Abstract Interior 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.
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Resin, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Encaustic, Tempera
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Linen, Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Varnish, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Spray Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Gold, Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Gesso, Acrylic, Board, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Yangzi Xu depicts an iconic view of LaSalle Street in Chicago, facing south from the bridge. She rendered this piece in a warm muted palette, setting the stage to highlight sporadic lights and reflections on wet concrete. "My focus was to convey the mood and feeling a rainy day brings to my beloved city," shares Yangzi.
About the Artist
Artist Yangzi Xu captures a nostalgia for Chicago and its dramatic seasonal changes in her expressionist cityscapes. Having a full-time job and being a wife and mother, Yangzi makes a habit of painting everyday to keep her passion exciting and fresh. She keeps a queue of ideas and reference photos that she takes throughout the year. She looks through her references, tweaks and adds elements to them. Once inspiration strikes, Yangzi draws several sketches and begins to work with oils on canvas on multiple pieces at once - to keep each painting spontaneous and new. "I try to capture the paradox of life in the city, where one can be in a crowd and yet feel alone," Yangzi says. "My main intent is not to capture the physical reality of a scene, but to express my own moods and feelings to my audience." In her free time, Yangzi enjoys reading, with her current favorite genres being biographies and memoirs. Yangzi is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago.
Words that describe this painting: Chicago, La Salle...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil, Paper
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Gold, Gold Leaf
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Enamel
1970s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Oil, Synthetic Paper
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Interior Paintings
Enamel
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Interior Paintings
Acrylic