The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.
Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.
The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.
Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.
Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.
A Large, Compelling 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Standing Male Model
Located in Chicago, IL
A Large, Compelling 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Standing Male Nude Model by John Warren Ekstrom (Am. 1929-2020). A unique and well executed studio figurative painting by ...
Oil, Masonite
A Large, Captivating 1930s Modern Portrait of a Jamaican Man in a Linen Suit
Located in Chicago, IL
A Large, Captivating 1930s Modern Portrait of a Jamaican Man in a Linen Suit by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A skilled and colorful portrait of a black man...
Oil, Canvas
Portrait of a Lady in Blue Carrying a Sheef of Wheat British Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of A Lady in Blue by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) oil painting on board , framed framed: 14 x 12 inches board: 12 x 10 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds co...
Oil
Hidden Portraits III
Located in London, GB
'Hidden Portraits III', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Hidden Portraits X
Located in London, GB
'Hidden Portraits X', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing ar...
Canvas, Acrylic
$170
Portrait of a Female Deep In Thought British Modernist Pencil Sketch
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Female Portrait by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) pencil sketch on brown artist tracing paper , unframed painting: 3.75 x 4.5 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds condit...
Pencil
Hidden Portraits VII
Located in London, GB
'Hidden Portraits VII', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Nude Male Study 20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Male Study by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century 19.75 x 25.5 inches oil on artist paper, unframed condition: very good and ready to enjoy provenance: from a private...
Oil
$945Sale Price|33% Off
Seated Woman in Blue Oil on Canvas, Modern Volumetric Style, Signed
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Artist: Sanz Title: Seated Woman in Blue Date: Late 20th Century Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 91 × 61 cm (35.8 × 24 in) Frame: Unframed Signature: Signed Sanz lower left Conditi...
Oil
$1,202Sale Price|20% Off
Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V
Located in London, GB
'Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V', Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This new collection represents some of the most appealing works we have acquired to date from our Flor...
Canvas, Acrylic, Board
$850
A Captivating 1930s Modern Portrait of a Young Woman by Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A captivating, 1930s portrait painting of a young woman by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A sensitive, skilled portrait of a young female model, most likely h...
Oil, Masonite
A Captivating 1930s Modern Portrait of a Seated Young Woman by Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A captivating, Modern 1930s portrait painting of a young woman in a black sweater by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A skilled and expressive portrait of a sty...
Board, Oil
$136Sale Price|20% Off
Mother and Child in a Yellow and White Dress British Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Mother and Child signed initials by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) oil painting on thin card , unframed double sided painting: 5 x 4 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswold...
Oil
Portrait of Woman with Fuchsia, Early 20th Century Still Life
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Woman with FUCHSIA, 1935 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 31.75 x 27 inches 37 x 32.25 inches, framed Untitled Still Life ver...
Oil
$1,475Sale Price|40% Off
Portrait of a Young Woman
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of a Young Woman', oil on board, by Peter Robert Keil (1983). A wide-eyed woman gazes out to the viewer with an inquisitive gaze. The artist's use of exuberant colours beli...
Oil, Board
$3,061Sale Price|20% Off
Huge 20th Century French Signed Oil Classical Music Orchestra Concert Scene
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Orchestra signed by Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) oil on canvas, unframed painting : 32 x 40 inches provenance: artists estate, France condition: very good and sound condition
Canvas, Oil
$1,147Sale Price|30% Off
'Feminine Forms: Harmony in Curves', German School (circa 1980s)
Located in London, GB
'Feminine Forms: Harmony in Curves', oil on board, German School (circa 1980s). Two nude figures portrayed in the abstract posture differently. Both are curvaceous and Rubenesque. Re...
Oil, Board
“Fishermen” by C. Stoitzner - Oil on Canvas - 37.5x58cm
By Konstantin Stoitzner
Located in Geneva, CH
Arwork sold with frame (81.5 x 60.5 x 7.5 cm) Konstantin Stoitzner (1863–1933) was an Austrian painter renowned for his landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, and still lifes. Born ...
Canvas, Oil
$541Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Modernist Painting - Portrait Of Figure On Gold
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Gold Man by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century), stamped verso original watercolour/gouache painting on paper overall size: 111.75 x 8.5 inches condition: very good and ready to...
Watercolor, Gouache
'Woman in Blue', Danish Royal Academy, Brooklyn Museum, Kolding
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Initialed lower left, 'A.S.' for Anton Schroder (Danish, 1893-1965) and dated 1953. A substantial, modernist oil painting of a young woman, shown seated and gazing to her left with ...
Canvas, Oil
$2,850
Modernist Portrait of St. Francis, Original Oil on Canvas, Signed Tarmo Pasto
By Tarmo Pasto
Located in Soquel, CA
Modernist Portrait of St. Francis, Oil on Canvas, Signed Compelling modernist oil on canvas portrait of St. Francis by Dr. Tarmo Pasto (American, 1906-1986). Presented in a taupe pa...
Canvas, Oil
An Introspective, Modern 1940s Portrait of a Seated Young Female Ballet Dancer
Located in Chicago, IL
A captivating, Modern 1940s portrait painting of a young female ballet dancer by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A skilled and expressive studio portrait of a ...
Masonite, Oil
$539
Lady in Yellow Shawl Portrait In Green Landscape Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Lady in Yellow Shawl signed initials by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) oil painting on board unframed size: 5 x 4 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds condition: very goo...
Oil
$600Sale Price|20% Off
Crying Clown Portrait in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Crying Clown Portrait in Oil on Canvas Portrait of a sad clown by San Francisco artist John Peers (American, 1922-2009). This portrait is closely fra...
Canvas, Oil
Vintage American Modernist Surreal Figural Nude Portrait Large Framed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist nude portrait oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a modern molding. Excellent condition, ready to ...
Oil, Board
$3,308Sale Price|30% Off
Mary Magdalene - Oil on Canvas by Italian School 19th cent.
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on canvas. cm 60.5 x 2 x 50 Nice Oil painting (Italian School of XIX century) with a rapid sign and intense colors backgrpound. Some color cracking on left margin and top edge, ...
Oil
Echoes of the Atelier IV
Located in London, GB
Echoes of the Atelier IV, acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an agein...
Canvas, Acrylic, Board
$8,150
The Blue Dress Young Woman Oil on Canvas Painting by Maurice Ehlinger
By Maurice Ambroise Ehlinger
Located in Atlanta, GA
Maurice Ambroise Ehlinger (1896–1981) — Portrait of Mademoiselle France Noël, 1957. Radiating timeless Parisian elegance, this exceptional mid-century oil on canvas by noted French p...
Canvas
$620Sale Price|20% Off
Antique American School Signed Modernist Woman Portrait Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted American modernist interior portrait oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 28H by 22L.
Canvas, Oil
$72Sale Price|20% Off
Francis Bacon 'Portrait of Michel Leiris', 2017, Vintage
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This is a reproduction of a Francis Bacon's painting Portrait of Michel Leiris, originally created in 1976. This work is a notable example of Bacon's ability to capture the psycholog...
Offset
Melancholic Seated Woman, Post-Impressionist Figurative Oil Painting, Spanish
By Josep Maria Draper
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Melancholic Seated Woman, Post-Impressionist Figurative Oil Painting, Spanish School Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 50 x 61 cm (19.69 x 24.02 in) Framing: Unframed Signature: Sig...
Canvas, Oil
Hidden Portraits VIII
Located in London, GB
'Hidden Portraits VIII', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing...
Canvas, Acrylic
$2,495Sale Price|48% Off
Large Antique American Bahamian Young Woman Portrait Signed Rare Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Really rare and well painted portrait by Christine Walters Martin (1895-1982). Oil on canvas. Framed in a nice modernist molding. Signed. Artist Bio: Christine Walters Martin (1895-1982) Born and raised in Brooklyn, Christine Martin majored in art at Columbia University/Teachers College. She spent summers painting at the Woodstock Art Colony under the tutelage of artists there and continued her art studies at the Art Student's League in New York City. Over the years, her teachers included John Sloan, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Alexander Brook and John McFee. She also studied with Eugene Speicher, who recommended her for Portraits Inc, through which some of his own commissions came. Much later in life, in her 80s, Christine studied watercolor with Zoltan Szabo. Before marrying attorney George Martin in 1923, she taught art in the New York public schools for several years. During summers in the late 1920s, after having two daughters (Cynthia, 1924-2008, and Joan, 1927-2000), she went to Woodstock with her girls in tow, staying at the Hasbrook farm. In 1930, she and her husband purchased a stone house on Ohayo Mountain Road and lived there seasonally for 25 years. Among her closest artist friends in Woodstock were Emil Ganso, Florence Hardiman, Albert Heckman, Peggy Dodds, Joe Rollo, Henry Mattson, Mary Ellen Early, and Maud and Miska Petersham, along with Juliana Force (Whitney Museum). During many summers in Woodstock, Christine's daughters Cynthia and Joan kept up their serious piano studies under the tutelage of Vladimir Padwa and Inez Carroll. Known for portraits and landscapes, she was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and the National Arts Club, Gramercy Park, NY. Her work showed at the National Arts Club, Weyhe and Preston Galleries and the National Academy of Design in New York; the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia; the Woodstock Art Association and Rudolf Galleries in Woodstock, Vermont's Dawson Grist Mill Gallery, and South Hampton College, among others. Her portraits, landscapes and still lives hang in hundreds of homes around the world. Information provided by Bunny McBride...
Canvas, Oil
$680Sale Price|20% Off
"Joni" - Mid Century Modern Portrait of a Girl in Yellow Dress in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
"Joni" - Portrait of a Girl in a Yellow Dress in Oil on Canvas Skillful portrait of a young girl by Morris Zirlin (American, 1913-1990). A young girl with wide brown eyes poses for ...
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
$1,980Sale Price|20% Off
Antique Black American Modern Artist Framed Interior Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Incredible early American modernist portrait by Stephen H Booker (1933 - 2016). Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Finely framed. Measuring 24 by 28 inches overall and 16 by 20 paintin...
Canvas, Oil
Two Female Portraits - Tempera by Mino Maccari - 1920s
By Mino Maccari
Located in Roma, IT
To Female Portraits is an original modern artwork realized in the early 20th Century by the Italian artist Mino Maccari (Siena, 1898 - Rome, 1989). Original painting. Tempera on pap...
Tempera
Young Woman with Pink Ribbon and Hat - Original Oil Painting, Handsigned
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean-Gabriel DOMERGUE (1889-1962) Young Woman with Pink Ribbon and Hat, c. 1950 Oil on hardboard Signed lower left On hardboard, 45 x 38 cm (c. 28 x 15 in) Presented in a giltwood f...
Oil
Echoes of the Atelier I
Located in London, GB
Echoes of the Atelier I, acrylic on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing art professor fro...
Acrylic, Board
$1,093Sale Price|20% Off
Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series IX
Located in London, GB
"Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series IX", oil on canvas, mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an inter...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$541Sale Price|20% Off
Posed Female Nude Pencil Sketch 20th Modernist Century Drawing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Male Sketch by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century size: 25.5 x 19.75 inches pencil drawing on thin paper, unframed condition: very good and ready to enjoy with a sma...
Pencil
$2,500
Sephardic Jewish Men Vibrant Judaica Vintage Oil Painting Israeli Artist Goldman
Located in Surfside, FL
This depicts Middle Eastern jewish men of Sefardic descent. At least one appears to be a Rabbi. ALBERT GOLDMAN Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1922, Albert Goldman started drawing and ...
Canvas, Oil
$539
Posed Female Nude Pencil Sketch 20th Modernist Century Drawing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Female Sketch by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century size: 19.75 x 25.5 inches pencil drawing on thin paper, unframed condition: very good and ready provenance: from ...
Pencil
$1,967Sale Price|40% Off
Portrait of Boy in a Chair
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of Boy in a Chair', gouache on art paper, by Raymond Debiève (circa 1960s). Here the artist paints a young boy, very probably his son, Vincent, sitting in a chair posing fo...
Paper, Gouache
$1,664Sale Price|20% Off
"Harmonic Sounds" by Jules Courvoisier - Oil on Canvas - 95x71 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Artwork sold with frame (114 x 93 x 6 cm) Jules-Ami Courvoisier was a prominent Swiss painter, illustrator, and poster artist, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1884. He studied under Ch...
Canvas, Oil
Polish Jewish Art, The Rabbi, Judaica Oil Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
Konstanty Swewczenko (1910-1991), signed oil Judaica Oil Painting, Polish. Konstantin Shevchenko studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1927 - 1928. Then, in 19...
Canvas, Oil
Early Modern American Portrait, Pennsylvania/Massachusetts, Frank Anderson Trapp
Located in Baltimore, MD
This is a very stylized and powerful portrait by the noted artist Frank Anderson Trapp. It is dated 1940, and is very much in the modern style of French painters Ferdinand Leger...
Oil
Polish Jewish Chassidic Rabbi Judaica Art Oil Painting Konstantin Szewczenko
Located in Surfside, FL
Konstanty Szewczenko (1910-1991), signed oil Judaica Oil Painting, Chassidic Rebbe, Polish. Frame: 17 X 15.25 Image: 11.5 X 9.5 Konstantin Shevchenko studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1927 - 1928. Then, in 1932 he studied painting under the guidance of Kowarski and Pruszkowski at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. Practiced easel painting, mostly judaic hassidic rabbi portraits, genre scenes. Among others, a portrait Moscicki, Rydz - Rydz, and after the war Rokossowski.He worked as a set designer. In the years 1934 - 1935 was production designer Variety Theatre. He collaborated with publishing houses with illustrations. He exhibited in Warsaw, Poland, Vienna, Austria and New York. In 1947 he took part in Exhibition Independent Artists Group) and abroad (solo exhibition at the Gallery G. Tomalsky in New York, 1964) . He is one of many great Jewish Polish artists that included Leopold Gottlieb, Maurycy Gottlieb, Henryk Hechtkopf, Leopold Pilichowski, Isidor Kaufmann, Lazar krestin, Alois Heinrich Priechenfried and Itshak Holtz. His works are in the collection of the Museum of the Polish Army. He was an Polish, Austro-Hungarian painter of Jewish themes...
Canvas, Oil
Large 1920's French Nabis School Oil Painting The Annunciation Mary & Angel
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Annunciation French Nabis School, early 20th century circle of Maurice Denis (1870–1943) oil on canvas, framed framed: 34 x 27.5 inches canvas: 32 x 25 inches Provenance: privat...
Oil
$389Sale Price|25% Off
Portrait of Young Woman - Painting by Francesco Settimj - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on wooden panel realized by Francesco Settimj in 1930s. Good condition.
Oil
Monumental Vintage American Modernist Woman with Flowers Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist portrait oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 48 by 50 inches overall. Handsomely framed in...
Oil
Portrait of a Boy with Teddy Bear, Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1984
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Author: Bernard Leemker (Groningen, 1899 – 1990) Title: Portrait of a Boy with Teddy Bear Date: 1984 Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 55 × 45 cm — 21.7 × 17.7 in Support / Mounti...
Oil
$1,721Sale Price|40% Off
Portrait of a Man
By Yvonne Guégan
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of a Man', oil on canvas, by Yvonne Guégan (circa 1970s). This is not a portrait of the reclusive billionaire, Howard Hughes. Regrettably, we d...
Canvas, Oil
$5,500
Modern Cubist Inspired Male Portrait Painting of a Bearded Man with a Red Tie
Located in Houston, TX
Modern Cubist inspired portrait painting by the iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. The work features a male figure wearing a white jacket, blue shirt, and red tie. Signed in ...
Acrylic
$874Sale Price|20% Off
Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series III
Located in London, GB
"Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series III", oil on canvas, mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an inte...
Canvas, Oil, Board
Contemporary Semi-Abstract Figurative Oil Painting - The Unspoken Between Us
Located in Bristol, GB
The Unspoken Between Us 41.5 x 33.5 cm (including frame) Oil on Board An enigmatic contemporary figurative painting that presents two semi-abstracted figures, rendered in broad, raw...
Oil, Board
Ballerina - Oil Paint by Miroslava Vrbová-Štefková - mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Dancer is a beautiful oil on panel realized by Vrbová-Štefková in the mid-20th Century. Signed and framed, 60 x 50 cm. Good condition.
Canvas, Oil
Vincente Romero, Mademoiselle, original oil painting on canvas
Located in Chatsworth, CA
Vincente Romero Mademoiselle, 2022 Oil painting on canvas Image Size: 39 x 25 inches Frame Dimensions: 50 x 36 inches Custom framed to museum standards
Oil
American modernist portrait of a young woman by Allen Tucker
By Allen Tucker
Located in Colfax, CA
American modern portrait of a young woman with a bow in her hair by Allen Tucker. Tucker was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1866 and graduated from the School of Mines at Columbia Uni...
Oil
$788Sale Price|20% Off
Rare New York City Oil Portrait by Modernist Artist Lisa Mangor, ca 1940’s
Located in Baltimore, MD
This is a highly stylized portrait of a lady by known and listed artist Lisa Mangor. Ms.Mangor was born in Russia in 1890 and came to New York likely around the beginning of World W...
Oil
$1,229
VERY LARGE SIGNED OIL PORTRAIT OF LADY IN VINTAGE COAT & HAT - DATED - FRAMED
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: J. Mackellar, signed and dated 2005. Title: Portrait of a Lady wearing vintage clothing and hat. Medium: oil painting on bo...
Oil