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.
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1990s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gouache
Artist Comments
The artwork presents an abstraction of the Milky Way. Bright and colorful stars burst across the cosmic landscape of deep blues and purples. The color palette...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Paper
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Srinivas Kathoju demonstrates an expressionist landscape in dreamy hues of purple. He divides the composition into thre...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paint, Oil, Panel
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Artist Comments
Artist Teresa Smith displays a picturesque impressionist landscape of Aspen groves. "Autumn is here," declares Teresa. The leaves slowly turn a crisp, bright yellow. The sunny fall day along the shoreline brings inspiration from its vivid colors.
About the Artist
Teresa Smith captures the soul of the west coast landscape in her contemplative oil paintings. Teresa gathers impressions of the land around her remote island home on horseback rides accompanied by her Irish wolfhound. Her works capture the light coming through the trees, a richness of color, and the interconnectedness of nature. Her subjects emerge through lyrical brushwork, sometimes with light streaming as if through a stained glass window. Her major influences are Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr, and the Canadian Group of Seven, the latter of whom pioneered a distinctive style defined by a direct connection with nature. In addition to painting, Teresa is a master gardener, and she grows food year-round in her garden and volunteers in the community to educate and diagnose plant problems. She works from her studio on the top floor of a barn overlooking the pond and trees, where deer walk by and ducks swim. According to Teresa, "much of today’s art is based on concept. That is, the artist has an idea, then uses their art to educate and inform. I do contemplative painting, which is different. For me, it is allowing the painting to unfold in a contemplative or meditative way."
Words that describe this painting: landscape, Tom Thomson...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1940s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
"The fall colors of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado are rich with earth tones," says artist Heather Foster. "One of my favorite road trips takes me t...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Resin, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1950s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
In this sunny impressionist scene, artist Onelio Marrero captures his neighbor, Mark, who is a master in the art of Bonsai. "When spring begins, he goes about...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic, Mixed Media, Cotton Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Clay, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil, Paper, Gouache, Board
Early 2000s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
1990s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
1990s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gouache
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gouache
1990s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Paper
Artist Comments
Part of artist Onelio Marrero's latest series exploring the terrain and geology of the diverse northwest of New Jersey. "This painting was executed from several plein air oil studies," shares Onelio. He takes advantage of the rich textures and colors he encounters during his painting hikes. Using rich impasto and a skillful palette knife, Onelio works to capture the effect of the boulders diminishing in size as the stream meanders into the upper reaches of the space.
About the Artist
Onelio Marrero paints city scenes of everyday life. In an impressionistic style he captures the romanticism of New York City, the picturesque fountains in Central Park and the wet city streets after a rainy afternoon. His use of warm tones creates a sense of nostalgia and the feeling that you have visited or seen this particular scene before. Onelio will often paint from direct observation, or he will work from a combination of photographs and combine numerous sources into one piece. In this way his work combines reality with fantasy, creating a new story with each painting. His work captures an appreciation for beauty in all of its greatest forms; nature, art, and people.
Words that describe this painting: pool, stream, river, brook, rock, boulder, terrain, geology, woods, autumn, winter, tree, trees, hike, hiking, nature, plein air, oilpaint, nature, sunlight, impressionism, impressionism, nature, oil painting, blue
Rough Terrain Cool Water...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Wax Crayon
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Blues and reds paint a picture of fog drifting through canyons, slowly dancing to and from the ocean. The title of the painting conveys its narrative, capturi...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil