20th Century Abstract Paintings

Lamar Briggs (1935 – 2015) Abstract artist, Lamar Briggs, was born November 13, 1935 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He initially attended the University of Southern Louisiana for architec...

Patrick Hughes (b.1939) Hanging on a Hook 1978 gloss paint on board 91 x 91 cm Price: £19,000 GBP Provenance: Private collection, UK (acquired directly from the artist in the late ...

A painting by Jae Kon Park. ""Life and Roots"" is an abstract painting, oil on canvas in greens by Korean, Post-War artist Jae Kon Park. The artwork is signed in the lower right, ""Jae Kon Park, 92"". Born in South Korea, Park Jae Kon...

Signed Verso Rex Ashlock (1918 - 1999) Born in Spokane, WA on Aug. 23, 1918. Ashlock moved to San Francisco in 1937 and was a copy boy for Associated Press while studying at the C...

oil on canvas

Acrylic on Paper

An abstract acrylic and paper on canvas painting by Post War artist Arne Hiersoux. "Memphitis" is executed in bold strokes, splashes and drips of black, red, green, yellow and ochre ...

SF64-045, Sam Francis, Acrylic, American Abstraction, Postwar, Work on paper 1964 Acrylic on paper 73 x 56.5 cm 94 x 75 cm / 37 x 29.5 in. (w...

A leading abstract painter in his lifetime, Dan Christensen drew from a range of Modernist sources to produce colorful, luminous compositions that featured giant dots, whirling loops...

Josef Presser (Poland, United States, 1907 - 1967) Abstracted Shapes signed in red lower right 19 ¾ ” x 14 3/4” 25 1/4 ” x 20 1/4” Medium: Gouache on paper Provenance: Woodstock, NY About Josef Presser was born in Lublin, Poland. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School and in Europe, with Bryant Baker...

Thomas Victor Downing (1928 - 1985) Nineteen, 1968 Acrylic on canvas 35 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches Signed on the reverse Provenance: Estate of the artist Henri Gallery, Washington, D.C. Private Collection, Washington, D.C. Thomas Downing was born in Suffolk, Virginia. In 1950, after graduating from Pratt Institute in New York City, he received a grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art to study in Europe. Upon returning from Europe, he settled in Washington, DC to teach at Catholic University. In 1954 Downing became a friend of Kenneth Noland, whose life drawing course he attended. From 1955 to 1956 Downing shared a studio with Howard Mehring, another artist who came to be identified with the Washington Color School. Downing had his first one-man show at the Washington Workshop Center for the Arts in 1959. That year, Downing, Mehring, and Betty Pajac founded Origio, a cooperative art gallery in Washington. In 1959 Downing first began using the small dot in his work, a motif he explored fully into the 1970s. In the early works colorful dots determined the structure of the painting in their size, position, and repetition within a grid. Often there was a sense of concentration and expansion of the composition from the center to the edge of the canvas, achieving a visual impression of expanding open space. Looking for the fusion between the grid and color, Downing eliminated overlapping dots in 1962. The dots arranged in grids seem to project from the canvas surface, giving the impression the color floats unrestricted by the square format of his paintings. Downing’s position in the Washington Color School came from his consistent approach to color. The canvas was the receptacle of color, on which Downing often worked in tonal modulations of a hue. Downing developed shaped canvases in 1966 as a structural solution to his deeper consideration of the “spatial definition” of color. After first working in a parallelogram shape, Downing next worked in chevron-shaped canvases that examined the illusionistic qualities of color. He exhibited these works in a solo exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in 1966-1967 and later at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York in 1967. Downing’s second series of shaped canvases titled Folds were created in 1968. In the Fold series he discovered a new effect of relief and spatial depth within a flat work that could be enhanced by color. The projections and folding in the Fold paintings suggest the paintings exist in a world without gravity. Downing exhibited in a group show at Jefferson Place Gallery in 1960 and had his first solo exhibition there in the spring of 1961. Downing had solo exhibitions in New York at Allan Stone Gallery in 1962, 1967, and 1968. He also had solo exhibition in New York at Stable Gallery in September 1963 and January 1965. In the early 1970s Downing had regular solo exhibitions at the Pyramid Galleries in DC. In the 1960s Downing was included in important museum exhibitions, including: Post Painterly Abstraction at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1964 (Clement Greenberg curated and included three of Downing’s dial paintings); The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art, 1965; Colorists, 1950-1965 at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1965; Systemic Painting at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1966; and Color Field Painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1970. Thomas Downing: Recent Paintings was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in December 1966 - January 1967. A solo exhibition of his paintings from 1962 to 1968 was held at the La Jolla Museum of Art then travelled to the Phoenix Art Museum in 1968. Downing had a solo exhibition at the Phillips Collection in 1985. Downing taught at the Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington, DC from 1965 to 1968. There he was influential for the next generation of DC color...

A dark, ethereal, plum purple field hosts accents of bright blue, green, turquoise, and pink in this large-scale abstract painting by Milly Ristvedt. Thinly threaded above the field ...

Jirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to open to the United States. This period was very important in his life because his father took him to many cities in Europe and exposed him to great works of art. Zorthian arrived in the United States at the age of eleven and settled with his family in New Haven, Connecticut. He obtained his formal education there, after graduating from Yale in 1932, the Winchester Fellowship granted him a year and a half at the American Academy in Rome with travel and study throughout Europe. His art career branched into various directions on his return to the United States. As a mural painter his reputation was established. He has forty two (42) murals throughout the United States. Zorthian worked and taught painting at some of the finest art academiJirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to open to the United States. This period was very important in his life because his father took him to many cities in Europe and exposed him to great works of art. Zorthian arrived in the United States at the age of eleven and settled with his family in New Haven, Connecticut. He obtained his formal education there, after graduating from Yale in 1932, the Winchester Fellowship granted him a year and a half at the American Academy in Rome with travel and study throughout Europe. His art career branched into various directions on his return to the United States. As a mural painter his reputation was established. He has forty two (42) murals throughout the United States. Zorthian worked and taught painting at some of the finest art academies on the west coast including both the Chouinard Art Institute and the Otis Art Institute. es on the west coast including both the Chouinard Art Institute and the Otis Art Institute. The Gathering...

Acrylic on canvas. Signed, dated, and titled verso. 62.25 x 62.25 in. 63.75 x 63.5 in. (framed) Custom framed in a maple floater with a polyurethane clear coat finish. Provenance ...

Jirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to...

Key Sketch for 60 Foot Movie Announcement on “Safety First,” 1948, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 14.5 x 12.5 inches, titled in pencil verso; presented in a newer frame...

SURFACE CP/869 Steel 1951 Tempera, pencil on twelve paper tiles, on sheet Tempera, pencil on twelve layers of paper, on sheet cm 31 x 24 (sheet) 15 x 20 (panel) EXHIBITONS F.R. Mor...

'Untitled Cubist Figure', oil on board, by STM (circa 1970s). A vibrant modern painting inspired by Picasso and Braque, the artist uses angles, lines and...

Georges Mathieu (1921 - 2012) L’horizon mensonger Alkyde sur toile / Alkyd on canvas Signé en bas à gauche, titré au dos / Signed lower left and titles on the back Circa 1990 Size : ...

For Nicolás, the importance of the work of art lies in taking distance from common and ordinary language. Taking poetry as an instrument of construction, where images and words becom...

Abstract Moonlit Landscape, signed and dated "Douvos"

Unknown/Unidentified Artist "Untitled: Shipyard/Ship Building", Abstract Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20, Late 20th Century Colors: Blue, White, Red, Green, Brow...

Black and white abstract figurative painting by Polish-Australian artist, Stacha Halpern. This painting depicts large, thick, and bold black and white strokes accentuated by reds, bl...

Reminiscent of the color field canvases of Mark Rothko, this black and grey abstract painting explores the subtlety of a limited color palette. The swirls and splatter of the upper g...

Superb Modern British abstract painting dating to the 1960's. The work is signed with the artists initials "RG". The painting captures an amazing array of bright and colourful shap...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

Antique American modernist still life signed oil painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1940. Unframed. Signed. Image size, 30L x 26H

Oil paint on Belgium Linen. The Artist is Joerg Madlener, The series is attributed to Gustav Mahler and has built up surface. You won’t be disappointed, this is a painting that is vi...

Ethel Rosetta Davis was born in Hardin County, Tennessee in 1897. She studied art in Birmingham, Alabama. Davis married and located to Tuscumbia a...

You are viewing a modernist acrylic painting by Robert Blair in which the artist has utilized a comb to create designs within the painting. Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003)...

A painting by Alexander Calder. "Zigzag Sun and Crags" is a Post-War abstract painting, gouache and ink on paper in bold colors of reds, blacks, and blues by artist Alexander Calder. The artwork is signed lower right, "Calder 72...

This is an original oral painting by Francis X Pavy. Oil on canvas, 1996, 14" x 16" signed on the reverse. The painting depicts, two silhouettes of guitar shapes with a male and a fe...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

An abstract mid century painting by Duayne Hatchett . Oil on canvas, circa 1973. Signed verso. Framed. Duayne Hatchett was a visual artist whose work included prints, painting...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed verso.

Antique American modernist signed mural study oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed.

Antique American modernist cityscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed.

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

John Teyral (American, 1912-1999) Abstract, 1965 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 32 x 30 inches John Teyral was one of Cleveland's most acclaimed artists. He exhibited in...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

Color, texture, light and shadow interplay in this dark jewel tone abstract by an unknown Bay Area abstract expressionist artist (American, 20th Century). Signed indistinctly ("Cydo"...

Antique American modernist abstract seascape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.

Tempera on paper, signed and dated 1970 lower right. Frame in white lacquered wood and glass, ext. cm. 22 x 22

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Night Garden, 1972 Acrylic on scintilla Signed and dated lower right 21.5 x 21.5 inches 24.25 x 24.25 inches, framed Clarence Holbroo...

Dimensions: 25.5 X 20.5 Frame. Artwork measures 23.25 X 18.25 Ksenia Vladimirovna Ender ( Russian Ксения Владимировна Эндер , also Xenia Ender and Kseniia Ender. born 1895 in Sluzk , died 1955...

Chuta KIMURA (also "Tchuta" or "Tshuta") is an allusive landscape painter and pastellist. His name - composed of the words Ki (tree) and Mura (village) -...

This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...

Paul Brach (American, 1924-2007). "Ahola #13". Oil on canvas. Ex. David and Marion Porter estate. Inscribed on the reverse "Ahola #13 1992, Paul Brach for David - 80 more." This painting was given to Paul's good friend David Porter on his 80th birthday. The East Hampton, NY artist David Porter (1912-2005), was a personal friend of the artist. Included is an exhibition catalogue of Paul Brach paintings. In good condition. Painting measures 23 1/2" x 23 1/2" without the frame. Minimalism, Monochrome Painting in shades of purple...

Hyper Cuber Series. 1978. Gouache on Acrylic on Canvas. 20 x 24 inches

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.

An abstract expressionist painting by Duayne Hatchett . Oil on canvas, circa 1990. Signed verso. Framed. Image size, 60"H x 56"L. Duayne Hatchett was a visual artist whose work included prints, paintings, sculpture, and found objects. He was born on May 12, 1925 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Air Force where he trained to become a fighter pilot. After leaving the militrary he studied design at the University of Oklahoma. His highly technical military training combined a mathematical intelligence with a love for physics and a daring embrace of new experience, all of which would soon be the tools for his evolution through art. Two major influences interacted on his early development at OU. Emelio Omero, a colleague and close friend of Diego Rivera, introduced him to the revolutionary art ideas of Mexico City, while teaching him a wide range of printing techniques that would culminate in a Masters Degree in Painting in 1952. During this time he met Bruce Goff, a renowned Wright disciple, who was teaching architecture at OU and befriended Hatchett, introducing him to the most avant-garde architecture of that time. He spent his summers while at OU designing for a small sign shop, which introduced him to new materials used for building neon, plastic, and metal signs. The use of new materials and a keen sense for design would soon become invaluable building blocks for future sculpture. During this time he met and married Mary Ellen Jeffries. They would spend their lives together and raise three children, David (me), my brother Dana, and my sister Jeffri. As children, they were immersed in art from childhood and benefited greatly from this loving art and domestic environment. Hatchett was always interested in the techniques of construction, often watching different tradesmen working, understanding how materials are put together to create the manmade environment that surrounded him. While teaching printmaking at Oklahoma City University from 1951 through ‘54, he began to build sculpture employing some of the materials and techniques that he saw workers using. He was beginning to draw the attention of architects and he became interested in their work-trade processes, moving from blue prints to construction. He accepted an invitation from Alexander Hogue...

Antique American signed abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 24L x 18H. Circa 1960. This painting has a nice period frame and stong co...

An abstract expressionist painting by Duayne Hatchett . Oil on canvas, circa 1990. Signed verso. Framed. Image size, 60"H x 56"L. Duayne Hatchett was a visual artist whose work included prints, paintings, sculpture, and found objects. He was born on May 12, 1925 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Air Force where he trained to become a fighter pilot. After leaving the militrary he studied design at the University of Oklahoma. His highly technical military training combined a mathematical intelligence with a love for physics and a daring embrace of new experience, all of which would soon be the tools for his evolution through art. Two major influences interacted on his early development at OU. Emelio Omero, a colleague and close friend of Diego Rivera, introduced him to the revolutionary art ideas of Mexico City, while teaching him a wide range of printing techniques that would culminate in a Masters Degree in Painting in 1952. During this time he met Bruce Goff, a renowned Wright disciple, who was teaching architecture at OU and befriended Hatchett, introducing him to the most avant-garde architecture of that time. He spent his summers while at OU designing for a small sign shop, which introduced him to new materials used for building neon, plastic, and metal signs. The use of new materials and a keen sense for design would soon become invaluable building blocks for future sculpture. During this time he met and married Mary Ellen Jeffries. They would spend their lives together and raise three children, David (me), my brother Dana, and my sister Jeffri. As children, they were immersed in art from childhood and benefited greatly from this loving art and domestic environment. Hatchett was always interested in the techniques of construction, often watching different tradesmen working, understanding how materials are put together to create the manmade environment that surrounded him. While teaching printmaking at Oklahoma City University from 1951 through ‘54, he began to build sculpture employing some of the materials and techniques that he saw workers using. He was beginning to draw the attention of architects and he became interested in their work-trade processes, moving from blue prints to construction. He accepted an invitation from Alexander Hogue...