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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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Period: 1980s
Style: Abstract
This Week's Listings Only
Abstract Expressionist Self Portrait in in Acrylic and Pastel on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist Self Portrait in in Acrylic and Pastel on Paper A colorful abstracted self portrait painting by California-based artist Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20t...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Pastel

"Abolicion de la Muerte" Fernando de Szyszlo, Grey Abstract Surrealist Painting
Located in New York, NY
Fernando de Szyszlo Abolicion de la Muerte, 1987 Titled dated verso: "Abolicion de la Muerte" NY/87 Signed lower bottom edge center "Szyszlo" Oil on canvas 56 1/2 x 37 1/2 inches Fernando de Szyszlo was a Peruvian painter...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Abstract in Jade', Bay Area Abstraction, Woman artist, SFMOMA, Oakland Museum
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Initialed lower right in pencil, 'B.R.' for Barbara Rainforth (American, 20th century) and dated 1989. Additionally signed in pencil, verso, 'Barbara...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Laid Paper, Graphite

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, BARCELONA
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Baby - Oil on Canvas by Leo Guida - 1983
Located in Roma, IT
Baby is an original Contemporary artwork realized in 1983 by the italian Contemporary artist Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). Original Oil on Canvas. Total dimensions: 70 x 3 x 70 cm. Mi...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Italian Landscape with Signals - Oil on Canvas by Leo Guida - 1984
Located in Roma, IT
Italian Landscape with Signals is an original Contemporary artwork realized in 1984 by the italian artist Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). Original mixed colored oil on canvas Includes woo...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Expressionist Portrait in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist Portrait in in Acrylic on Paper A bold abstracted portrait painting by California-based artist, Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20th C). Although this piec...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

The Big Sky 2 - Oil on Canvas by Leo Guida - 1988
Located in Roma, IT
The Big Sky 2 is an original contemporary artwork realized in 1988 by the Italian artist Leo Guida (1992-2017). Original oil on canvas. Good conditions e...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tulips in a vase. Oil on cardboard, 45 x 30 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Tulips in a vase. Oil on cardboard, 45 x 30 cm Aleksandr Rodin (1922-2001) Painter Born in a family of farmers. Wife Rasma Lace - art scholar. Studied at the Stalingrad School of A...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Get in Gear - Geometric Abstract Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Get in Gear - Geometric Abstract Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper A bold abstract painting in red by California-based artist, Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20th C)...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

"Rocky Derivation" Large Scale Modern Geometric Wyoming Abstracted Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Rocky Derivation, Large Scale Modern Geometric Wyoming Abstracted Landscape Stunning abstracted landscape with lavender, blue and pink on black titled, "Rocky Derivation" by listed...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

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...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cardboard, Canvas, Oil

Large Scale Abstracted Cityscape -- Mountains Overlooking the City
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant abstract of Berkeley Hills overlooking the city of Oakland, California by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999). Presented in a wood slat white frame. Signed lower right "Loran." ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Brooklyn Bridge Celebration, Surrealist Oil Painting on Canvas by Red Hammond
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Red Hammond Title: Brooklyn Bridge Celebration Year: 1989 Medium: Oil on Canvas Diptych, signed and titled verso Size: 56 x 50 in. (142.24 x 127 cm)
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Tomoe, Large Geometric Abstract Painting by Todd Boppel
Located in Long Island City, NY
Tomoe Todd Boppel, American (1934–2000) Date: 1985 Oil on Canvas, signed verso Size: 66 x 44 inches Frame Size: 67 x 45 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Call
Located in New York, NY
Abstract Expressionist Painting. Acrylic on Canvas. Collection from revered artist of NYC and The Hamptons. About the Artist: Part of the New York School Abstract Expressionists. Recognized around the world as the leading art movement after WWII. He showed with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. 1921 born in Philadelphia 1934 – 38 Graphic Sketch Club 1938 – 40 Philadelphia Museum School of Art 1940 – 41 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art 1942 – 45 WWII War Correspondent-Artist, Yank magazine 1946 – 47 Art Students League, Will Barnett 1947- 48 Hans Hofmann Academy 1960–1979 Instructor at: University of California, Berkeley, CA; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; New York University, New York, NY; Columbia University, New York, NY; Brooklyn College, New York, NY; Temple University, Rome, Italy 2017 deceased Collections: Ciba-Geigy Collection Chase Manhattan Bank Art Institute of Chicago Corcoran Art Museum, Washington Eugene V. Thaw Collection Max Kozloff Collection Montana Historical Society, Montana New York University Norfolk Art Museum Robert Rosenblum Collection Sarah Lawrence Collection Union Carbide Collection University of California Museum University of Massachusetts University of Montana Walter P. Chrysler Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Whitney Museum, New York Yellowstone Art Center, Montana Exhibitions: Individual 2020 Frankfurt TBD 2018 Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt 2008 Suvretta House, St. Moritz, Schweiz Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt 2006 Ludwigmuseum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz Galerie Barbara von Stechow zu Gast in der Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf 2005 Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt New York „Abstract Expressionism” Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Dr. Alexander Georgieff & Dr. Peter Sewing bei Georgieff Capital, Frankfurt 2004 Galerie Barbara von Stechow zu Gast in der Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf CherryStoneGallery, Massachusetts 2003 Galerie Barbara von Stechow zu Gast in der Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt Kunstverein Augsburg 2002 ART Frankfurt, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt 2001 Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt a. M. Art Cologne, Galerie Barbara von Stechow Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York City 2000 Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt a. M. Art Frankfurt, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt a. M. Galerie Schröder & Dörr, Bergisch-Gladbach 1999 Galerie Peter Bäumler, Regensburg 1998 Conrad Hinrich Donner Bank, Hamburg 1996 Galerie Hexagon, Aachen Olaf Clasen Gallery, Köln 1995 Olaf Clasen Gallery, Köln Denise Bibro Gallery, New York City 1994 Olaf Clasen Gallery, Köln 1993 Galerie Peter Bäumler, Regensburg Bologna-Landi Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1992 Olaf Clasen Gallery, Köln Benton Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1991 St. Mary’s College, Maryland M 13 Gallery, New York City 1989 Randall Gallery, St. Louis, Mass. RH Love Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Morris Gallery), Pennsylvania 1988 Cyrus Gallery, New York City Benton Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1987 Armstrong Gallery, New York City 1986 Barbara Ingber Gallery, New York City 1984 Barbara Ingber Gallery, New York City 1982 The New School, New York City 1981 Benson Gallery, New York City 1980 Landmark Gallery, New York City 1978 Temple University Abroad, Rom 1977 Andre Zarre, New York City 1974 Bertha Schaefer, New York City 1973 Bertha Schaefer, New York City 1971 Westbeth Galleries, New York City 1965 University of Arkansas, Little Rock 1964 Princeton University, New Jersey 1963 Thibault Gallery, New York City 1962 Hacker Gallery, New York City 1960 Poindexter Gallery, New York City 1958 Poindexter Gallery, New York City 1957 Poindexter Gallery, New York City 1956 Ganymede Gallery, New York City 1954 Artists’ Gallery, New York City 1953 Hendler Gallery, Philadelphia 1952 New Gallery, New York City 1950 Artists’ Gallery, New York City Group Exhibitions: 2018 Titans In the Rough Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Joe Stefanelli...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Red with Black, White and Orange - Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Red with Black, White and Orange - Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper A bright abstract painting by California-based artist, Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20th C). A...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Vintage Abstract Figurative Vision
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderfully evocative abstract expressionist oil painting of a face with figure reflecting in the eye by an unknown California artist (American, 20th Century). Unsigned. Unframed. Im...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Structure Relief 254" Abstract Landscape Relief, Earth Tones
Located in Detroit, MI
"Structure Relief 254" is an abstract structural relief painted in earth tones. Throughout his life Barr was interested in engineering, structure, mathematics and nature. Although i...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Wood, Acrylic

