Contemporary Figurative Paintings
CONTEMPORARY STYLE
Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.
Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.
The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.
Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.
Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Contemporary
The Nose Knows by Dawne Raulet Contemporary Cow Mixed Media with Black, White
By Dawne Raulet
Located in Atlanta, GA
Stockbroker turned artist Dawne Raulet stumbled into painting when she least expected it. Frazzled by a fulltime financial career and two small infants at home and in desperate need ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
Untitled
Located in Firenze, FI
Untitled
Mixed media on canvas
Size 100x100 cm
Andrea Stella Florence 1950 - 2019
A gifted genius born in Florence of Greek heritage, resided alternately in two cities that are t...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media
"Pale Blue Hutch" Bunnies Oil Painting in Ornate Vintage Frame
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Greenwich, CT
Hunt Slonem - Pale Blue Hutch
Original Framed Oil Painting. Signed on Verso.
Our Gallery works directly with Hunt Slonem.
This painting was acquired directly from the artist and h...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Untitled - Woman, nude portrait, figurative oil painting, blue & black
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Using pure oil paint, which gives the artwork its unique texture, the artist manages to use two particularly difficult colors to work with: black and blue. In his composition, he cre...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
La pêche dans les calanques de Marseille
Located in Barcelona, ES
Contemporary figurative painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
The last drop
Located in Sandton, ZA
Fabric on canvas
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Fabric
Bird of Paradise II
By Sharon Okun
Located in Queenston, ON
A study in flight and motion.
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Wetin Man Go Do
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
The title, "Wetin Man Go Do," encapsulates the essence of the artwork, suggesting the universal question of what choices and actions a person can take when faced with the troubles an...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Fabric, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
I'm hungry
Located in Barcelona, ES
Portrait of a tiger
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Mujer y su inconsciente
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
The charge
Located in Barcelona, ES
Portrait of an elephant
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Atracción
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Rostro que intenta hablar
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Castigada contra la pared
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
" Lady with a cat"
Located in La Quinta, CA
The artist's new artwork " Lady with the cat" brings his approach
to his indian roots from the Andes Mountains in Bolivia.
A native lady is resting in calm and relaxing ambiance surr...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Pareja paseando
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
La isla
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Estatuas doradas
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
¿Qué hay detrás de la puerta?
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Pelirroja
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Enigmática
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Circo
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
No me dejes
Located in Barcelona, ES
Acrylic painting
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Air
Located in PARIS, FR
Unique artwork by artist Sara Shamma.
Sara Shamma is a renowned painter whose works can be found in both public and private collections around the globe. Shamma was born in Damascus, Syria (1975) to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother. She graduated from the Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus in 1998. She moved to London in 2016 under the auspices of an Exceptional Talent Visa where she currently lives and works.
Shamma’s practice focuses on death and humanity expressed mainly through self-portraits and children painted in a life-like visceral way. Her works can be divided into series that reflect often prolonged periods of research, sometimes extending over years. Shamma believes that death gives meaning to life, and rather than steering away from a subject that is increasingly taboo in contemporary culture, she considers the impact of grief and deep internal emotions. The Syrian conflict has a distinct impact on the way that Shamma portrays her subjects. Working mainly from life and photographs, the artist uses oils to create a hyper realistic scene, using transparency lines and motion to portray a distant and deep void.
Shamma has previously taught at the Adham Ismail Fine Arts Institute in Damascus, and alongside her practice has always had a strong dedication to sharing her knowledge with the next generation of artists. She was a member of the jury for The Annual Exhibition for Syrian Artists held by the Ministry Of Culture, in Damascus, 2006.
Shamma believes in helping others and has been supporting the United Nations World Food Programme since 2010, during which time she produced Fighting Hunger., sold by Christie’s Dubai in 2012 with all proceeds going to the WFP. Shamma has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions including: “London”, Art Sawa Gallery (Dubai, 2017); World Civil War Portraits, The Old Truman Brewery (London, 2015); Diaspora, Art Sawa Gallery (Dubai, 2014); Q, Royal College of Art (London, 2013); Birth, Art House (Damascus, 2011); Love, 360 MALL (Kuwait, 2009); The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, The Mall Galleries (London, 2013); Nord Art 2012 organized by KiC – Kunst in der Carlshütte (Büdelsdorf, 2012); UAE Through Arabian Eyes, (Dubai, 2008); Syrian Artists, Souq Wakef Art Center (Doha, 2008); Panorama of Syrian Arts, Catzen Arts Centre at The American University (Washington D.C, 2007); (shortlisted) International Painting Prize of the Castellon County Council, (Castellon 2005), Castellon and the Municipal Arts Centre of Alcorcon, (Madrid, 2005-2006); Women and Arts, International Vision...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Desnudo 2
Located in Barcelona, ES
Strokes, lines, points, signs come from the plexus, travel through the arm and hand, reaching the
canvas with the indicated “nerve.”
Lights and shadows complete the possibility of th...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Charcoal
Bilocation
Located in Nashville, TN
Andy King is fascinated with the interplay between chance, perceptions, the influence of others, and mystical experiences in the role of the evolution of personhood. This series of w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Newport
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Fairfield, CT
Since 1977, Hunt Slonem has had more than 350 exhibitions at prestigious galleries and museums internationally. In 2010 there are shows in the Coral Springs Museum, Coral Springs, Fl...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Surrender
Located in San Francisco, CA
'Surrender' is an original artwork by contemporary figurative painter The Tracy Piper. Best known for her vibrant portraits and figurative acrylic paintings, Tracy's illustrative wor...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas
The Space Between Us
Located in San Francisco, CA
'The Space Between Us' is an original artwork by contemporary figurative painter The Tracy Piper. Best known for her vibrant portraits and figurative acrylic paintings, Tracy's illus...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas
Cinquième saison
Located in PARIS, FR
Circular oil and acrylic painting by artist Wenyu Zhu. The work shows a unique imaginal season that doesn’t exist in reality – the fifth season. In this seas...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Linen, Oil, Acrylic
Cigale
Located in PARIS, FR
Circular oil and acrylic painting by artist Wenyu Zhu. The artist uses bright yellow and red to cover half of the painting, which is in stark contrast with the sunflower shrubs at the bottom of the painting. Especially for the cicada...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Linen, Oil, Acrylic
Figurative Ink Painting N.2 'Vessels II' by Dmitry Samygin
Located in Paris, FR
Figurative Ink on Cotton paper
Painting N.1 'Vessels II' by Dmitry Samygin
H.27 x 19.5 cm
About Dmitry Samygin
Furniture and Product Designer. His approach relies on simple forms and clarity in ideas with carefully chosen materials to expose the essence of an object. His products exemplify humanistic design, comfort in everyday use and ergonomic function.
He is a prize-winner in international competitions. He has taken part in exhibitions in Paris, Milan and Moscow, collaborates with European and Russian production, architectural and design companies. Since 2021 Dmitriy's design has been presented in a permanent exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Moscow. Dmitry's graphics and designs are in private collections all over the world.
Samygin's Awards
2023 I+D / Design Now / winner (product design & decor)
2021 Red dot / Modul
2021 I+D magazine award / Shelter (covers for the sculptures of Moscow State Architectural Museum)
2020 Best 2020 AD Russia
2019 Andrew World...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton, Paper, Ink
Sky Garden II
By Perry Burns
Located in Fairfield, CT
Perry Burns received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1988. Since then he has been making paintings that merge the traditions of Middle Eastern patterns and European...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
" Kalya Dhaman"
Located in Singapore, SG
Interrelating the mythological story with today's facts of life in the present context. Mythology refers to the same river Yamuna which was saved by Krishna from Kaliya naga, who wa...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
"La lluvia de la semilla" colorful, figurative, organic, ink painting
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Through fluid strokes, rhythmic details, and archaic beings, the work shows us the artist's interest in exploring color. This abstract landscape is built by stages of primary colors,...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Aquatint
Festive Day
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
"Festive Day" is by an up and coming Romanian painter named Stefan Mocanu. He finds the incredible in the everyday and transforms it into a pictorial joy. His use of thick paint ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sakura
By Perry Burns
Located in Fairfield, CT
Oil on canvas.
Deeply rooted in art historical knowledge, Perry Burns' painterly explorations evoke more than simple, visual pleasure. His paintings are highly inspired by patternin...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
L'origine de la civilisation (the origin of civilization)
Located in PARIS, FR
Circular oil and acrylic painting by artist Wenyu Zhu. This work shows a dreamy scenery. Looking from a distance, it seems like a huge coral reef in deep sea, and there are some shiny jellyfishes around it. Taking a closer look, we can see some more meaningful signs, like Oracle bones, and some animals on the coral reef. At the same time, there is also a woman with traditional Chinese clothes...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Linen, Oil, Acrylic
Tree of life (forest green)
By Idoline Duke
Located in Fairfield, CT
India ink on paper.
Price does not include framing.
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
India Ink, Archival Paper
Baiser passionné (Passionate kiss)
Located in PARIS, FR
Circular oil and acrylic painting by artist Wenyu Zhu. This work shows a passionate kiss of two people interwoven together by many red threads. The symbol of red thread can be traced...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
Rebirth
Located in Miami, FL
“Rebirth”
2023
30x40 in
Acrylic on canvas
$3000
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Camila Rosa is a Brazilian Artist and Illustrator based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
She started her life as an artist in 2010 with a...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
The Source of Happiness
Located in New York, NY
Homage to John Wayne. Oil on canvas. Conceptual. One of a kind.
About the artist:
“There's a dry ironic twist to Paul’s paintings that give the work — while realistic — a postm...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Path of Life # 2
Located in Singapore, SG
Path of life it’s a historical based painting. A lot of example over in history that a king becomes a monk, a robber becomes a monk or nature lover. They always try to spread his lov...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Sad Woman/Distant Man
Located in Santa Fe, NM
"Sad Woman/Distant Man" illustrates Holly Roberts' shift from over-painting photographs to constructing photo-based images on top of abstract paintings. By combining the precision of photography with the expression of painting, Roberts marries objectivity with subjectivity, thus paralleling the dichotomy of human experience.
Like much of Roberts' contemporary work, "Sad Woman/Distant Man" is a psychoanalytic interpretation of human experience, particularly unrequited love—A woman stares longingly at a disinterested man. The couple is composed of photographs of appendages both modern and medieval in execution, alluding to the immutability of unrequited love as a motif in art and literature. The work's underlying abstract painting figuratively functions as the uninterpretable gulf between the two lovers...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
At The Wall
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas. Engaging. Female centric.
About the artist:
“There's a dry ironic twist to Paul’s paintings that give the work — while realistic — a postmodern feeling of refl...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Né au soleil (Born in the sunshine)
Located in PARIS, FR
Large circular oil and acrylic painting by artist Wenyu Zhu. This work shows in great detail two beautiful sunflowers rising up from the deep sea. Yellow butterflies are around them....
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas, Linen, Oil
Brazilian Girls
Located in Miami, FL
Camila Rosa is a Brazilian Artist and Illustrator based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
She started her life as an artist in 2010 with a female street art collective and since then she has wor...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
The Incarnation
Located in Singapore, SG
For this painting the artist found inspiration from the religious poem on the ‘Sarvesh’ incarnation of Lord Mahadev. This work illustrates the beauty of that poetic description.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paper, Sailcloth, Tempera
Golden Lotus #1
Located in Singapore, SG
"It's a mythological based painting. I try to do a dramatic composition in this painting. A illustration of ""vagbat gita "" Helps to build the unic composition. That time when Lord Krishna...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Chrysanthemum tapestry
By Perry Burns
Located in Fairfield, CT
Oil on canvas
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Pido ayuda
By João Cardoso
Located in MADRID, ES
PIDO AYUDA title means looking for help and this came up when during the painting João Cardoso found an article that had the same title and it was about a...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
In need of new glasses
Located in Oslo, 03
Unique artwork.
Acrylic on canvas.
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Marvel's Macbeth
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas. Engaging. Ben Affleck's batman homage.
About the artist:
“There's a dry ironic twist to Paul’s paintings that give the work — while realistic — a postmodern ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Las cosas no son lo que parecen" figurative, abstract, colorful ink painting
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Alejandra España presupposes the development of her language of forms through the creation of symbolic functionalism and allegories that elevates the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Victim, 2022, oil on paper, figurative painting
Located in Izmir, TR
In several mystical traditions, there are common elements that are needed for spiritual metamorphosis and transitions to another, transcendent dimension. In Sufism, there is also an inner dimension to the law that has to do with repentance, the abasement of desire, and discipline of the self, or the elimination of the ego. Transparent figures emphasize the inner world of pure innocence which is the prototype human being, pure consciousness, one's true identity, to be contrasted with the material human who is bound by one's senses and materialism. Materialism is shown by also patterns in the paintings. The two different layers are against each other in a contradictory way. Feeling the need to go deeper into this inner, imaginative world, I began to set artworks from the past in less familiar contexts such as seas or patterns and combine the figure with them where they seemed to become like elements in some greater dream. With her small paper works, Ece Gauer...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Begegnung
Located in Wien, 9
In his painting, Robert Hammerstiel is in constant search of the balance and harmony of form. In his drastic reduction to the physical essentials and the colourful placarding, he cre...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Doom Hey Blue
Located in Santa Monica, CA
In this series of portraits, Birch materializes enigmatic, ectoplasmic figures in his psychologically charged canvases linking sympathies between external forces and interior emotion...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Splinters of a Secret Sky - Splinters
Located in New York, NY
Signed (on verso): AF/2021
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic Polymer, Oil, Acrylic
Contemporary figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary 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 America Martin, Alexandru Rădvan, Sax Berlin, and Adam Mysock. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Fabric and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Contemporary figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 0.75 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 $13 and tops out at $254,827, while the average work sells for $3,411.