Skip to main content

Abstract Figurative 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.

to
13
51
18
21
12
35
34
1
10
10
28
9
13
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
171
115
108
53
50
49
24
5
3
2
2
1
26
18
17
10
9
8
5
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
717
2,426
1
1
8
19
53
81
130
134
1
5
2
2
2
1
58
32
20
20
18
Style: Abstract
Period: 1970s
Abstract Expressionist Figurative Couple
Located in Soquel, CA
Evocative abstract expressionist figurative painting of earth-toned highly abstracted couple by Michael William Eggleston (American, 20th Century). ...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

"Beach Walk" Red Figurative Hippy Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Red toned scene with figures lined up walking down the beach. The painting was done of hippies from the 1970's. It is framed in a wooden frame. It is signed by the artist and titled....
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Nude Study in Sausalito Figurative
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant and compelling nude study with Sausalito in the background by Patricia Gren Hayes (American, 20th Century), circa 1980. Artist's name on verso. Unf...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Imaginary Portrait of Matt Stams- Maricopa
Located in Houston, TX
This beautiful work is a re-imagined portrait of the Maricopa Indian Mat Stams. The image of Mat Stams was circulated in the early 1900's in the portfolio "The North American Indian, volume 2, The Pima. The Papago. The Qahatika. The Mohave. The Yuma. The Maricopa. The Walapai. The Havasupai. The Apache-Mohave, or Yavapai" as an example of his people. The original photogravure was produced by the photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis. This painting pays tribute to Stams' Native American heritage through a small portrait, a large abstract eagle...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Lovers Series No. 15
By George North Morris
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original oil on canvas painting from the estate of George North Morris from the artist's "Lovers" series. This piece comes in its original wood frame presentation. George North Morris - painter, writer, teacher Born May 13, 1915 in East Liberty, PA Died Oct. 1, 1996 in Hudson, NY Studio locations over the years: varied from Hyannis (MA), Providence (RI), Oglethorp (GA), Montpelier (VT), Yonkers & Westchester Co. (NY) to the later years in Germantown (NY). Subject matter consisted mainly of seascapes and landscapes but in the 60's and 70's he experienced his abstract era. The later years, in fact most of his life was spent in New England and N.Y. state. Most of his more valuable paintings where along the Hudson River and Westchester County. His most frequent methods were oils and water colors, and in the 1940' his artistic expression was through the use of clay. Most of his pottery was made from local Cape Cod (Barnstable) clay which he and his family dug, washed and prepared. He wrote a part of the foreward, called "The Tradition", for a book "A Century and a Half of American Art 1825-1975". Published in 1975 by the "National Academy of Design". He was also an art critic and reporter for the Worcester Telegram and the Provincetown New Beacon. He was a person that felt time was by far better spent talking about and hearing ideas and thoughts. The following are some of his. George Morris's life was that of art and art critic as well as educator. "It was the two summers, 1938 and 1939" recalled Morris, "that I really learned how to paint". Though much of his work showed a strong Edward Hopper influence, at the same time it took many roads. It was, over the years, much too varied to categorize. He started with collage, moved to abstraction, and then to a period during the late 1960s and '70s when he completed what he called his "Lovers Series" - erotic paintings filled with large orchestrated flat color - that show him moving away from abstraction. Upon becoming bored with the concept of abstract painting, he looked for new challenges in pastels, acrylics and water colors, painting once again what he called "the world as it is recognizable by others". George firmly believed that all the best artists are good hucksters, too. Solo exhibitions as a painter were as follows: Columbia-Greene Community College - 1985 Barrett House - 1985 Smith Gallery - 1980, '81, '82 Swansborough Gallery, Wellfleet - 1983 Hopper House, Nyack, NY - 1981 Hudson River Museum, Yonkers Shepherd Gallery...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

CLOUD MAY 78
Located in Aventura, FL
Original mixed media on paper. Hand signed, dated and titled on verso by the artist. Referenced on page 53 in the Waddington and Tooth "Ben Nicholson paintings on paper" book. Artwor...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Entrances and Exits
Located in Buffalo, NY
Harriet was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and lived with her husband in Park Slope for over 35 years. She attended the Brooklyn Museum School at age 14 where she establis...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Pen, Permanent Marker, Watercolor

Large Impressionist Textured Embracing Nude Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Large oil painting of embracing nudes against a deep blue background. Skin toned colors against a blue and green background. Framed in a nice gold frame with a white matte. Artist B...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

New York City Street Scene of China Town "Joy Ting Low Chow Mein"
Located in New York, NY
An exciting watercolor of a New York City street scene done in 1974. The fast brushwork is noted with much attention directed to abstracting the depiction. Freiman's execution of thi...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Archival Paper, Watercolor

Goldfish Abstraction
By Norma Auer Adams
Located in Soquel, CA
Substantial early work in watercolor, abstract expressionist painting of "Goldfish" By Norma Auer Adams (Norma Jean Anderson) painter and writer. Signed lower right N. Adams and exhi...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

'Cowboy Joe', Bay Area Abstraction Oil, Woman Artist, Smithsonian, SFAA, Western
By Lida Giambastiani
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Giambastiani' for Lida Marian Casentini Giambastiani (American, 1911-1973) and painted circa 1965. We are pleased to offer a large and powerful oil painting that...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Untitled”
By Arthur Rosskam Abrams
Located in Southampton, NY
Original colorful and vibrant acrylic abstract figurative painting on heavy cardstock by the American artist, Arthur Rosskam Abrams. Signed lower left. Condition is very good to excellent. Circa 1975. The painting with abstract colorful figures was mostly likely executed in Sarasota where the artist had moved to in 1973. Framed with off white linen mat and gold leaf frame. Under glass.. Frame with some imperfections. Frame with “Frame St. Pete” label verso. Overall framed measurements 36.5 by 30.5 inches. Provenance: Sarasota, Florida collector. Arthur Rosskam Abrams 1909-1981 The following, submitted August 2005, is from Paul J. Abrams, son of the artist Born February 21, 1909 in Philadelphia, Arthur Abrams began drawing as a child of five, and continued producing art until just before his death in Sarasota, Florida during 1981. He began studies at the Graphic Sketch Club of Philadelphia, later teaching and exhibiting there. 1924 brought a scholarship to the Philadelphia College of Art, but his lack of interest in commercial art had him move to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1927 he went to Paris, studying where he could, including Academie Julian, The Academie Colarossi, the Ecole de la Grande Chaumiere, and then he found Andre L'Hote, who experimented with presenting space without perspective. Adams felt he had found what he had been looking for. Later he studied with Hans Hoffman at his School Fine Arts, Munich, where he became further convinced that art did not have to consist of a photo like quality of an object, but could be concepts, of personal expression of the artist. He toured around with other artists into Italy and Spain, meeting the artists of the day and painting. While painting around The Sacre Coeur some man, 'slightly under the weather' asked if he were an American. He replied that he was, and asked if he and the man had met at the Picabia exhibition, the man said they had, and his name was Maurice Utrillo. He told Arthur that if he remained there in France he will become a great painter, but if he went back to America he would become a businessman. He did return to America at the end of 1929 because his scholarship money was about gone. He had a one-man show in McClees Gallery, in Philadelphia, putting the proceeds of the sale in the Bankers Trust Company, which he lost when the company failed. He then traveled between Philadelphia and New York. In 1931, he did some traveling to Elmira to visit Sally Frank whom he had met in Philadelphia, and he also did and painting and sketching around the area. While sketching on the Louis Hoftrup farm near Elmira, Hoftrup came up to him and said he had a brother Lars, who was an artist living in New York and said Arthur should look him up when back in New York City. In September of 1931 his first New York one-man show was held at the Fifteen Gallery on West 57th Street. This was a gallery owned by artists to by-pass restrictive dealers and high commissions. Unfortunately a number of his paintings were kept in a studio in the Lincoln Arcade Building when it burned down. Still mainly in New York he became a charter member of the American Art Congress, and later of Artists' Equity. In the summer he went to Elmira where he, Lars Hoftrup and Armand Wargny...
Category

1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Abstract figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract figurative 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 figurative 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, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Cindy Shaoul, Simon Richard Halimi, Frank Arnold, and Judith Berry. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil 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 figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $121 and tops out at $570,000, while the average work sells for $2,500.

Recently Viewed

View All