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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
Period: 1980s
L. S. F. vibrant abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 L. S. F., 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, dated and titled verso 48 x 65 inches 48.75 x 65.75 inches, framed R...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

The King, abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 The King of Diamonds Accepts Challenges, 1982 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 47.5 x 47.5 in...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right 24 x 20 inches 25 x 21 inches, framed Richard Andres was born in B...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas 30 x 34 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of th...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

The Challenge, abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 The Challenge, c. 1982 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 60 x 41.5 inches Richard Andres was...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas 12 x 10 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of th...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas 12 x 10 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Instit...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Systema Solar, Large Abstract Painting by Leonardo Nierman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Large early oil painting by noted Mexican abstract artist Leonardo Nierman (1932 - ), signed lower right. Systema Solar Leonardo Nierman, Me...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Terres Rouges
Located in Austin, TX
Oil on canvas. Signed lower right, signed, dated, and titled verso. 59 x 62.75 in. 60.75 x 64.5 in. (framed) Custom framed in a matte white hardwood floater, with gilded metallic front. Roger Mühl was born on December 20, 1929 in Strausbourg, France, where he attended the National School of Decorative Arts. He spent most of his life living and working in Provence, while regularly exhibiting in London, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, and New York. Mühl is best known for his brightly colored, heavily textured landscape renderings of the south of France. His bucolic paintings...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Totem/Pink - bright, colourful, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Canadian artist Milly Ristvedt has been exploring the power of both colour and form for more than four decades. She is considered a master colourist. Art Critic Barry Lord (Art in America) declared that Ristvedt’s paintings were ‘more insistent than Bush, more consciously structured than Molinari.’ In this gorgeous abstract piece, sky blue, orange-red, yellow, black, white and green markings form an engaging vertical composition. Blush pink provides a fresh, modern backdrop. “Colour is the philosopher’s stone that for me represents hope in a time of great challenge for us all.” Milly Ristvedt Born in British Columbia, Ristvedt studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University) and had her first solo exhibit at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in Toronto. In the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with famed Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitiski...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Vintage Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Minimalist New York Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century abstract painting. Signed. Framed.
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Composition in Blue - Paint by Émile Marze - 1980s
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition in Blue is a painting in tempera and watercolor on ivory-colored paper, realized in the 1980s by French artist Émile Marze (1930-2009). Good conditions. The ar...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor

L.O.F.Q. composition.
Located in Como, IT
Giuseppe Minoretti (Erba, Como - 1938) L.O.F.Q. composition. Acrylic on Canvas 1983 Size: 30x30 cm - thickness 3 cm (52 x 52 x 6.5 including frame) Invisible glass Giuseppe Minoret...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer

L.O.F.Q. composition.
Located in Como, IT
Giuseppe Minoretti (Erba, Como - 1938) L.O.F.Q. composition. Acrylic on Canvas 1987 Size: 30x30 cm - thickness 3 cm (52 x 52 x 6.5 including frame) Invisible glass Giuseppe Minoret...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer

L.O.F.L.Q. composition.
Located in Como, IT
Giuseppe Minoretti (Erba, Como - 1938) L.O.F.L.Q. composition. Acrylic on Canvas 1983 Size: 30x30 cm - thickness 3 cm (52 x 52 x 6.5 including frame) Invisible glass Giuseppe Minor...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer

Abstract Composition in Red - Paint by Émile Marze - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition in Red is a painting in tempera and watercolor on ivory-colored paper, realized in the 1980s by French artist Émile Marze (1930-2009). Good conditions. The art...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor

Abstract Composition in Yellow and Green - Paint by Émile Marze - 1980s
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition in Yellow and Green. It is a painting in tempera and watercolor on ivory-colored paper, realized in the 1980s by French artist Émile Marze (1930-2009). Good con...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor

Floral Still Life
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Stefanos Sideris (1921-2014). Floral Still Life, ca. 1980. Oil on panel measuring 11 x 14 inches; 19 x 22 inches framed. Signed lower left.
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Fiberboard

..On Stage...
Located in Como, IT
Paolo Minoli (1942-2004) ...On Stage... 1987 Acrylic on Canvas Size 70x70 cm - thickness 3 cm Bibliography: Pirovano, Paolo Minoli, General Catalog, volume 2, 1959-1979 Paolo Minol...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer

Archipainting
Located in Como, IT
Paolo Minoli (1942-2004) Archipainting 1988 Acrylic paints on canvas Size 60x60 cm - thickness 3 cm Bibliography: Pirovano, Paolo Minoli, General Catalog, volume 2, 1959-1979 Paolo...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer

Free More, original Zabriskie Gallery & Reader's Digest Collection labels signed
Located in New York, NY
Pat Adams Free More, 1989 Acrylic and encaustic painting with varnish on paper laid down on canvas Hand signed and dated on the upper left front Original artist's frame included This...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Varnish, Encaustic, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Pencil, Graphite

Tharrats 9 Lunar Landscape original . . dark. small abstract
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Tharrats lunar landscape- original . . dark. small abstract Son of Josep Tharrats i Vilà, in 1932 he moved to Béziers until 1935, when he returned to Barcelona to study at the Massan...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic

Reflections, large abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Reflections, 1985 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, signed, dated and titled verso 52.5 x 72.5 inches 53 x 73 inches, ...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Summer Idyl, abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Summer Idyl, c. 1985 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 44.75 x 62.75 inches Richard Andres wa...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Mirror, abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Mirror, 1984 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, dated and titled verso 12 x 12 inches Richard Andres was born in Buff...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1984 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right 19 x 16 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 192...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Abstract Expressionist Color Field Painting Indian Artist Sangeeta Reddy
Located in Surfside, FL
Born in 1955, Hyderabad, India, painter and writer Sangeeta Reddy migrated to the United States in 1978 and continued her studies in art. Currently she maintains a studio on Santa F...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Paint, Mixed Media

Abstract Expressionist Color Field Painting Indian Artist Sangeeta Reddy
Located in Surfside, FL
image is 21 X 21 inches; frame: 30 X 30 inches Born in 1955, Hyderabad, India, painter and writer Sangeeta Reddy migrated to the United States in 1978 and continued her studies in a...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paint, Paper, Mixed Media

Numbers Abstract -- Room For One More
Located in Soquel, CA
Compelling small abstract of numbers titled, "Room For One More" by Tom Hamil (American, b. 1928). Circa 1980. Signed upper left corner and on verso. Presented in rustic slat wooden frame. Image size: 12"H x 8.25"W. Tom Hamil, was born in New York in 1928 and raised primarily in California. After attending the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, he returned to California to begin his formal art training at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now known as the San Francisco Art Institute). He completed his education at the University of Washington with a Master’s Degrees and Doctorate in Fine Arts and Education. His first solo exhibition was held in 1956. Since then, he has participated in numerous one man shows, group shows, and has been represented in galleries in the US and Mexico. In addition to his painting, Hamil has authored and illustrated a number of books. While at the Naval Academy, he received recognition for his paintings, drawings, and illustrations. Listed among Hamil’s many awards and honors are a Ford Foundation Fellowship and an Award of Excellence from the American Graphics Society. Currently, he lives in Zirahuen, Michoacan, Mexico and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Hamil’s statement: “I am a man...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Memento, 1989, Oil on canvas, Analytical Painting, Abstract
Located in Milano, IT
In this masterpiece Claudio Olivieri experimented with palette darkening, using a spray gun to distribute the oil and achieve an unprecedented result. In addition, this painting give...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled, Pink, Jute Canvas
Located in Milano, IT
A unique painting by Salvatore Emblema, dating back to the Eighties, Tinted soil on canvas. Signed and dated on verso, with the number of archival at the artist's estate on verso. E...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Neo Expressionism: On The Corner Sheridan Square
Located in Brecon, Powys
East Village Art: From 1978 for 8 years Berlin worked frenetically,at street level, his finger on the pulse of this great city creating The Manhattan Collection. Living & moving in...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink

Two Dogs Pass, Large Four Part Abstract Painting by Donald Sultan 1988
Located in Long Island City, NY
A monumental unique painting in four 48 x 48 inch panels by Donald Sultan. Artist: Donald Sultan, American (1951 - ) Title: Two Dog Pass Year: January 12th, 1988 Medium: Tar and L...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Latex, Wood, Tar

Geometric Abstract #8, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #8" is a 60 x 40 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is estate stamped on ver...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Geometric Abstract #7, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #7" is a 30 x 48 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is signed and dated "MLB...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Geometric Abstract #3, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #3" is a 59.5 x 40 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is estate stamped on v...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Geometric Abstract #4, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #4" is a 30.5 x 48 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is signed and dated "M...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Geometric Abstract #2, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #2" is a 30 x 48 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is signed and dated "MLB...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Geometric Abstract #1, multi colored, Philadelphia artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Geometric Abstract #1" is a 60 x 40 inches oil on board work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is estate stamped on ver...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique American Modernist Abstract Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract painting. Oil and encaustic on canvas, circa 1980. Signed on verso. Displayed in a period frame. Imag...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Contour Detour No. 4 - colorful, abstract, pigmented plaster on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Yvonne Lammerich has used a dynamic pattern, bold colours and geometric form to create this visually stunning contemporary piece. The ‘building block ...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Plaster, Board, Pigment

Current Split - colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, acrylic on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
The graphic, colourful imagery in this powerful abstract painting is by Yvonne Lammerich. The Canadian artist has garnered an international reputation...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Untitled
Located in New York, NY
DIMENSIONS Unframed: 41 x 29 inches Framed: 45 x 33 inches MEDIUM Acrylic on paper SIGNATURE Signed bottom right "Zox" PROVENANCE 1981 Gift of the artist to Katherine Witt (Actres...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Russian Landscape (abstract painting)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Yuri Larin (1936-2014). Landscape, 1986. Watercolor on paper, 16.5 x 17 inches. Mounted on cardboard sheet measuring 24 x 28 inches. Signed and dated lower left. Excellent condition. Image is painted on verso side of block print wallpaper...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

L’horizon mensonger
Located in PARIS, FR
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 : ...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Alkyd

The City at Twilight: Twin Towers II, signed painting, Gruenebaum Gallery label
Located in New York, NY
Sonia Gechtoff The City at Twilight: Twin Towers II, 1985 Acrylic and pencil on paper (held in original frame with Gruenebaum Gallery, NY label) Signed and dated on the front; also b...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Pencil, Graphite

French Extra-Large Grey And White Abstract Painting By Rapfaëlle Pia From 1987
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
Presenting a stunning extra-large French abstract acrylic painting by French artist Raphaëlle Pia (1942-). This contemporary artwork exhibits a remarkably vivid quality, achieved through the harmonious interplay of a pale color palette and bold, large brushstrokes. The painting is countersigned. ‘R. Pia’ is signed in the bottom right corner of the canvas, and 'Raphaëlle PIA' is signed on the reverse side of the canvas. It is dated 1987, is titled ‘ ("Guanorgile") "Guanos II" ’, and its' medium is noted to be 'acrylique s/ toile (et technique mixte)' which translates to 'acrylic paint on canvas and mixed technique'. There is also a reference to a Parisian street that is partially crossed out...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

QED Gravity #2 - large, colorful, contemporary, abstract, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This intriguing colourful contemporary painting so impressively large in scale and architectural in form is by Canada’s Yvonne Lammerich. Recognized both nationally and international...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Down in the Valley" - Vintage Abstract Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Dramatic and vibrant mixed media abstract by California artist Doris Sherwyn (American, 1927-2015). Signed lower right "Doris Sherwyn" Artist's card affixed to verso. Unframed. Can...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Acrylic, Rag Paper, Stretcher Bars

Currents#9 - bold, colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, acrylic on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
For decades, Yvonne Lammerich has produced evocative contemporary artwork that has been exhibited internationally. This series of colourful graphic ac...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Currents#11 - bold, colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, acrylic on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
For decades, Yvonne Lammerich has produced evocative contemporary artwork that has been exhibited internationally This series of colourful graphic acr...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

QED Gravity #1 - large, colorful, contemporary, abstract, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This intriguing colourful contemporary painting so impressively large in scale and architectural in form is by Canada’s Yvonne Lammerich. Recognized both nationally and international...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Currents#4 - bold, colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, acrylic on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
For decades, Yvonne Lammerich has produced evocative contemporary artwork that has been exhibited internationally. This series of colourful graphic ac...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Currents#1 - bold, colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, acrylic on board
Located in Bloomfield, ON
With its bold form and striking black palette, this large circular painting by Yvonne Lammerich makes a dramatic contemporary statement. The actual scale of the circle is related to ...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Jacob's Well
Located in New Orleans, LA
Richard Saba Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1946 Education: Minneapolis College of Art & Design, B.F.A. 1968 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, 1967 University of Wash...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Mixed media on paper, 1981 Signed and dated 1981 lower left (see photo) Provenance: Knoedler Gallery, New York (label) Charles Cowles Gallery, New York The Collection of Jan...
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1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Gouache

