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.
$1,230
Modernist Curves on Mauve, Organic Forms Diptych in Cold Tones, Yellow Accent
Located in Barcelona, ES
This abstract diptych features flowing, organic forms layered in blues, soft neutrals, and warm yellow accents. The composition balances movement and structure, with interlocking sha...
Paper, Oil
Joyce Ann
By Otis Huband
Located in Dallas, TX
Born in 1933, Otis Huband declared his intention to be an artist at age 6. He earned his BFA and MFA at Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William & Mary, now Virginia...
Canvas, Oil
$1,304Sale Price|20% Off
French 20th Century Abstract Nude Portrait of Lady Picasso Style Work & Period
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Portrait of Nude Lady by Gilbert Pelissier (French born 1924) signed, circa 1960's-1970 period oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas size: 20 x 24 inches con...
Canvas, Oil
Contemporary abstract expressionist nude woman's figure painting "Soft drapery"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract expressionist woman’s figure was created by French artist Natalya Mougenot and forms part of her ongoing series dedicated to women, in which she explores t...
Paper, Acrylic
Abstract Female Nude Woman Interior
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Nude Woman, 1945. Gouache on paper, sheet measures 12.5 x 16 inches. Image measures 11.5 x 15 inches. Signed, dated and titled lower left. Unframed. ...
Paper, Gouache
$1,320Sale Price|20% Off
Violin Serenade - Blue Grass in the Nude Acrylic Abstract Expressionist on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Violin Serenade - Blue Grass in the Nude Acrylic Abstract Expressionist on Paper A nude reclining in an emerald green chair gives an interesting o...
Paper, Oil
Gorgeous Abstract Expressionist Figures by Syril Frank
Located in New York, NY
Syril Frank (American, 1929-2021) Untitled, c. 1970s/80s Oil on canvas Framed: 21 3/4 x 25 2/3 x 1 in. This fantastic painting in the abstract expressionist style loosely depicts a ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,960Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a Black nude woman seated on a chair
Located in Woodbury, CT
Well painted 1950's mid-century modern English portrait of a black nude woman seated on a chair. The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s Oils on ...
Oil, Panel
$1,960Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait of a woman seated in an interior
Located in Woodbury, CT
1950's Mid Century modern English oil portrait of a woman seated in an interior The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s Great use of color and abstract brush strokes...
Oil, Panel
$300Sale Price|40% Off
Paul (male nude)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Patrick Terenchin (b.1970). Paul, 2024 Gesso and charcola on paper, 16 x 20 inches. Measuring 17 x 21 inches in black frame behind glass. Signed and dated lower left.
Gesso, Charcoal
$602Sale Price|37% Off
Eve’s Spiral Abstract Oil Painting, Signed, 50x40 cm Canvas nude
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Title: Eve’s Spiral Artist: Nerea Caos (Ferrol, Spain, 1993) Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 50 × 40 cm 19.7 × 15.7 in Framing: Unframed Period: Contemporary (ca. 2020s) Signatur...
Canvas, Oil
$1,960Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a nude woman laying on a bed
Located in Woodbury, CT
Well painted 1950's mid-century modern English portrait of a nude woman laying on a bed. The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s Oils on artists ...
Oil, Panel
Mid Century Multi-Color Abstract Expressionist Figurative
By Honora Berg
Located in Soquel, CA
Exceptional mid century Abstract Expressionist figurative painting from her study with David Park by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Signed lower right "Honora Berg" and on verso....
Canvas, Oil
"Green Nude 2" 1980s Modernist Jack Hooper Female Nude Painting
By Jack Hooper
Located in Arp, TX
Jack Hooper "Green Nude 2" c. 1980s Acrylic paint on magazine page 9"x11.5", black wood gallery frame float mount 11"x14" Signed in pencil lower right Hooper's distinctive approach to artistry is exemplified by his ingenious use of acrylic paint on a magazine page, where elements of the original page subtly peek through the layers of vibrant color. This technique adds an intriguing depth to the composition, blurring the boundaries between reality and abstraction. Jack Meredith Hooper (August 26, 1928 - January 24, 2014) was an American painter, muralist, sculptor, printmaker and art educator. Hooper was a major figure on the Southern California art scene, belonging to that generation of Los Angeles painters...
Acrylic, Magazine Paper
$578Sale Price|40% Off
Femme fatale oil on canvas painting nude
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Title: Femme Fatale Artist: Nerea Caos (Ferrol, Spain, 1993) Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 50 × 40 cm 19.7 × 15.7 in Framing: Unframed Period: Contemporary (ca. 2020s) Signatur...
