alison Britton-Patterson [2021] Original Mixed media on canvas Image size: H:30.5 cm x W:30.5 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:30.5 cm...
Canvas, Mixed Media
For Finn, Small Works No. 69, green geometric abstraction, work on paper
Located in New York, NY
Between September 2018 and April 2019, I created 100 small paintings consecutively. I endeavored to make nothing else and viewed the project as an opportunity to experiment and solid...
Paper, Watercolor, Wood Panel, Color Pencil, Graphite
Interfacial Tension
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism, ...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
$16,000
Landscape #72
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Thomas Hoitsma has been most influenced by the work of the Abstract Expressionist painters of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, specifically the “monumental” large scale painting of th...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Latex, Acrylic
Notes to Self, Abstract Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This mixed-media painting features a heart shape filled with a collage of words and letters. It symbolizes the courage and love required to give voice to our co...
Mixed Media
Superplasticizer
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism, ...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Punk
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Abstract Composition II, 1994 - mixed media, 72x72 cm.
Located in Nice, FR
Mixed media Painting on plaster and resin with various materials like iron wood etc ...
Mixed Media
Viral
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Glitter
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Galvanized
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism, ...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Rick Lewis - Edges of a Summit II, Painting 2022
By Rick Lewis
Located in Greenwich, CT
Edges of a Summit II Oil, bitumen, graphite, marble powder, burlap on canvas 60" X 72" I am a visual artist whose work investigates small and large -scale abstraction primarily in t...
Marble
Fixed Paralysis
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism, ...
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Night Doors II
By Marina Stern
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This work is part of our exhibition Marina Stern Luminary, the first retrospective of the artist since 2007. Previously exhibited: Marina Stern Paintings, Eleanor Rigelhaupt Gallery...
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
$2,400
"Blue Planet, " Acrylic Monoprint and India Ink on Paper, circa 1980
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Yannick Ballif, French (b. 1927) Title: Blue Planet Year: circa 1980 Medium: Acrylic Monoprint with India Ink on Rag Paper Size: 30 x 44 inches
India Ink, Acrylic, Monoprint
Wall Street
Located in West Hollywood, CA
In Wall Street, Salvatore Matteo examines systems of power and control through the manipulation of architectural imagery associated with finance and institutional authority. Using a ...
Paper, Archival Pigment
Dinton Folly (Now Part of Dinton Castle)
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Mixed Media on paper Paper size: 14.75 x 21.5 inches Framed size: 26 x 32 inches
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
Original Diptych Paintings on Canvas
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
2 Paintings on Canvas signed verso. Also sold separately Cecil Touchon Born 1956 Austin, Texas is a contemporary American collage artist, painter, published poet and theorist livin...
Acrylic
Violin Concerto Hand Signed Mixed media Arman Assemblage Collage New Years Card
By Arman
Located in Surfside, FL
Arman, French/American (1928-2005) 2003 mixed media paint on found metal in a cardboard cut out of a violin inscribed to interior signed lower right and signed to the interior 'Arman...
Metal
Abstract Geometric Mixed Media Painting, Acrylic on Canvas, 1980s
Located in Cotignac, FR
Abstract geometric mixed media painting probably dating from the 1980s. The painting has been created using various mediums to create an interesting texture and form to the rough ca...
Fabric, Canvas, Organic Material, Acrylic