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Abstract Paintings

ABSTRACT STYLE

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.

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Size: Medium
Style: Abstract
"Floral IV" (abstract, dark, floral, red, pink, roses, oil painting, canvas)
Located in Paris, IDF
FLORAL IV 2024 Paris, France This dark complex and layered floral painting of an abstract of flowers presents an energetic and mesmerizing subject. This original painting on cotton ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon, Dye, Cotton Canvas, Ink, Oil, Acrylic

Sunflowers of Provence, Abstract Expression 20th C/early 21st C Scottish
Located in Hillsborough, NC
Abstract expression of the Sunflowers in Provence sets the traditional fields ablaze with orange. Painted by Scottish artist Sheila McNab MacMillan, who is known for bold outlines of...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Erin O'Brien "A Decade" - Abstract Acrylic Painting on Raw Linen Canvas
Located in New York, NY
Erin O'Brien A Decade, 2021 acrylic on linen 25 x 20 in. (obri013) This original acrylic painting by Erin O'Brien features painterly abstract shapes in shade...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Raw Linen, Acrylic

Landscape
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Andre Elbaz (b.1934). Landscape, ca. 1980 . Oil on card panel, image measures 14 x 20 inches; 18.5 x 24.5 inches framed. Signed lower right. Excellent condition. André Elbaz (born April 26, 1934, El Jadida, Morocco) is a famous Moroccan painter and filmmaker. Elbaz studied art and theatre in Rabat and Paris from 1950 to 1961. He started painting only at the age of 21, until which age he had been interested mainly in theatre. A few years later, he managed to combine his two passions into a new approach in art-therapy, inventing together with his wife, a psychiatrist, the Pictodrame, which brought him world recognition. His first exhibition, which was very successful, took place in Casablanca in 1961 and earned him an appointment as Professor at the Beaux-Arts school in Casablanca. Years later, in 1976, he exhibited his paintings at the Tel-Aviv Museum. In parallel to his career as a painter, Elbaz is also known as a filmmaker. He produced several short films in France, Canada and the United States. One of them, La nuit n'est jamais complète (The night is never complete), won a prize at the "5th Biennale de Paris in 1967" .[citation needed] Among the themes chosen for the many films he produced, there was a short one about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, as well as a series of drawings entitled Seuls (Alone), with texts written by both Elie Wiesel...
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Masonite

Between the lines, Abstract Library, colors, Geometric, Contemporary, Oil, Books
Located in LANGRUNE-SUR-MER, FR
In "Between the Lines," Sophie Dumont masterfully transforms the canvas into a visual symphony using her expert knife painting technique. This painting, measuring 65 x 54 cm, is dist...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

El Cauce de un Río, Contemporary Art, Abstract Painting, 21st Century
Located in Mexico City, MX
El cauce de un río dentro del surco de una hoja, 2024 Contemporary Mexican Art, Abstract Painting Acrylic on canvas 80x80cm Signed and dated Yumnia's artistic journey is deeply roo...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Antique American School Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Kulicke Frame Signed
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist abstract oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 12H by 16L.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Seated Figure (Abstract Woman Collage).
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Sam Maitin (1928-2004). Seated Figure, ca. 1970. Charcoal, gouache and decorative paper collage. Measuring 15.5 x 20.5 inches; 22.75 x 27.75 inches framed. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Period frame original to the piece in mahogany with natural wood grain on sides and 22k gold leaf gilt face. After graduating from Simon Gratz High School, Maitin won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts). A painter, printmaker, sculptor, muralist, graphic designer, political activist, and beloved teacher, Maitin headed the Visual Graphics Communication Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication from 1965–1972 and served on the board of Woodmere Art Museum from 1995–2004. He received a number of awards, including a 1968 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. He created murals and other public art for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry, the Please Touch Museum, and Hahnemann University Hospital, among others. Maitin's work is museum collections in the United States and Europe, including (but not limited to): Philadelphia Museum of Art Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Museum of Modern Art, New York Tate Gallery, London Bauersche Geisserie, Germany Oakland Museum, California Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Currier Gallery of Art...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Gouache

Primary Colors on Gray Terrazzo, Squared Painting on Watercolor Paper, Minimal
Located in Barcelona, ES
This series of hand painted acrylic paintings by Natalia Roman are inspired by the colors and textures of Italian terrazzo tiling. The patterns created combine a variety of vivid col...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Rag Paper

Antique American School Modernist Abstract Cubist Still Life Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist abstract still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas board. Signed. Image size, 24H by 16L.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Red Thumbprint - Abstract Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Red Thumbprint - Abstract Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper A bold abstract painting by California-based artist, Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20th C). This piece i...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Oil on Canvas Painting Titled “AbEx Orange Series 004” 24.5 x 29.75
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Signed, dated, and titled to verso. Born in Havana, Cuba, in the late 70s during a well-documented time of religious and political oppression, abstract expressionist artist Mirtha ...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Grey books, Abstract, Expressionism, Oil on canvas, Library serie, French art
Located in LANGRUNE-SUR-MER, FR
Painting of a library with gray, blue and black books worked in oil and knife. Les Livres Gris by Sophie Dumont is a captivating oil on canvas t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Theater"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The multi-theme and multi-genre plastic art, represented by the composition of the exhibited works, "curves" around the main plastic accents: thoughtful analysis of form, geometry, e...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Road to Pickens County, Abstract Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
"This painting is of a narrow road to Pickens County in South Carolina through the trees and hills," shares artist Kip Decker. In the dramatic colorful scene,...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Mid Century Bay Area Abstract Expressionist - Blue Hydrangeas by Honora Berg
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Bay Area Abstract Expressionist Blue Hydrangeas in Acrylic on Paper Vining Blue Hydrangeas by San Francisco's artist Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985), 1946. The vertica...
Category

1940s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

J. Young - Late 19th Century Oil, The Ramblers Track
Located in Corsham, GB
Landscape in oil. Signed to the lower right 'J. Young' and dated 1882. On canvas laid to board.
Category

Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Refraction of Light by Bernadette Jiyong Frank - Contemporary Painting
Located in DE
At the heart of each of Frank’s paintings is the Japanese concept of Ma, which is the space or pause between events, moments, forms, and thoughts. It can be felt, for example, at the...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Oil

Wellfleet #3
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Margaret Layton. Wellfleet #3, ca. 1950. Watercolor on paper, image measures 5.5 x 16.5 inches in a frame measuring 13 x 24.5 inches. Signed lower left. Beautiful abstract study of...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Golden Thread Blue Flow Abstract Expression Gilding Calm Ocean Sea Abundance
Located in Cullinan, ZA
Title: Golden Thread In this piece, I've embraced the dance of harmony and flow. With featherlike strokes of acrylic and oil, the bold blues embody emotional depth, tempered by the...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Abstract Geometric Composition. Second half of the 20th century
Located in Firenze, IT
Abstract Geometric Composition Date: Second half of the 20th century Medium: Gouache on paper Dimensions: H 50 cm x W 65 cm approx. Description: Modular geometric structure with ove...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

ARMAND ROTTENBERG (1903-2000) LARGE SIGNED FRENCH CUBIST ABSTRACT OIL
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"Abstract Composition" by Armand Rottenberg (French 1903-2000) signed lower right, oil painting on board, unframed board: 28.5 x 21 inches Stunning original Cubist painting by the ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Celestial Dance
Located in THOMERY, FR
Immerse yourself in the ethereal world of Celestial Dance, a striking piece from my Biostellaires series. This artwork captures a suspended moment where a shimmering hummingbird glid...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Paper Flower Assemblage Mirror 2012 Abstract Wall Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
This astonishing artwork is a paper flowers assemblage, put in a wood box framed and then mounted under a lenticular lense. Title Mirror 2012. The partic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Original 1970's French Abstract Composition with Dense Geometric Patterns
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ballpoint Pen

Garden Flowers Variegated - Cool Tone Floral Still Life on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Antique American Modernist Framed Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Wonderful early American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Modernist Framed Country Barn Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist farm landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring 19 by 25 overall and 18 by 24 painting alone.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pastel Geometric 2 - Blue Yellow Abstract Painting on Paper Framed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Impasto-painted strokes of bright colors are the framework of artist Shiri Phillips’ abstract artworks. Her paintings are flooded with texture through the layering of acrylic paint i...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic

ABSTRACT Painting Black Brown Line Texture Spanish Artist Alicia Gimeno 2024 NEW
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Handmade Paper

Abstract impressionist nature forest acrylic painting on paper "Dance of trees"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary, expressive abstract impressionist painting, "Dance of Trees", vividly captures the serene essence of a forest landscape through the lens of a dynamic, impressionis...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Artwork Geometry and Colors by Spanish Artist Mariona Espinet 2023
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

"Textures" (2024) By Dan McCaw, Original Abstract Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dan McCaw's "Textures" created in 2024, is a striking oil painting measuring 30 x 24 inches. This original artwork features an abstract composition of figures, rendered with rich tex...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Abstract Expressionist Composition on Black
Located in Soquel, CA
Colorful and dynamic abstract composition by Ross H. Pollette, who also paints under the pseudonyms 'Max West' (American, b. 1948). Pollette has used oil, in...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil

Contemporary Blue New Abstract Blue Gestural Colors Christina Gschwantner
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Antique American School Signed Impressionist Fishing Harbor Beach Scene Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American impressionist coastal seascape oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 22H by 18L.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Modernist Surreal Beach Scene Still Life Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist sunset beach scene oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 24H by 20L.
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

20th Century French Geometric Abstract Composition Oil Painting Red Colours
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Composition signed by Serge Guerin (b. 1916), French oil painting on canvas, unframed size: 29 x 24 inches provenance: private collection, Paris, France condition: overall g...
Category

20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Unique Modernist Israeli Still Life Monoprint Painting Calman Shemi Vase Flowers
Located in Surfside, FL
Fruit and Flowers monoprint by Calman Shemi Calman Shemi, sculptor and painter, was born in Argentina in 1939. A graduate of the School of Sculpture and Ceramics in Mendoza, he studied under the Italian-Argentinean sculptor Libero Badii whom he credits with putting him on the right path. “He taught me principals, not only related to sculpture, but human and philosophic principals. Shemi also carefully studied the work of such masters as Pablo Picasso, Caravaggio, Frank Stella and Henri Matisse. “From each one of these great artists I learned something from observing them,” he says. In 1961, at the age of 20, Shemi immigrated to Israel and joined Kibbutz Carmia of which he was a member for twenty years. There he worked in agriculture and also as a sculptor working with wood and clay. Several of his large-scale fiberglass and polyester sculpture projects are situated in public buildings. He was a student of German-Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehmann, a pioneer of the artistic movement known as “Canaanism.” Canaanite art was an effort to create a direct relationship with the land, bypassing historic Jewish connotations—hence the land’s primordial name is used. Canaanite works, with an emphasis on the inter-action of simple shapes, bear a deliberate resemblance to the sculpture and ritual art of early civilizations of the Middle East prior to Judaism, always with an eye to the fusion of man and the land itself. Though sculpture dominated his early years as an artist, in the mid ’70s Shemi developed the idea of the “soft painting” medium. Beginning with a color drawing done to scale, Shemi layers onto the drawing irregularly shaped pieces of variously textured and colored fabrics. Using a threadless 9,000-needle sewing machine, the fabrics are meshed to one another and to the background, resulting in vibrant wool tapestry carpet compositions infused with exuberant color and explosive movement. Over the years, Shemi has continued to challenge himself with new artistic mediums, developing two more techniques of painting: “Lacquer paintings” and “window paintings.” He also works in monotype, lithograph and silkscreen techniques. He creates his Lacquer Painting by applying vibrant colors to wood or metal panel that has been gilded with gold or silver leaf, and sometimes both. After the oil paint has thoroughly dried, many layers of lacquer are applied to the surface giving it a glowing effect. Between each layer of lacquer the piece is hand-polished to give the surface its very shiny look. Shemi’s “lacquer” and “window” paintings are reminiscent of ancient techniques used centuries ago in Japan and China. Shemi concludes, “All of the art that I create is full of optimism and beauty. That’s all. Simple, very simple.” During the past eighteen years Shemi has held more than seventy one-man shows in the U.S., Japan, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Israel. His works can be seen in many public and private collections around the world. He is of a generation of contemporary Israeli artists, somewhat influenced by pop art that include Alex Pauker...
Category

20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Monoprint

Fils I Colors DCLXI - Multicolor Abstract Contemporary Art on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Barcelona native artist Raul de la Torre's vibrant abstract mixed media artworks pay homage to textiles. De La Torre allows the materials to take over during the process and collabor...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Thread, Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Mixed Water Lilies Spotted Sunlight, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero spends much of his summers happily gardening and caring for his pond. There are also several others within walking distance from his hom...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Pink Water Lilies: August, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero paints an emerald pool abundant with blooming water lilies. "I am fascinated by the three-fold nature of looking at the water's surface," says Onelio. He displays depth implied in the reflection of the sky, ripples, plants floating, and finally, the telltale signs of things just below the surface. Part of Onelio's ongoing series of paintings exploring bodies of water.


About the Artist
Artist Onelio Marrero paints impressionist city scenes of everyday life. He captures the romanticism of New York City, from the picturesque fountains in Central Park to a glistening city street on a rainy afternoon. He creates a sense of nostalgia and intimacy with his work, offering the feeling that you have visited this particular scene before. “Each play of light, each texture, and each movement of a figure can have a captivating effect on me,” says Onelio. He studied at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art where he mastered discerning color and values, giving his work a more spontaneous appearance. Onelio’s work is an appreciation for beauty in all of its greatest forms; nature, art, and people.


Words that describe this painting: water lily, lilies, Monet, pond, lake, lily pads, reflection, forest, flower, impressionism, water, plants, oilpaint, nature, impressionism, nature, oil painting, green


Pink Water...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Time Zone 3 - Multicolor Modern Acrylic Abstract Geometric Resin Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

ABSTRACT Painting Landscapes Grey Gold Pau Escat Spanish Artist
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic

#1625 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
#1625 (Abstract painting) Oil on Canvas - Unframed. Boecker begins each new work by penciling in his composition. But the work ultimately is about the colors and layers that will ev...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1970's French Geometric Abstract Large Oil Painting on Canvas, signed
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Gilbert Pelissier (French born 1924) signed and dated on verso 74' oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas size: 24.5 x 20 inches condition: ove...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted American school abstract expressionist painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed verso. Measuring 30 by 30 overall and 24 by 24 painting alone.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract expressionist blue, black & green mid-century geometric painting
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Untitled, c. 1949 oil on canvas 18 x 32 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller designed and made the simple gold wedding ring Avis wore for their 65 years of marriage. During those 65 years neither wavered in their mutual love, nor in the respect they shared for one another’s art. The couple lived in a converted chicken coop in Missouri while Richard was in boot camp. At the camp, he would volunteer for any job offered and one of those jobs ended up being painting road signs. His commander noticed how quickly and neatly he worked and gave him more painting work to do - eventually recommending him for a position painting murals for Army offices in Panama. Until her dying day, Avis remained angry that “The army got to keep those fabulous murals and they probably didn’t even know how wonderful they were.” In Panama, their first son, Mark, was born. After Richard’s discharge in 1953, they moved back to the Cleveland area and used the GI bill to attend Kent State gaining his BA in education. The small family then moved briefly to Buffalo, where Richard taught at the Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo – and their second son, Peter, was born. Richard had exhibited work in the Cleveland May Show and the Butler Art Museum during his art school years, and during the years in Buffalo, his work was exhibited at the gallery he had so loved as a child, the Albright Art Gallery. In 1956, the family moved back to the Cleveland area and Richard began teaching art at Lincoln West High School during the day while working toward his MA in art at Kent State in the evenings. Avis and Richard, with the help of an architect, designed their first home - a saltbox style house in Hudson, Ohio, and in 1958, their third son, Max (after Max Beckmann) was born. Richard enjoyed the consistency of teaching high school as well as the time it gave him to paint on the weekends and during the summer months. In 1961, he received his MA and his daughter, Claire, was born. With a fourth child, the house was much too small, and Avis and Richard began designing their second home. An admirer of MCM architecture, Richard’s favorite example of the style was the Farnsworth house – he often spoke of how the concepts behind this architectural style, particularly that of Mies van der Rohe, influenced his painting. Andres described himself as a 1950’s...
Category

1940s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

'Village in Provence', Large French Geometric Abstract Oil, Palo Alto Gallery
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right 'S. Aron' (French, 20th century) and dated 1970; additionally signed, verso, on canvas with old label verso. Provenance: Los Robles Gallery, Palo Alto, California.
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Original 1970's French Abstract Ink Painting Black and White
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink

Seated Figure (Abstract Woman Collage).
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Sam Maitin (1928-2004). Seated Figure, ca. 1970. Charcoal, gouache and decorative paper collage. Measuring 15.5 x 20.5 inches; 22.75 x 27.75 inches framed. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Period frame original to the piece in mahogany with natural wood grain on sides and 22k gold leaf gilt face. After graduating from Simon Gratz High School, Maitin won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts). A painter, printmaker, sculptor, muralist, graphic designer, political activist, and beloved teacher, Maitin headed the Visual Graphics Communication Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication from 1965–1972 and served on the board of Woodmere Art Museum from 1995–2004. He received a number of awards, including a 1968 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. He created murals and other public art for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry, the Please Touch Museum, and Hahnemann University Hospital, among others. Maitin's work is museum collections in the United States and Europe, including (but not limited to): Philadelphia Museum of Art Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Museum of Modern Art, New York Tate Gallery, London Bauersche Geisserie, Germany Oakland Museum, California Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Currier Gallery of Art...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Gouache

Gather - original artwork - abstract mixed media painting - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of “Gather,” an orig...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

#135 (Abstract Expressionist painting)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Douglas M. Olsen (b. 1960). #135, 1982. Watercolor on rag paper, 22 x 30 inches. Signed lower margin and on verso.
Category

20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Rag Paper

Abstract 20th Century French still life with figs, lemons and a vase of flowers
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Maurice Potier (French, 1926 – 2002) Oranges, figs, lemons and a vase of flowers Oil on canvas Signed ‘M Potier’ (lower right), Further signed and dated Maurice Potier / 1994. 27.3/8...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Pop Art Abstract Modernist Mid Century Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled abstract painting mixed media on canvas
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Title: Untitled (2002) Artist: Deyan Valkov Date of Birth: 1974 Style: Abstract Material-Expressionism Technique: Oil and mixed media on canvas Dimensions: 25.6 x 21.3 inches Conditi...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Wild Sensations
Located in THOMERY, FR
"Wild Sensations" – Acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 cm In this vibrant and sun-drenched piece, freedom takes shape through the fluid movement of a young woman gliding on her skateboard, ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Colour Study 3 - minimalist, contemporary, abstract, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
The distinctive minimalist colourful paintings of Aron Hill are inspired by the modernist art movement. The colour field work of Aron Hill showcases their intuitive sense of colour...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Acrylic

Abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Giorgio Lo Fermo, Sumit Mehndiratta, Nestor Toro, and Cindy Shaoul. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Synthetic Resin Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract paintings, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.

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