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.
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Pastel, Spray Paint, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Color Pencil, Graphite
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Magazine Paper, Oil
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Intaglio
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Conté, Charcoal, India Ink, Acrylic, Tempera, Watercolor, ...
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Plaster, Wax, Acrylic, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Screen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Silk, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Canvas, Encaustic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Etching, Aquatint, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Wax, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Organic Material, Mixed Media, Encaustic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Encaustic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Birch, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Plywood, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Intaglio
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Metal, Gold Leaf
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Intaglio
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Ink, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Linen, Ink, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Paper, Glue, Stretcher Bars
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Silver Gelatin, Archival ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Glue
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Fabric
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
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Varnish, Magazine Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Inspired by the dreamy lyrics “butterflies and zebras and moonbeams,†this abstract painting offers a sense of gentle wonder. Symmetrical in design, black-a...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Panel, Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Sandstone
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media