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.
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Wood, House Paint
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Handmade Paper
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paper
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Board
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Graphite
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Varnish, Encaustic, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Pencil, Graphite
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Granite, Bronze
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Tissue Paper, Lithograph
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Aquatint
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Pencil
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Screen, Graphite
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Pencil, Graphite, Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint, Screen
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Copper, Enamel
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Paint, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Mixed Media
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Varnish, Magazine Paper
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Monoprint
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
1930s Abstract Mixed Media
Board, Casein
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Tempera
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Charcoal, Gouache
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Ink
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Charcoal, Pastel, Illustration Board, Pencil
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Pastel, Watercolor
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Charcoal, Pastel, Illustration Board, Pencil
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Tar, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Permanent Marker
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Paint, Encaustic, Wax
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Enamel
1950s Abstract Mixed Media
Masonite, Oil, Gouache