Abstract Animal Paintings
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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Early 2000s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Gold Leaf
Artist Comments
This painting was inspired by the idea that we are shaped by outside forces, but remain unchanged, we persist in the face of adversity. It is what makes us human. My energetic oil paintings of stallions explore and illustrate movement through nature. This work represents an immigrant journey or strength and perseverance. I incorporate both contemporary (watercolor) and traditional (ink calligraphy) painting styles into this series.
About the Artist
Art has been with Shao Yuan Zhang for the majority of his extraordinary, and at times difficult, life journey. Raised in communist China...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
In this fantastical jungle scene, artist Miranda Gamel uses tigers as a symbol of strength and leadership. "Placing the tigers in the fire is meant to bring c...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Mixed Media, Color Pencil, Screen
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Screen, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Mixed Media, Color Pencil, Screen
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic, Gouache
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Monotype
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Watercolor, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Board
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic