Abstract 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.
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil Pastel
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Soot
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Lacquer, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil Pastel, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Abstract Paintings
Latex, Ink, Acrylic, Pigment
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Lacquer, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Wax, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
1940s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Encaustic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Watercolor, Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Mixed Media, Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
An impressionist view of a sunny day on the California coast, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. "Being by the ocean instills a sense of c...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Plaster, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Lisa Elley takes inspiration from the Dutch post-impressionist painter, Vincent van Gogh and combines it with Monterey Bay's vibrant color palette as the...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1950s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Paper, Gouache
2010s Abstract Paintings
Metal
1980s Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
“A landscape painting that evokes springtime flair will always have a place in my creative world,†explains artist Ronda Waiksnis. She depicts an abstracted...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1940s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Latex, Paper, Pigment
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Metal
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1980s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic