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.
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Mixed Media, Panel
1960s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1770s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wax, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Wax, Oil, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Faye Vander Veer paints an impressionist scene of a cafe in the afternoon. She shows the relaxed and calm atmosphere of a little bistro. The late sunligh...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Board, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Archival Paper, Oil, Wax, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Gail Ragains depicts a woman standing in an attitude of strength. The figure gazes out at the viewer with the ocean behind he...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Tempera
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Charcoal, Oil Crayon, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wax, Acrylic, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
1960s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1930s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
1970s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Masonite, Oil
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Archival Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
Masonite, Acrylic, Board
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Leather, Acrylic, Panel, Fiberboard, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Leather, Acrylic, Panel, Fiberboard, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Wood, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Archival Paper, Wax, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Mary Pratt paints a woman walking on a long, winding path hedged with lush nature. Streetlights flicker toward the end of the horizon, creating a magic...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Wax, Oil, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Photographic Paper
2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings
Charcoal, Oil Crayon, Acrylic, Watercolor, House Paint