Canvas, Oil
$1,325
Contemporary Abstract Figurative Mixed Media Drawing Pink Neutral Danny Avidan
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Danny Avidan’s paintings explore the tension between form and formlessness, using it as a way to reflect on the body and the creative process. His expressive gestures continuously at...
Charcoal, Oil, Pencil, Pigment, Handmade Paper
Female Nude Study Black Pencil Drawing by G. Debotoiyche, 1923
Located in Atlanta, GA
G. Debotoiyche, Nude Study, 1923 This masterful carbon pencil drawing by Russian artist G. Debotoiyche exemplifies the stripped-down elegance of early 20th-century modernist draftsm...
Paper, Carbon Pencil, Charcoal
$458
Contemporary abstract expressionist painting of a woman "Silhouette of light "
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This abstract expressionist painting, "Silhouette of Light" by the French artist Natalya Mougenot, captures the ethereal essence of the human form through bold color and movement. Th...
Paper, Acrylic
Pause, Oil Painting
By Lisa Nielsen
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
More and more I love to experiment with abstraction. It's amazing how realism with some abstraction somehow looks more true than when rendered using just real...
Oil
$8,432
Dancers (Diptych) by Danny Avidan, 2025 — Expressive Abstract Figures in Pink
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Dimensions: Each panel: 103 × 83 × 5 cm (unframed) Total diptych: approx. 103 × 176 × 5 cm (including 10 cm separation) Description: This diptych by Danny Avidan captures the raw en...
Charcoal, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Pigment
Anna - XXI Century, Contemporary Abstract, Figurative Acrylic Painting, Textured
Located in Warsaw, PL
MICHAL SIKORSKI (born in 1972) He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, at the atelier of Professor Stanislaw Kortyka at the department of painting. PhD in Fine Arts. Assis...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,500
"Work 1 (Nude)" Abstract Nude Figure Expressionist Acrylic on Canvas Painting
By Suki Maguire
Located in New York, NY
This piece is an abstract composition done with mixed media, oil and acrylic paints on linen. The artist explores an incredible world filled with color and expressive brush strokes. ...
Acrylic, Canvas
Abstract Painting of Body Forms, Contemporary, 100x80 cm, New Danny Avidan
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Danny Avidan’s paintings explore the tension between form and formlessness, using it as a way to reflect on the body and the creative process. His expressive gestures continuously at...
Charcoal, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Pigment
$3,083Sale Price|20% Off
Large French 20th Century Oil Nude Lady Reclining, in the Style of Picasso
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, late 20th century Title: The Nude Model, in the style of Picasso Medium: oil painting on canvas, framed frame...
Oil, Canvas
$481
Contemporary abstract expressive watercolor painting on paper "Blue Rapshody"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract expressionist painting depicting four women in dance was created by the French artist Natalya Mougenot and this piece makes part of her ongoing series dedi...
Paper, Watercolor
"Pablo Picasso"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
I saw this painting in the spring in the blooming steppe. Working on it, I splashed a whole carnival of bright acrylic shades on paper, allowing emotions to guide every curl and mo...
Spray Paint, Acrylic
Abstract Painting of Body Forms, Contemporary, 100x80 cm, New Danny Avidan
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Danny Avidan’s paintings explore the tension between form and formlessness, using it as a way to reflect on the body and the creative process. His expressive gestures continuously at...
Charcoal, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Pigment
Alcmene with Galanthis, Oil Painting
By Ryan Pickart
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Ryan Pickart layers art historical references in this sensual nude. The painting tells the Greek myth of Alcmene and Galant...
Oil
$9,900
Nude
By Byron Browne
Located in Columbia, MO
Byron Browne (American, 1907 - 1961) was a painter, muralist, and teacher who played a central role in the development of abstract and modernist art in the United States. Born in Yon...
Gouache, Mixed Media, Paper
Blue Dance, Original Painting
By Robin Okun
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
An expressionist portrait of relationships as a dance. Dominant blue palette with hints of red, purple and pink that offers both cal...
Acrylic
Abstract Expressionist Figurative -- Seated Nude Woman
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful abstract expressionist nude with heavy impasto of seated woman. Bay area find. Signed on verso "Swan," circa 1990. Unframed. Image size: 24"H x 18"W.
Canvas, Oil
$1,080Sale Price|20% Off
Two Nude Female Models in Acrylic on Paper San Francisco Abstract Expressionist
Located in Soquel, CA
Two Nude Female Models in Acrylic on Paper San Francisco Abstract Expressionist Colorful painting of two models by acclaimed bluegrass musician and San Francisco artist Katherine "K...
Paper, Acrylic
Colorful Abstract Expressionist Nude Painting - 1970s Oil
By Tom Hamil
Located in Soquel, CA
Colorful Abstract Expressionist Nude Painting - 1970s Oil Vivid abstract expressionist painting of a colorful nude female figure by the artist Tom Hamil (American, b. 1928). The fig...
Linen, Oil
ABSTRACT Colors Artwork Body Pastel Forms Contemporary Artist Danny Avidan
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
"The frame of this artwork is slightly tilted intentionally by the artist." At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for o...
Charcoal, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Pigment
$1,960Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a nude black woman seated on a chair
Located in Woodbury, CT
1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a nude black woman seated on a chair The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1...
Oil, Panel
ABSTRACT Colors Body Forms Contemporary Artist Danny Avidan NEW Large
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Danny Avidan’s paintings explore the tension between form and formlessness, using it as a way to reflect on the body and the creative process. His expressive gestures continuously at...
Charcoal, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Pigment
Echoes, Original Painting
By Robin Okun
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
In this modernist nude portrait, artist Robin Okun highlights the soft curves of the body against the structure of the space, adding expression with a subtle ...
Acrylic
$556Sale Price|20% Off
Antique Modernist Nude Portrait Surreal Signed Ancient Style Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Rare and well painted modernist nude composition. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 18H by 24L inches.
Canvas, Oil
$1,080Sale Price|20% Off
Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Grey Figurative
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract expressionist nude figure by Louis Nadalini (American, 1927-1995). Signed "Louis Nadalini" in the lower right corner. Signed "Louis Ernie Nadalini" on verso. Unframed. Image...
Cardboard, Canvas, Oil
Contemporary oil painting, Solitude by the Water.
Located in La Canada Flintridge, CA
The painting signed lower right, canvas size without framed is 24x30 inches on canvas. In this serene and introspective composition, Arthur Pinajian captures a solitary nude figure...
Oil
$35,000
Two Female Nudes African American Expressionist Painting Smith Tower Gallery
Located in Portland, OR
An important painting of two female nudes by the celebrated African American artist, Robert Colescott (1925-2009), titled "Conversation", 1959. A rare & ear...
Paper, Chalk, Watercolor, Gouache, Pen
"Michel" - Nudes in a Bed of Chrysanthemums, Figurative Oil Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
"Michel" - Nudes in a Bed of Chrysanthemums, Figurative Oil Painting Wonderful figurative painting of "Michel" by Berkeley artist Patricia Gren Hayes (American, 20th Century), 1983....
Oil, Canvas
$4,057
Original Abstract Art using Red, Turquoise, Pink & Yellow - Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Preston, GB
Original Abstract Art using Red, Turquoise, Pink & Yellow - Acrylic on Canvas by Contemporary British Artist, Angela Wakefield Art measures 18 x 24 inches Frame measures 24 x 30...
Canvas, Acrylic
Nude Anna
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The project is dedicated to the author's favorite field of painting and art, namely the expression of dynamics in a static object and the specific relationship of colors. The author ...
Canvas, Oil
$792Sale Price|36% Off
Impressionist Nude, Mid 20th Century British Artist, Original Oil Painting
By Beryl Darton
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Impressionist Nude, Stylised, British Artist, Original Oil Painting By British artist, Beryl Darton, Mid 20th Century Oil painting on board, unframed Board size: 24 x 20 inches Fabu...
Oil
$1,230
Looping Horizon, Organic Minimalist Diptych in Blue and Red, Color Band Elipse
Located in Barcelona, ES
This minimalist diptych by Ryan Rivadeneyra explores rhythm, balance, and repetition through softly undulating horizontal bands. Layered tones of blue, charcoal, and red evoke shifti...
Paper, Oil
Two Nudes
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Sir Terence Frost RA (1915-2003) was a British abstract artist, born in Warwickshire, who worked in Cornwall. Frost became a leading figure of abstract art and attended St Ives Schoo...
Acrylic
"Laying nude"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This painting, featuring an abstract reclining nude, masterfully blends vibrant colors with a dynamic composition. The figure, rendered in bold, expressive strokes, emerges from a ba...
Canvas, Oil
Planal Figure, abstract figure, earth and flesh tones, dark background
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Oil painting on board, unframed, abstracted, figurative, expressionist, energetic brushwork
Oil, Board
Minimal Abstract Impressionist Recling Nude Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Modern abstract female nude painting in neutral tones. The work has Oris Robertson's signature textured surface that creates an uneven painting surface. ...
Gesso, Oil
Skyward, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
"I decided to lean into the suggestive pose of the figure," shares artist Sumner Crenshaw, "creating a work that radiates with confident sensuality and femini...
Oil
Sensual Belly Dancers, Morocco
By LeRoy Neiman
Located in Miami, FL
We are presenting a rare opportunity to acquire one of Leroy Neiman's best and most compelling paintings. It is a statement piece. A combination of enticing subject matter with a mon...
Oil, Board
Return of the Goddess - Original Painting of Surreal, Symbolic Goddess Figure
Located in Chicago, IL
As is generally the case with my paintings, this work proceeded from a place of unknowing. The specificity of imagery and technique belie the non-specific character of the ideas and narratives presented. The imagery is not tied to any pre-existent source (textual or other). It is not preconceived by the artist, rather it is produced spontaneously in the process of painting. That said, it seems both easy and sensible to connect the imagery in this painting to common cultural material, especially that from very ancient sources. The central figure is very much like a totemic Neolithic goddess- the sort of which seem to be among the most ancient artistic works, examples are extant from eras stretching back tens of thousands of years. A lot has been written about figures of that kind but of course no one can reasonably claim to truly understand them. Here the great goddess appears with wings and entwined serpents. Crowned also with a glowing orb she has become an emblem of a matristic hermetica. The smaller figure may be less evidently archetypical. She is a younger goddess, a daughter like Persephone to Demeter. She lifts the breasts of her mother signifying perhaps how the presence of the child evokes the nurturing qualities of the mother or how Persephone’s seasonal ascent from the underworld awakens in her mother the impulse to again give life to the world. The cluster of gynomorphic figures contained by the crescent moon at the center of the painting refer to the balanced transformations of the lunar cycle and their mysteriously harmonic physical manifestation in the vital cycles of a woman’s body. At their axis is the cycloptical abdomen of the figure enthroned on the moon. The entire totem rises from a terrestrial gateway into an open landscape. In the background megaliths obscure the horizon. They represent a first boundary in time- the beginning of history. Below is the gateway, the opening to an inner earth...
Acrylic, Panel
Sitting with Green, 1960s Gouache on Paper, Figurative, 11"x17.5"
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield Sitting with Green 1960's Gouach on paper 11"x17.5" unframed. Gloria (Fischer) Dudfield July 12, 1922 – May 27, 2015 Came from a portfolio of her work in the San Fr...
Paper, Gouache
$5,500
Edward Marecak Oil Painting – Goddess of Fertility, 1960s Abstract Nude Art
Located in Denver, CO
“Goddess of Fertility” is a powerful and expressive vintage 1960s oil painting by celebrated Colorado modernist Edward Marecak (1919–1993). This semi-abstract work features a compell...
Canvas, Oil
Paul Anton Kaulbach (1864 Hanover - 1930 Berlin) Male Nude
Located in Greding, DE
Depiction of a male nude in diffuse architectural scenery. Signed lower right (Paul) Anton Kaulbach (1864 Hannover - 1930 Berlin). Oil on canvas, in gold-patinated frame. Image size:...
Oil, Canvas
"The Dancer 2" Fauvist Abstract Original Oil Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist painting by Southern California artist Chris Hamamoto (American, 20th century). Image, 40"H x 30"W. Unframed. Chris, a native of Southern California, has en...
Canvas, Oil
$602
Contemporary abstract expressionist painting of a woman "A moment of summer"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
“A Moment of Summer” is a contemporary figurative painting by French artist Natalya Mougenot, part of her ongoing series dedicated to Women — a theme she has been exploring for sever...
Paper, Acrylic
THE FABULOUS ALCYONE
Located in Zofingen, AG
Long time ago, on the shores of Greece lived the lovers Ceyx and Alcyone, descendants of the gods of wind and sea. They were happy, but fate intervened: Ceyx set off on a journey to ...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,410Sale Price|20% Off
RYSZARD GRODNICKI, original Abstract painting, acrylic colors.
Located in Berlin, DE
RYSZARD GRODNICKI, Abstract painting, original painting, acrylic colors. Dimensions with frame. We offer another painting by this artist. Born in Gdańsk in 1947. In 1971-76 stud...
Acrylic