Large Michael David Abstract Expressionist Encaustic Painting Museum Exhibited
Located in Surfside, FL
Michael David (b. 1954) Billie's Tree Signed, Titled, and Dated 1982 Verso. Provenance: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (bears label en verso) where it had been exhibited for nearly two decades. It was also Exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA NYC) just after he won the National Guggenheim Award. The Piece Measures approximately 70" x 71" x 8" Deep. Michael David Singer; born 1954, is an American painter. Born in Reno, Nevada, David's family relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised. He attended SUNY Fredonia for one year and in 1976 received a B.F.A. from Parson's School of Design. Michael David is classified as an abstract painter, best known for his use of the encaustic technique, a was pigmentation technique which incorporates pigment with heated beeswax. He is also known for his works in mixed-media figure painting, photography and environmental sculpture. He often incorporates religious iconography and symbolism, art historical themes such as the nude, and contemporary politics into his paintings resulting in a critical dialogue between the layered abstraction of the surface and the integrated representational imagery. His work is included in the permanent public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Jewish Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. In 1976 David, erotic photographer Roy Stuart and Fredonia friend Richie Stotts formed a band called The Numbers, with David on bass. The group was a fixture in New York's early punk rock music scene, playing in clubs alongside punk pioneers Television, Blondie and the Ramones. David also played bass with punk innovators Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls, Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys, Marky Ramone, Peter Gordon, David Van Tieghem and the free-improvisation noise music group Borbetomagus. In 1977, The Numbers were approached by impresario Rod Swenson, who was seeking musicians to form a backing band for singer Wendy O. Williams, whose radical persona he sought to exploit as punk music and performance art. The Numbers became The Plasmatics but the attention David began to gain as an important voice in the art world caused him to leave the band to pursue his burgeoning painting career. David's first one-man show was in 1981 at the historic Sidney Janis Gallery. That year he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, at the time the youngest artist ever to do so, and in 1982 was awarded an American Academy of Arts and Letters prize. He went on to exhibit at galleries worldwide and was represented by Knoedler & Co. for the next 25 years. David is best known for using the encaustic technique of painting, which uses pigment combined with heated beeswax. David built his early career on abstraction and religious iconography, which formed the bulk of his output until 1999. Since then he has also experimented with representational painting and traditional photography. In 2000, he developed the "Chortens" and "Populations" series, about which prominent art historian and critic Donald Kuspit writes: "They are enigmatic works, all the more so because of the way their innumerable details form singularly monumental, intimidating wholes. Dense yet delicate, awesome yet intimate, they convey the fragility as well as grandeur of sheer being. Layer upon layer of paint piles up like layer upon layer of coral, but the textural result is more epic, not to say startling, than any coral island, and virtually any other existing abstract expressionist painting (upon which they are stylistically founded)." In 2001, David developed bi-lateral neuropathy due to being poisoned by gases released by overheated beeswax used in the encaustic process. The disease left him with partial paralysis of his legs, slowing the production of his painting for a number of years. That year, David began painting one of his best-known series, the "fallen Toreadors", inspired by 19th century French Realist painter Édouard Manet's "The Dead Toreador" of 1864. In 1993, David experimented at the "20x24" Polaroid studio in Manhattan, which resulted in a series of portraits of playwright Edward Albee and of friend Jackie Gross, which would become the ongoing "Jackie" series of mixed-media works. When neuropathy rendered him unable to paint during 2003, he returned to the 20x24 camera and shot large-format Polaroids inspired by Caravaggio; nude men and women dressed as Toreadors, and religious imagery. In 2002, David began to develop The Greenhouse Project, an evolving "architectural construct" based on historical American Antebellum greenhouses built using the actual glass negatives sold to starving farmers in the post-American Civil War South. David has indicated that each greenhouse will, through the display of photography and use of social networking, create a forum and exhibit for ideas and artifacts related to civil and human rights; the specifications of each greenhouse particular to the community in which each is built. David's work was reviewed in Artforum and Art in America, and is considered one of the last links to the New York School of painting. David may be the most innovative master of immediate surface since the abstract expressionists. He has acknowledged his debt to Abstract Expressionism, but he has transformed it. Where the abstract expressionist paintings of the forties and fifties seem like modern cave paintings, as their crude, unfocused, often meandering, turbulent painterliness suggests, and as such to reinstate prehistory, David seems to turn the cave into a temple, as his more considered, concentrated, indeed, dense, contemplative painterliness indicates, so that his paintings have the aura of post history. SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2023 Radiate, Garvey Simon, New York, New York 2021 Selections from NYFA - Courtesy of the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation, New York, New York 2020 Bill Lowe Gallery Presents: Masterworks from the Gallery 2016 The Golem, The Jewish Museum of Berlin, Berlin, Germany In a Post-World: Post-Punk Art Now, The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, New York 2014 Gallery Artists, Bentley Gallery, Pheonix, Arizona 2011 Post Mammalian Tension: Michael David & Scott Browning, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia 1999 Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America, Montclair Art Museum, (Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg etc) Forty Years of American Drawings, Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany Germany Summertime, Knoedler & Company, New York, New York 1997 Michael David and James Hyde...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Wood, Paint, Encaustic, Wax

Orange Portal - Vintage Latin American School Original Abstract
Located in Soquel, CA
Orange Portal - Vintage Latin American School Original Abstract Bright and bold abstract painting by Latin American California-based artist, Ric...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

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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