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.
Artist Comments
A calm saturates the night while pleasant chatter fills the air. Artist Onelio Marrero finds inspiration from the burning light of the fire pit against the ba...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Warm fall tones meet the cool serenity of winter, capturing the fleeting beauty of a sudden snowfall. The composition depicts the delicate transition between ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Kip Decker offers a thriving landscape with vibrant blooms spread across an expansive pasture. Thick trees stand tall on either side of the composition...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1930s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
Artist Comments
Artist Mandy Main paints a vast Tuscan countryside. A field of red poppies dazzles in the foreground as masses of impossibly bright yellow rapeseed flourish in the background. Mandy paints the nearby hills shrouded in vibrant blues and greens as the far mountains recede into the distance with gray tones. She suggests natural elements throughout the scene with loose brushwork.
About the Artist
Mandy Main is an art historian and landscape painter based in the Southern California desert. She has long been passionate about 19th Century American landscape paintings...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A sweeping landscape of an illuminated valley at sunset. Mist-covered trees in the distance point up to a stormy sky. Dramatic shades of blue and green hover ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
In his signature style, artist John Jaster paints this famous tree in Pebble Beach, California. Overlooking Carmel Bay, The Lone Cypress...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero paints an impressionist scene of a man painting under a makeshift structure of fallen trees. The idyllic shelter shades him from the sun...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Shades of blue depict a late afternoon view of the Gulf of Mexico in warm sunshine. A thin streak of vibrant orange slices through the horizon, evoking the fa...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Elizabeth Garat paints a dramatic view of the sky above the vast ocean's choppy waters and distant coastal islands. The brilliant rays of the sun illum...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
The artwork captures autumn's gentle yet powerful spirit, with sweeping colors and layered textures that evoke shifting skies and vibrant fall foliage. Deep r...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Foil, Gold
Artist Comments
This impressionist rendition of a narrow ravine is the first piece in artist Onelio Marrero's series that explores the terrain and geology of northwestern New...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist John Jaster paints an impressionistic view of a golden aspen forest. Tall trees painted in bold yellow, green and blue sprea...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil Pastel, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Masonite, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars, Other Medium
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic, Board
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic