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.
Find original abstract paintings, sculptures, prints and other art on 1stDibs.
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Permanent Marker, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Panel, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Paper
Artist Comments
Artist Brian McCarty presents a view of five wild geese lined up by a river bank. He paints the scene with an impressionistic approach, using light and loose br...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Pen, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Wood, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Mary Pratt paints a surreal expressionist habitat surrounding a brightly colored bird perched on a branch. She believes birds are earthly showstoppers and captures them as such. These animals enhance our lives by encouraging us to pause and observe. "Oh look, there goes a beautiful bird—I always stop to look," says Mary.
About the Artist
Mary Pratt, a Georgia...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Paper, Ink
1960s Abstract Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mylar, Acrylic, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Animal Paintings
Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Paper
Artist Comments
Artist Paula Martino displays three heritage turkeys standing in front of a barn. She paints a calm lake surrounded by trees in the...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Animal Paintings
Oil