Abstract Landscape 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.
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1960s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Resin, Wood, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Afternoon shadows stretch across the forest floor, casting deep greens against the golden yellow, orange and umber autumn landscape. Part of Nancy's signature...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1960s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Resin, Acrylic, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Charcoal, Oil Crayon, Mixed Media, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1930s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Ronda Waiksnis paints an abstract representation of nature, capturing its earthy colors and tranquil grace. "The yellow highlights at the top of the st...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1960s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite
1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Heather Foster displays a calm landscape of Northern New Mexico. Three bulls line up in the center of the grassy field in front of a breathtaking view ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Nancy Merkle shares that this painting was inspired by an adventure in rural Oregon. A small trail in the backcountry reveals a forest of pine and fir trees among rolling hills. Crisp light warms the golden hillside and pulls the viewer deeper into the scene.
About the Artist
Nancy Merkle's process begins with a glimpse of color, a flicker of light, a pattern, or a texture. Elements swirl in her mind for hours, sometimes days, sometimes weeks before a design clicks and is transferred to canvas. With the canvas in front of her, she works intuitively -- a mark here, a mark there, a little touch of color, a bit of texture -- until she is satisfied and declares the work finished. Currently Nancy's work leans toward abstraction; she doesn't paint the world as it is, but as she wishes it were. Bold colors and loose brush strokes are her goal. When she's not making art, Nancy travels the Pacific Coast with a bicycle strapped to the car and "curiosity in my back pocket."
Words that describe this painting: landscape, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, nature, forest, trail, road, woodland, hills, rural, outdoors, impressionist, pine, fir, trees, impressionism, landscape, representational, acrylic painting, green, yellow
Oregon Trail...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Oil
1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Illustration Board
Artist Comments
Sunrise. Colored clouds recede into space, dominating this painting looking upriver. This painting is done in oil on stretched canvas. It is sealed with wax...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Pigment
Artist Comments
"I was excited to be able to stay in the garden after closing time to paint the sunset over the marsh," shares artist Sherri Aldawood. She painted this view en plein air at Middleton Place...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Patrick Duffy displays his signature linear marks in this composition. He paints solid blocks of black and gray, mimicking the silhouette of towering m...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Emulsion, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, Lithograph, Monop...
1960s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gesso, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Cotton Canvas, Paint, Cotton, Canvas
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
1970s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Masonite, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Pastel, Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil