Modern Abstract Paintings

This is an original abstract acrylic painting on canvas. Discover new works by Julia Craig available to buy online and in our art gallery. Julia is an abstract artist whose love of c...

"Dusseldorf, Germany" 1993, oil on canvas, hand signed and dated lower left, Canvas (unframed):18 X 48. framed: 19.5 X 49.5 Provenance: directly from the artist. Exhibited at Phyllis Kind Gallery in NYC in 1987. Archie Rand (American, born 1949) is an artist from Brooklyn, New York. Rand's work as a painter and muralist is held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. His graphic works and books are held by the Metropolitan Museum Of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute Of Chicago, The Brooklyn Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and The New York Public Library; and are owned by Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, and Johns Hopkins universities. Born in Brooklyn, Rand received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in cinegraphics from the Pratt Institute, having studied previously at the Art Students League of New York. His first exhibition was in 1966, at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York. He has since had over 100 solo exhibitions, and his work has been included in over 200 group exhibitions. He is currently Presidential Professor of Art at Brooklyn College which granted him the Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement in 2016. Before joining Brooklyn College, Rand was the chair of the Department of Visual Arts at Columbia University. The Italian Academy For Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University presented him with The Siena Prize in 1995. He was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Foundation Fellowship in 1999 and was made a Laureate of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, which awarded him the Achievement Medal for Contributions in the Visual Arts. In 2002 he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Columbia University. In 2002 he became the artistic advisor to film director Ang Lee for his production of The Hulk, and was asked by Milestone Films to provide a commentary track for the DVD release of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic 1955 film The Mystery of Picasso. Archie Rand’s earliest major works are “The Letter Paintings” (or “The Jazz Paintings”) (1968–71), a radically positioned series of technically inventive, mural-sized canvases. The Letter Paintings, by incorporating the names of mainly male and female African-American musicians, undermined prevailing aesthetic categories by conflating many contemporary movements including Conceptual Art, Color Field, Pattern and Decoration, diary entry and social commentary. In 1974 Rand received a commission from Congregation B’nai Yosef in Brooklyn. Rand was asked to paint thematic murals on the complete 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) interior surfaces of the synagogue. The work took three years, and completing this commission made Rand the author of the only narratively painted synagogue in the world and the only one we know of since the 2nd Century Dura-Europos. The religious legal controversy raised by placing wall paintings in a traditionally iconoclastic space was resolved by the verdict of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, then considered to be the world’s leading Talmudic scholar, who declared the paintings to be in conformity with the law. His subsequent turn to figuration may have been influenced by his friendship with Philip Guston, whose own work was transformed in the late 1960s. Like Guston, Rand "chafed at the limitations of purely abstract forms." A near-cult figure who started out as a child prodigy and whose admirers range from John Ashbery to Julian Schnabel. Rand’s paintings display a vast and savvy menu of inventive and finely executed approaches. He has completed many series after the works of Paul Celan, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Eugenio Montale, Yehuda Amichai, Rainer Maria Rilke, Samuel Beckett/Paul Eluard and Jack Spicer. Working often with poets, he has produced books and continues to engage in publishing collaborative projects. He maintained a correspondence with the American British Jewish painter R.B. Kitaj. In 2008, on a warehouse wall, Rand mounted the painting, “The 613”, which at 1700 square feet (17’ x 100’) is nearly twice the size of James Rosenquist’s F-111. It is one of the largest freestanding paintings ever made. Reminiscent of “The Segments” paintings it is intimidatingly enormous. Paradoxically, despite the raucous cartoony bytes that shoot colorful flashes from the manic surface, “The 613” glows warmly. Its overall effect is strangely calming and majestic. In an article on a 2011 exhibition of Rand's "Had Gadya" series, David Kaufmann wrote: Rand displayed his work in 15 solo exhibitions between 2008 and 2017, many of them showcasing paintings done after Scripture, or his workings with poets: Including “Had Gadya, 2005”, Borowsky Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (2011); “Gods Change, Prayers Are Here To Stay (after Yehuda Amichai), 2000", Katz Gallery, Atlanta, GA (2014); “Psalm 68, 1994”, Derfner Museum, Riverdale, NY (2014); “The Chapter Paintings”, Tribeca Gallery, NY (2015); “Men Who Turn Back (after Eugenio Montale), 1995", SRO Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2016); “Sixty Paintings From the Bible” & “The Book of Judith, 2012”, Cleveland State University Galleries, Cleveland, OH (2016) & The American Jewish Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2017); “Archie Rand: Early Works With Poetry: Jack Spicer, 1991 and Samuel Beckett/Paul Eluard, 1993”, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY (2017). "The 613" In 2015 Blue Rider/Penguin/Random House published The 613, allotting one color plate per page for each of the 614 units in the painting. The Wall Street Journal labeled The 613 as “dynamic…remarkable…thrilling” The New York Times selected the book as “Editors' Choice” and praised it in two separate reviews calling it “wonderfully garish” and declaring that “nothing prepared the art world for 'The 613.' Recent Activity In 2016 Rand showed two bodies of work that were done in Italy, “La Certosa Di Pontignano, 1995” and “Mount Etna, 2005,” at The Interchurch Center Galleries, New York. From 2016 to 2017 he served as the Curator and Juror for the Governor of Wyoming’s Capitol Arts Exhibition at The Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, WY. A 2017 exhibition, “Archie Rand: Early Works With Poetry”, featured two series of work from 1991 and 1993 after poems by Jack Spicer and Samuel Beckett/Paul Eluard. This painting was exhibited in the Phyllis Kind Gallery in NY in 1987. (Phyllis Kind was an American art dealer active in Chicago and New York. She promoted the work of the Chicago Imagists, The Monster Roster and The Hairy Who and outsider artists. Kind opened a gallery in Chicago in 1967. Called Pro Grafica Arte, the gallery dealt in master prints and drawings. In 1975, she opened a gallery on Spring Street in New York's SoHo district. She gave some of the artists in the movement their first solo shows: Jim Nutt and Gladys Nilsson...

Red, blue, and green modern abstract female nude by Russian artist, Ben Benn. This painting depicts a nude woman with her lower body wrapped in a...

Artist: Willering Epko, French (1928 - ) Title: Untitled Year: circa 1950 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 15 in. x 18 in. (38.1 cm x 45.72 cm)

Modern Cubist inspired colorful desert landscape painting by the iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. The work features an abstract cluster of purple, coral, and yellow cacti s...

Ricky Hunt’s mixed-media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past, which led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acryl...

Louis Wolchonok was a social realist painter and member of the Woodstock Art Association. His work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Academy of Design...

An original Acrylic and Oil on canvas by Andy Gradwell. Greek Island Painting. circa 2012 Signed. 65cm x65cm. Landscape /seascape. Semi abstract ...

André Verdet ( 1913 - 2004 ) . Artiste français né à Nice (alpes maritimes ) mort à Saint Paul de Vence . poète , peintre , sculpteur , céramiste , mus...

Sunil Das - Untitled - 31 x 20 inches (unframed size) Wood, Iron, Oil & Mixed Media on Board Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Sunil Das (1939-2015) was a Master Modern I...

Amitabh Sengupta - The Face Nigeria Period , Edition 1/1 Frottage on Paper , 30.5 x 22.5 inches , 1986 Inclusive of shipment in roll form. Style : In Amitabh SenGupta's works TIME i...

Laimdots Murnieks had a significant influence on the development of Latvian painting at the end of the 20th century. His work 'Holiday' conveys the f...

INTERSECTIONS OF GREY Size: 65 x 85 cm (including frame) Oil on board A very large mid century modernist abstract composition, painted in oil onto board. Almost monochrome in its p...

Abstract figurative painting on board. Carl Bredemier label on the reverse. Framed. Oil on board

mixed media on wood, acrylic paint 25" x 11" 8" 2015 In this piece, Zin Helena song uses a vertical panel, evoking the shape of an urban building. Her strips of paint ride verti...

mixed media on wood, acrylic paint In this piece, Zin Helena Song utilizes a sharp triangular shape as her wood panel. This shape is common in city grids, like when Broadway meet...

Modern light blue, brown, and black geometric abstract circle pattern painting by textile designer John Little. The work was created as a proposed design for a wallpaper and features the original color codes in the front lower left corner. Currently hung in a solid black frame with a large white margin. Dimensions Without Frame: H 32.75 in. x W 35.63 in. Artist Biography: A painter and textile designer, John Little is best known for gestural works filled with boldly explosive color that reflect the influences of his teacher Hans Hofmann and for his involvement in the Abstract Expressionist movement in East Hampton, where he moved in the late 1940s. In East Hampton Little congregated with Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and the other artists who were the leading innovators in the New York School. John Little was born in Sanford, Alabama. He left home at the age of fourteen to become an artist, and moved to Buffalo, New York, in 1923. After spending a year working as a stevedore on the docks to save money, he enrolled at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and developed an interest in singing. In 1927 he moved to New York City where he continued his vocal work and studied operatic literature. He also became involved in textile design, opening his own store in 1920, called John Little Studios: Fabric and Wallpaper Design. He ran the store until 1950. In 1933 John Little resumed his painting studies at the Art Students League in New York under the guidance of George Grosz (1893-1959). The following year he made his first visit to East Hampton, Long Island, which he would eventually call home. Later in the decade, he traveled to Paris where he became familiar with European modernism. On his return to America, he taught textile design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He hired Josephine Watkins to work for him; she later became his wife. Little's textile store and teaching job gave him a financial security that was rare during the Depression, and he never found it necessary to find employment with the Works Progress Administration. At the end of the decade, John Little studied with Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) in New York and Provincetown. Little was greatly influenced by Hofmann, particularly by his views on color theory. In 1942 John Little joined the Navy as an aerial photographer. In the late 1940s he purchased a rundown house on Three Mile Harbor...

Antique signed Canadian fishing oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 24L x 30H.

An original oil on canvas painting by American artist James Koenig created in 1944.

An original watercolor painting by American artist Wes Olmsted depicting an abstract landscape view.

Antique American modernist abstract landscape painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1970. Signed. Image size 24L x 18H. Housed in a period modern frame.

This original abstract oil painting, created in 1994 by the acclaimed artist Wilma Fiori (1929-2019), captures a rich, moody composition in a large horizon...

Art Brut Expressionist Masterpiece in the manner of Jean Dubuffet.

This artist is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner grant awarded to artists with established abilities, established by the wife of Jackson Pollock. We love the work of this artist bec...

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Hea-Sook Yoo, artist, internationally renowned female artist, has her paintings hanging inresidences, businesses and art galleries on three continents over three decades.Ms. Yoo is c...

Robert Glick (American, born 1950) "Blue Synergy" 2024 Acrylic Paint, Canvas, Stretcher Bars The artist signed the bottom right of the painting. "Blue Synergy" by Robert Glick is a ...

Laimdots Murnieks had a significant influence on the development of Latvian painting at the end of the 20th century. His work 'Holiday' conveys the fee...

As fate would have it, sculptor, painter and printmaker Shoshana Heimann (1923-2009) did not live to see her retrospective installed at both the Hecht Museum at the University of Hai...

"Backstage, Ambassador" Broadway Theatre NYC Mid-century Modern Modernist CubistSigned lower left, titled on the stretcher. Norkin was a Brooklyn, Ne...

This original vintage painting by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968), titled Quitting Time from Bunnell's Black and Blue Series from 1941, exemplifies his unique Abstract Structure ...

Wonderful large abstract painting by Betty Weiss. Oil on canvas. Signed with her married name "Betty Perez". Measuring 52 by 65 inches. Artist Bio: Betty Weiss has been a Ne...

Colorful abstract modern portrait painting of an evil man by Texas artist Robert Sandman. As the artist explains, "The Black Hand, or La Mano Nera in It...

This captivating oil on board painting by Paul Kauvar Smith (1893–1977) showcases a vibrant American Modernist still life featuring zinnia flowers in hues of red and orange. Set with...

GOLDEN HORIZON Oil on Board Size: 53 x 73 cm (including frame) A serene yet energetic and beautifully textured mid-century abstract landscape composition, painted in oil onto canvas...

Genre: Modern Subject: Abstract Medium: Oil Surface: Canvas Country: United States Dimensions: 18" x 24" Dimensions w/Frame: 18.5" x 24.5" Cubist Surrealism, reminescent of the Later Pop Art works of Roy Lichtenstein. Alan Tompkins a prolific artist, he continued to paint into his 100th year and strongly desired one thing: to be remembered for his art. “I’m not a hobbyist, I’m not an educator,” said Tompkins. “I want to be remembered as a painter.” Tompkins produced thousands of paintings, many showing the influence of Cubism and abstract art, during a long and productive career. Tompkins played a pivotal role in the formation of the University of Hartford. He was director of the Hartford Art School in 1957 when it merged with the original Hillyer College and the Hartt College of Music to become the University of Hartford. He served as director until 1969 and then taught art history and visual studies until his retirement in 1974. A graduate of Columbia University...

Vintage American modernist abstract oil painting by Mark DiVincenzo. Oil on canvas, circa 2005. Signed verso. Unframed.

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Gina Parr Agbopura Limited Edition Photographic Print of 10 Image Size: 54.9 x 36.6 cm This is one work Sold Unframed Agbopura – 2 of 10 Limited Edition Photograph by Gina Parr from...

Laimdots Murnieks had a significant influence on the development of Latvian painting at the end of the 20th century. His work 'Holiday' conveys the fee...

Vahan P. Amadouni is an artist whose work has found critical acceptance both in Europe, the United States and the Mideast. Born in ancient Armenia in June 1933, he took his early sc...

Sam Francis 1923-1994 American Untitled Signed and dated "Sam Francis 1965" (en verso) Oil on canvas This striking painting hails from the renowned Edge Paintings series by impor...

Mid century modern abstract by artist Tommie (Thomas) Olson a student of Robert Preusser, when he was 16 and attending John Deagan High School in Houst...

Ashley John is proud to offer this artwork by: Gershon Benjamin (1899 - 1985) Gershon Benjamin is a painter of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene. He had a pro...

RHYTHMS OF THE WIND Size: 48 x 57.5 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas A vibrant mid-century modernist abstract painting that captures the essence of a dynamic landscape through exp...

Katherine Bello Bits of Magenta Mixed Media on Board 20235 Size: 12 x 12 inches (30.48 x 30.48cm) Framed: 13 x 13 x 1.25 inches (33.02 x 33.02 x 3.175cm) Signed and titled by hand CO...

"I've Seen Too Many Waves" original abstract oil painting by Jocelyn Auld (b. 1999.) Two light sources, potentially moons, light the crest of a giant abstracted wave. As the white l...

Michael Frary (1918 - 2005) Austin Artist Image Size: 16 x 12.5 Medium: Oil "The Clown" Biography Michael Frary (1918 - 2005) Michael Frary was born in Santa Monica, California on Ma...

Collage and acrylic paint on sintra panel, excellent gift

Large-scale blue abstract painting of a stormy seascape. This painting features mainly deep blue tones and a coral colored castle. Framed in a black floating frame. Signed by the art...

This striking 1945 abstract landscape watercolor by pioneering modernist artist Eve (Van Ek) Drewelowe, titled "The Champagne Cascades, Crescendos, Crashes," is a bold interpretation...

"Still Life" is an modern art cubism and abstract painting by the Armenian-Bulgarian artist Maestro Arshak Nersisyan. This painting is dedicated in 2013 to his beloved woman Nadya. ...

Julio De Diego’s Atomic Series paintings made an extraordinary statement regarding the shock and fear that accompanied the dawn of the nuclear age. In the artist’s own words, “Scientists were working secretly to develop formidable powers taken from the mysterious depths of the earth - with the power to make the earth useless! Then, the EXPLOSION! . . . we entered the Atomic Age, and from there the neo-Atomic war begins. Explosions fell everywhere and man kept on fighting, discovering he could fight without flesh.” To execute these works, De Diego developed a technique of using tempera underpainting before applying layer upon layer of pigmented oil glazes. The result is paintings with surfaces which were described as “bonelike” in quality. The forms seem to float freely, creating a three-dimensional visual effect. In the 1954 book The Modern Renaissance in American Art, author Ralph Pearson summarizes the series as “a fantastic interpretation of a weighty theme. Perhaps it is well to let fantasy and irony appear to lighten the devastating impact. By inverse action, they may in fact increase its weight.” Exhibited 1964 Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas This work retains its original frame which measures 54" x 42" x 2" About this artist: Julio De Diego crafted a formidable persona within the artistic developments and political struggles of his time. The artist characterized his own work as “lyrical,” explaining, “through the years, the surrealists, the social-conscious painters and the others tried to adopt me, but I went my own way, good, bad or indifferent.” [1] His independence manifested early in life when de Diego left his parent’s home in Madrid, Spain, in adolescence following his father’s attempts to curtail his artistic aspirations. At the age of fifteen he held his first exhibition, set up within a gambling casino. He managed to acquire an apprenticeship in a studio producing scenery for Madrid’s operas, but moved from behind the curtains to the stage, trying his hand at acting and performing as an extra in the Ballet Russes’ Petrouchka with Nijinsky. He spent several years in the Spanish army, including a six-month stretch in the Rif War of 1920 in Northern Africa. His artistic career pushed ahead as he set off for Paris and became familiar with modernism’s forays into abstraction, surrealism, and cubism. The artist arrived in the U.S. in 1924 and settled in Chicago two years later. He established himself with a commission for the decoration of two chapels in St. Gregory’s Church. He also worked in fashion illustration, designed magazine covers and developed a popular laundry bag for the Hotel Sherman. De Diego began exhibiting through the Art Institute of Chicago in 1929, and participated in the annual Chicago Artists Exhibitions, Annual American Exhibitions, and International Water Color Exhibitions. He held a solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in the summer of 1935. Though the artist’s career was advancing, his family life had deteriorated. In 1932 his first marriage dissolved, and the couple’s young daughter Kiriki was sent to live with friend Paul Hoffman. De Diego continued to develop his artistic vocabulary with a growing interest in Mexican art. He traveled throughout the country acquainting himself with the works of muralists such as Carlos Merida, and also began a collection of small native artifacts...

This vibrant work by noted 20th century American artist, Joel Durand, employs a bold palette and sophisticated approach in this dramatic and abstracted sti...

Antique French modernist Paris school cityscape street scene oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring 27 by 40 inches overall and 26 by 39 painting alone. In excellent...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Arthur B. Carles (1882-1952) Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Arthur Carles was a painter whose work went through phases...

"The Serie Elements" is a painting by the South African - French artist Leith Ridley. About the artwork: TECHNIQUE: oil painting STYLE: Abstract, Contemporary Edition : Unique, si...

A dynamic, Mid-Century Modern horse race painting by noted Chicago artist, Rudolph Pen. Artwork size: 27" x 23"; Framed size: 27 1/2" x 23 1/2". Signed "Pen" lower right. Provenan...

Original Modernist / Minimalist Acrylic & Copper Metallic Painting on Linen Canvas / MDF Wood Panel. *This Artwork is being SOLD UNFRAMED! - the additional Virtual Image of the fr...

WAVES Size: 48.5 x 67.5 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas A rhythmic and richly textured mid-century abstract composition, executed in oil onto canvas. Embracing the principles of...