Abstract Figurative 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.
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Silicone, Oil, Panel, Magazine Paper
Early 2000s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Ink, Tempera
Early 2000s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Gesso, Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Board, Oil
1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
Watercolor, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
My inspiration was to create a feeling of peace with the cooler colors of morning light and a classic, timeless pose of the figure. The piece was created on a...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Linen, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Gouache, Rag Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Encaustic, Oil
Artist Comments
I was striving to paint a figure on a highly textured surface. I really like the variation in mark making and the glow of her hair against the darkness. This...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Pen, Permanent Marker, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Figurative Paintings
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Enamel
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Archival Paper, Ink, Watercolor
1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Enamel
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Aquatint, Drypoint, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil