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.
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Style: Abstract
Period: 1950s
"Yellow"
By Rex Ashlock
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Rex Ashlock (1918 – 1999)
Born in Spokane, Washington in 1918 Rex Ashlock was known for his abstract, figurative expression...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Series 67 No.4 abstract oil painting by Jack Wolsky
Located in Hudson, NY
Series 67, No. 4 (1955)
Oil on masonite
48" x 24 ½"
49" x 25 ¼" x 1 ¾" framed
About this artist: Jack Wolsky was born in 1930 in Rochester, New York.
He taught in the Department o...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Mid Century Modern Boats and Bridge, Abstracted Maritime Landscape Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Modern Boats and Bridge, Abstracted Maritime Landscape Painting
Wonderful mid-century modern abstracted maritime seascape by listed San...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
Antique American Signed Abstract Expressionist Female Modern Sunset Oil Painting
By Gloria Banning
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract expressionist signed oil painting by Gloria Banning (1924-2007). Oil on canvas, circa 1954. Signed. Titled, "Sunset Vignette" on verso. Display...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled
By Peter Busa
Located in Provincetown, MA
This abstract smaller work bursting with the effects of light which contrast with and relieve the deftly applied impasto, is dynamic for Busa. The painting was completed in 1955 duri...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Anemone Pool Abstraction
Located in Lawrence, NY
Casein on paper
Like many of his compatriots of the time, Shulman transitioned from representation to abstraction in the post-WWII period as he studied with Hans Hoffman. Yet, his wo...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Casein
White Landscape, Abstract Expressiont Collage by Keith Morrow Martin 1959
Located in Long Island City, NY
An abstract collage on wood by Kenneth Morrow Martin, American (1911-1983). Exhibited: 1st Knoxville Art Center National Exhibtion, 1961
White Landscape by Keith Morrow Martin, Amer...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Varnish, Magazine Paper
Guinovart. 13 painting cardboard
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Guinovart.
Josep Guinovart i Bertran (Barcelona 1927-2007) was a painter, draftsman and engraver from Catalonia, Spain.
After studying at the School of the Lonja and the Promotion ...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Anemone Pool Abstraction
Located in Lawrence, NY
Casein on paper
Like many of his compatriots of the time, Shulman transitioned from representation to abstraction in the post-WWII period as he studied with Hans Hoffman. Yet, his wo...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Casein
Surface CP/869 Steel
Located in Roma, RM
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...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media, Tempera
Untitled
By Richard Pousette-Dart
Located in Miami, FL
Acrylic on masonite. This is a pivotal work in deep and radiant cobalt blue from 1950. It dipicts calligraphic and hieroglyph structures over a grid and pyramidal base by the first generation abstract expressionist.
Provenance: Skinner: November 13, 1992 [Lot 00219}, The entry in the Skinner catalog indicates that the painting came directly from the artist to the family of the consignor to Skinner. Kaminsky Auctions. There is an unbroken paper trail that traces the ownership of the painting from the current owner, through two auction houses to the artist. Perfect unbroken provenance.
Pousette-Dart was among the most inventive of the Abstract Expressionist generation, His uncanny talent was to expand the nature of abstraction and still make each mark each element very much his own; a reflection of what he called "the concealed power of the spirit," he said, “not of the brute physical form." His was not aiming for a singular, realized aesthetic formula but to expand the possibilities of painting; the transcendental in painting. Typical of such invention and exploration is this painting Untitled 1950 when the artist was only 34 years old and represented by one of the champions of the new American painting, Betty Parsons.
A banner year for Pousette-Dart, the Museum of Modern Art acquired their first painting by the Minnesota born artist. He worked on easel size works such as this painting an oil on masonite. At the same time Pousette-Dart was also working on larger scale works such as Path of the Hero, running over ten feet in length now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both contain fields of color articulated by a highly sophisticated white hieroglyphic vocabulary. Rather than demonstrate an expressionist sensibility, Pousette-Dart harnesses his more cerebral ideas transforming thick areas of paint into a more refined composition of geometric forms akin to the pattern and forms of say a stained glass window. In a way he is looking back at Fugue, 1940 a black and white composition which makes use of a similar format of painting albeit smaller. Color and form are minimal, but what Pousette-Dart has maximized is the rhythmic and syncopated character of painting casting his ideas into purely symbolic terms that one might link to the pictograms of Adolph Gottlieb. Nonetheless, nature is always at the core of Pousette-Dart’s thinking and dreaming. Here he has transformed the local Ramapo Mountains—where he will eventually move with his family to live and work— into a complex series of articulated fragments linked by style, scale and color. The painting’s imagery built on two large triangles and reduced to just two colors, cobalt blue and white all outlined in black. Pousette-Dart symbols stacked in horizontal and vertical rows: blue is ground, white is language, symbolic of light, consciousness and awareness . The painting maintains a mystical character images compounded that formulate a secret code and linked to the series of white paintings Pousette-Dart authored in the first half of the 1950s. Get up close to the picture and you discover images within images a kind of picture puzzle...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Acrylic
Untitled
By Paul Brach
Located in Austin, TX
Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right.
41.75 x 61 in.
44 x 63 in. (framed)
Custom framed in a hardwood floater with a matte white finish.
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Eri...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled, 1952
By John Stephan
Located in Columbia, MO
John Walter Stephan was an early member of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism. He was born in Chicago and studied art at the University of Illinois and the Art Institute o...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Incredible Mid Century Abstract Artist Interior Studio View Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very impressive mid 20th century modernist interior view. So well painted with great color and bold expressive strokes. Signed illegibly. Housed in a period modernist frame. Oil ...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Large Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Flower Still Life Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century abstract expressionist oil painting. Titled in verso, "The Dragonfly and the Flower". Great color and composition. Framed in a simple white wood moderni...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled Biomorphic
Located in Lawrence, NY
Pastel on paper
Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, R...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Exhibited Abstract Expressionist Framed Modernist Street Scene Signed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century abstract expressionist oil painting by Erwin Wending (1914 - 1993). Great color and composition. Framed. Signed. Exhibition and museum labels verso.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Framed American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Fauvist Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American abstract landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (The Opening), Abstraction by American Female Modernist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Untitled (The Opening)" is a 36 x 30 inches, oil on canvas painting by American modernist and surrealist, female artist Peter Miller. The work is estate stamped #202157 on verso. Th...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Abstract Moonlit Landscape, signed "Douvos"
Located in New Orleans, LA
Abstract Moonlit Landscape, signed and dated "Douvos"
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Pont
Located in Lawrence, NY
Amaranth Ehrenhalt was a multifaceted artist best known for her paintings. She was
part of the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, working first in New York in
the early 19...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Antique American School Female Artist Abstract Expressionist Cubist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique modernist abstract painting by Elsie Orfuss (Born 1913). Oil on canvas. Signed on verso. Nicely framed.
`
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Composition
Located in Malmo, SE
Artwork size: 97x195 cm.
Frame size 123x222 cm.
Provenance: Private collection Stockholm, Sweden
André Lanskoy was born in Moscow in 1902 and died in Paris in 1976. After studies in...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled, Tidal Pool Abstraction
Located in Lawrence, NY
Like many of his compatriots of the time, Shulman transitioned from representation to abstraction in the post-WWII period as he studied with Hans Hoffman. Yet, his work, whether or a...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Casein
Antique American School Female Artist Abstract Expressionist Cubist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique modernist abstract painting by Elsie Orfuss (Born 1913). Oil on canvas. Signed on verso. Nicely framed.
`
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled Abstract Expressionist
By Sandro von Lorsch
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Expressionist Abstract Composition
Canvas size 24"x32" gold leaf frame 27"x35", signed lower right corner.
Sandro von Lorsch German painter born 1921-1993. Very dynamic and expressi...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Sidonia
Located in Lawrence, NY
Amaranth Ehrenhalt was a multifaceted artist best known for her paintings. She was
part of the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, working first in New York in
the early 19...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Cordell
Located in Lawrence, NY
Amaranth Ehrenhalt was a multifaceted artist best known for her paintings. She was
part of the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, working first in New York in
the early 19...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Untitled Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting New York Artist
By John Opper
Located in Beachwood, OH
John Opper (American, 1908 - 1994)
Untitled, 1959
Oil on board
Signed and dated lower right
14.75 in. h x 18 in. w.
20 in. h. x 24.5 in. w., as framed
John Opper described the 1930s...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
'Large Abstract', San Francisco Bay Area, North Beach, Beat, Beatnik, Big Sur
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'K. Sanzenbach' for Keith Sanzenbach (American, 1931-1964) and dated 1956. Additionally signed, verso, and with the artist's Lagunitas, California address.
The ...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil, Gouache
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Geometric Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. No signature found.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Large Vintage American School New York Modernist Abstract Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage abstract original oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American School Modernist Abstract Beach Cape Cod Storm Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Black And White Abstract - Oil And Gouache On Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Black And White Abstract - Oil And Gouache On Paper
Black and white abstract painting by Felix Ruvolo (American, 1912-1992). Grey takes over the center of the paper with strokes of ...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil, Watercolor, Gouache
"Untitled" Angelo Ippolito, Yellow 1950s Abstract Expressionism, New York School
Located in New York, NY
Angelo Ippolito
Untitled, 1952
Signed and dated on the reverse
Oil on canvas
16 x 36 inches
Provenance:
Gloria Torrice
Estate of the above
Liana Torrice, West Orange, New Jersey, by...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Cubist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Naturescape Rare Oil Painting
By Adele Becker
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Adele Becker. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Memphis Tennessee Signed Huge Exhibited Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Exhibited.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
“Untitled”
By John Little
Located in Southampton, NY
Early, original oil on canvas painting by the well known American abstract expressionist artist, John Little. Signed and dated lower right, 1958.
Signed and dated verso. Rose Fried...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique Scottish Modernist Still Life Signed Cubist Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique Scottish modernist still life by David McClure (1926 - 1998). Original oil painting. Framed. Signed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Antique American Abstract Expressionist Large Signed Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 21H x 40L. Signed on verso.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique Scottish Modernist Still Life Signed Cubist Abstract Oil Painting
By David McClure
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique Scottish modernist still life by David McClure (1926 - 1998). Original oil painting. Framed. Signed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Large Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Blue Wave
Located in Lawrence, NY
Like many of his compatriots of the time, Shulman transitioned from representation to abstraction in the post-WWII period as he studied with Hans Hoffman. Yet, his work, whether or a...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Casein
Untitled
Located in Lawrence, NY
Like many of his compatriots of the time, Shulman transitioned from representation to abstraction in the post-WWII period as he studied with Hans Hoffman. Yet, his work, whether or a...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Casein, Archival Paper
Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Surreal Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on paper. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Thought Provoking Rock Quarry - Mid Century Abstract
Located in Miami, FL
This meticulously planned, designed, and executed work depicts an ultra-wide angle view of a rock quarry/mine. The viewer looks down at close-up-stylized rock formations and then ou...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Gouache, Board
Large Scale Antique American Abstract Expressionist Signed Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled Biomorphic
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family
Gouache on paper
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world aro...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Gouache
American Modernist Black Woman Artist New Orleans Family Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist southern school painting. A family portrait on a New Orleans porch. Beautiful detail in the wrought iron. Brilliant color palette here. Signed verso. ...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Monumental American Modernist Abstract Art Nouveau Fall Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstracted landscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. No signature found.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Monumental NYC Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. No signature found.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"El Torero- The Bullfighter" Circa 1950's Pierre Ambrogiani (France, 1905-1985)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"El Torero-The Bullfighter"
Pierre Ambrogiani (France, 1905-1985)
Oil on canvas
Circa 1950's
28 1/4 x 20 3/4 (31 1/4 x 23 3/4 frame) inches
"If Diego Velázquez and Henri Matisse h...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Vintage American School Abstract Expressionist Large Neutral Tone Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Impressionist Lower Manhattan New York Street Scene Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American impressionist street scene oil painting by Anthony Springer (1928 - 1995). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Image size size, 21H x 17L.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
French Expressionism "The Lumberjacks" Pierre Ambrogiani, Circa 1950s
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"The Lumberjacks"
Pierre Ambrogiani (France, 1905-1985)
Oil on canvas
Circa 1950's
27 x 22 1/2 (frame)
Self-taught artist from a very young age, influenced by Seyssaud and Chabaud,...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Monumental Antique American Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Large scale and incredible quality in person. Confident artist at work here! Nicely framed.
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Modernist Signed Female Artist Abstract Expressionist Painting
By Adele Becker
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Adele Becker (1929 - 2021). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.
Category
1950s 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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