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.
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Crayon, Sumi Ink, Spray Paint, Acrylic, Graphite
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
1980s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Paintings
Gesso, Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Pigment
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Wax, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Metal
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Mixed Media, Panel
Artist Comments
Gary Leonard draws inspiration from a daydreaming woman by the beach. The sun envelopes her in warmth evoking a feeling of peace and relaxation that only this p...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Varnish, Pigment, Other Medium
1970s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Gouache
2010s Abstract Paintings
Metal
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Graphite
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
"Eternal love and appreciation for water come from special places I call home," says artist Drew Noel Marin. She paints an abstract waterscape in cool shades of...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A stand of sunny palm trees in Beverly Hills, rendered in bright blue, green, purple and orange. "The sunny blue sky created an atmosphere full of life and beau...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Panel, ABS
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Metal
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Silver, Gold Leaf
1980s Abstract Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Benjamin Thomas demonstrates an impressionist scene of a couple having an intimate conversation on a lake-side bench. "I was on a bike ride around the town of Niagara and came back to them still being there," says Robert. The figures bathe in the light of the sunset...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
1980s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
1990s Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper
Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic