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.
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Pen
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Ink, Handmade Paper
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Stone
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Wax, Oil Pastel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Thread
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Thread
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Other Medium
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Marble
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Watercolor, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paste, Varnish, Spray Paint, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Rag Paper, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Plywood, Acrylic
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Wax Crayon, Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Plywood, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Adhesive, Magazine Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Marble
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Other Medium
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Etching
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Found Objects, Ink, Gouache, Pencil
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Silver
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Tempera
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Monotype, Acrylic, Rag Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Paper, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic