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Abstract Abstract Paintings

ABSTRACT STYLE

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.

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Style: Abstract
Color:  White
"Kinetic Knot No. 2/2" Abstract Representational Knot Painting Work on Paper
Located in New York, NY
This piece represents a part of the artist's "Kinetic Knots" series which symbolizes shapes of the knots that are not planned. It is like the “Dao” grabbing the artist and the power ...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Pen, Black and White

A Great Smile
Located in New Orleans, LA
Max Ryan's work focuses on dynamic compositions, clean lines, and repetition of form. While working in varying media, his work incorporates the energy of contemporary graphic culture...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Panel

Elizabeth Riley, Rocking Shapes, 2017, Polyester, Acrylic Paint, Inkjet Print
Located in Darien, CT
Elizabeth Riley’s work addresses questions concerning the complex and changing world we inhabit and our “mixed reality,” living between physical and digital/virtual contexts – are we our everyday, familiar, material past, or our digital future, and is this apparent “mixed reality” of the moment to be embraced or resisted. Is the digital present the bells and whistles of an unchanged and familiar humanity or does it define us, and the future. This project is embodied in tabletop cityscapes, structural wall works and installations including video, inkjet-printed video stills, and found home furnishings. Other continuing threads at play in my body of work are the struggle to overcome oppression as a woman – and a relationship with the urban environment and constructed space, as both personal and paradigmatic space. Exhibited in Excessive Frugalities, Digital Feet and Rocking Posture are three dimensional wall works made from multicolored video stills inkjet-printed on paper, and paint on the tough mylar-like material, duralar. These work combine illusionistic space with constructed elements in a multidimensional mashup of traditional and new mediums. . A long time New Yorker, Elizabeth Riley graduated from Barnard College and received an MFA from Hunter College. In April 2017, the site-specific participatory installation, City Remix, appeared in the exhibition Reconstruct at LIU, in Brooklyn, and in June 2017 the 20 x 20 ft installation, Paper Dragons, Broolyn, which functions as a walk-in, physical video, appeared in Bigger Bolder Better at 470 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, sponsored by Chashama. In 2016 a multipart tabletop cItyscape, Video City, appeared in the exhibition, Land, Air, Place at Project ARTspace in Manhattan. In 2014-2015 large-scale installations by the artist appeared in exhibitions of site-specific work in Brooklyn at Storefront Ten Eyck, curated by Karin Bravin, and in Atlanta and Duluth, Georgia presented by Dashboard. In 2011-2013 her work was exhibited in a number of 2- and 3-person shows or screenings, including at Kijdome, Boston, and dB Visual Artist Series / Dungeon Beach, Storefront Bushwick, Creon Gallery and Studio Salon curated by David Gibson, all in New York City. Groups shows include exhibitions at Denise Bibro Fine Arts, Lesley Heller Workspace, Van Der Plas Gallery, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Norte Maar, Associated Gallery, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Active Space, Sugar in Bushwick, NY Studio Gallery, Sideshow Gallery, PS 122, and Nurtureart. Elizabeth Riley's videos have appeared in screenings at home and abroad, including venues in England, Madrid, Copenhagen and Berlin. She was awarded a BRIC Media Arts Fellowship in 2014 and has been honored with twelve artist residencies, including the Heliker-Lahotan Residency, Great Cranberry Island...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Polyester, Paper, Acrylic, Inkjet

Sun and Steel Number Two
Located in Santa Monica, CA
A California native, Peter Lodato began making work in the late 1960s as part of the West Coast-specific Light and Space movement. Aligned with the concerns of his contemporaries, Lo...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Red Cloth 128
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bettina Mauel expresses vitality and sensuality in her abstract and figurative paintings. “I paint what I experience,” she articulates. “This includes landscapes, dancers and peopl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Ink, Archival Paper

Xavi Carbonell, Untitled, Mixed media on paper, 2016
Located in New York, NY
Spanish artist Xavi Carbonell born 1971, actively paints like a child as an adult, and leaves all of his pieces "untitled" so that each viewer can create their own story. The result...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Paper

4.84
Located in Phoenix, AZ
oil and wax on canvas Mala Breuer grew up attending classes in painting and drawing from a young age at the California College of Arts and Crafts. After high school she attended th...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wax, Oil

Freehand Cut with Surgical Scalpel, Silk-Screened: 'Orange Blend Circle-In'
Located in New York, NY
“CUT WORK” is an evolving examination of emotion experienced through the inspired meeting of blade and paper. Beginning with the featureless plane of a blank paper canvas and a surge...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Plexiglass, Adhesive, Acrylic, Board

Aurelio Ayela, The longest way away from a point, 2007
Located in New York, NY
"El camino mas largo para alejarse de un punto" by Auerlio Ayela is a unique abstract illustration in marker and acrylic on paper. A thick red line descends from the center top of t...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Permanent Marker

'Abstract, Indigo and Ivory', Large SF Bay Area Modernist oil, Legion of Honor
By Fenton Kastner
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed verso "F. Kastner" for Fenton Kastner (American, 1915-2008), dated 1955, and titled "Waterfront-IV". Old label verso inscribed with artist's name and title. A dynamic, mid-...
Category

1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Triste Rey Billie
Located in New York, NY
Vinyl and doily collage on paper yoda98
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"Event Horizon" Abstract Geometrical Shape Painting Work on Paper Framed
Located in New York, NY
Wolfgang Leidhold is a prominent contemporary German painter, drawing upon mythological, geometric, religious, and historical themes to depict his whimsical vision of the world. Infl...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Oil, Acrylic

Xavi Carbonell, Untitled, 2012, Mixed media on paper
Located in New York, NY
Spanish artist Xavi Carbonell born 1971, actively paints like a child as an adult, and leaves all of his pieces "untitled" so that each viewer can create their own story. The resulti...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Paper

Aurelio Ayela, Rocky, 2007
Located in New York, NY
This marker and collage on paper is a unique abstract illustration in reds and grays on a white background. Aurelio Ayela earned his degree in graphic and industrial design at la ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Permanent Marker

Untitled
Located in New York, NY
2015 Oil on canvas 48 x 48 in. (121.9 x 121.9 cm) Signed and dated, verso
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled, Silkscreen, Abstract Artist, Geometric, Minimalism, Hard-Edge
Located in Hamburg, DE
Carmen Herrera (Cuban, b. 1915) Untitled, 2018 Medium: Silkscreen in colors Dimensions: 76.2 x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in) Edition of 50: Hand signed and numbered Condition: Mint
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Screen

White
Located in Miami, FL
Digital mosaic. Limited and signed edition, number 3 of 8. Edition original 8 ex + 3 EA. Joël Moens is a serial creator. Over the course of his lifetime, he has spawned over fifteen different businesses. Nowadays, and almost schizophrenically, he switches between his businessman’s hat and his artist’s hat at the mere click of a mouse, given that this disciple of the philosophy of action devotes his time to digital art. His artistic 'love at first sight' moment was his discovery of and introduction to photo mosaics. This is a process which renews the ancient technique of mosaic and is testament to the change in status of the image that resulted from the technological revolutions of the end of the twentieth century. The particular works of Joël Moens are made up of scores of feminine curves, that when assembled form a unified whole. The tiny photographic images lend a real sense of depth to the artist’s work, an idea of infinity. They can be read in two ways, depending on whether the viewer is looking at the content or the form. This reflects the ambivalence of his existence where he alternates between his activities as a businessman and his work as an artist. The photo mosaics of Joël Moens de Hase first began to emerge in 2011. They rapidly caught the interest of a national and international viewership, and both were highly receptive. This digital art form, a contemporary alternative of pixel art...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Mosaic

Untitled O2105
Located in New York, NY
2021 Oil on canvas S. 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Signed and dated in pencil
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pale Green Square
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Pale Green Square, 1977 - 2018 36 x 36 inches acrylic on canvas
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Kimono with Heron, Ivory and Yellow-Green
Located in New Orleans, LA
Diana Greenberg’s abstract color field paintings are meditations on rhythm and color found in nature. Her intuitive process begins by taking inspiration from striking color combinat...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

Untitled (16.P2)
Located in New Orleans, LA
Leslie Wilkes’ pieces are an explosion of shape and color. With near perfect symmetry, these works exhibit opaque and smooth surfaces. “Wilkes’ geometric patterns are unique in that ...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Léon Zack - Lyrical Abstract Composition - Signed Oil on Canvas
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Léon Zack Lyrical Abstract Composition Signed Oil on Canvas 50 x 61 cm Léon Zack (1892-1980) Léon Zack was a Russian émigré who became a leading exp...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

White
Located in New York, NY
EDWARD DUGMORE White, 1962 Oil on canvas 78 1/2 x 90 1/2 inches
Category

20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Signifiant non antérieurement défini
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Magalie Comeau is an explorer. She finds spaces and scrutinizes them, taking time to mull over and dissect them in her mind. She then thoughtfully re-pieces these sites on her canvas...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract abstract paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add abstract paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Nestor Toro, Giorgio Lo Fermo, Newel Hunter, and Sumit Mehndiratta. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Synthetic Resin Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract abstract paintings, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.

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