American School New York City Abstract Expressionist Original MCM Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
American school abstract painting. Watercolor on paper, circa 1960. Signed. Image size, 18"L x 24"H.
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Watercolor, Gouache

American School New York City Abstract Expressionist Original MCM Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
American school abstract painting. Watercolor on paper, circa 1960. Signed. Image size, 24"L x 18"H.
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Watercolor, Gouache

Bay Area Figurative School -- "Banker's Holiday"
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful Bay Area School figurative of tan man with blue hat by Patricia Gren Hayes (American, 20th Century), 1980. Signed, titled and dated on ve...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

According to Equation
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed, titled, dated verso. 67 x 66 inches67.75 x 66.75 inches (framed) Custom framed in a solid maple floater. Warren Rohrer...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Singing At the Moon, Wolf in a Tux - Abstract Figurative
Located in Soquel, CA
A tongue in cheek swipe at the futility of it all. A well heeled gent (Wolf) in a Tux bays at the moon at his good fortune, by G. Lester (American, 20th Ce...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Israeli Hard Edged Geometric Abstract Mixed Media Art Painting Aharon Gluska
Located in Surfside, FL
Aharon Gluska (Israeli, b. 1951) Mixed Media Painting Markings & Inscriptions: Hand signed bottom right Date: Mid to late 20th century Frame: 26 X 33.75 Image: 23 X 30.75 Aharon Gluska (born 1951) is an Israeli–American painter. Gluska was born in 1951 in Hadera, Israel. He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Avni Institute of Fine Arts in Tel Aviv. Grants Gluska received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jackson Pollock- Lee Krasner Foundation. Awards Gluska was one of two winners along with Moshe Kupferman, of the 1996 Zussman Prize for artists dealing with the Holocaust, from the Yad Vashem museum, for his paintings of prisoners at Auschwitz based on photographs of them taken by their Nazi guards. Exhibitions: Bertha Urdang Gallery, NY, USA 1983 Aharon Gluska: Painting and Drawings 1985-1986 Bertha Urdang Gallery, NY, USA 1986 Group Exhibitions The Disciplined Spirit, Exit Art, New York, USA Artists: Nahum Tevet, Micha Ullman, Aaron Gluska, Jacob El Hanani, Moshe Kupferman, Gilad Ophir, Joshua Neustein, Bertha Urdang Gallery, NY, USA Artists: Larry Abramson, Yosef Zaritsky, Zelig Segal, Menashe Kadishman, Yaacov Agam, Buky Schwartz, Michael Gross, Michael Gitlin, Benni Efrat, Pinchas Cohen Gan, Zigi Ben Haim, Avi Adler, Arie Aroch. Bertha Urdang Collector's Choice, Space for Modern Artists - Daphna Naor, Jerusalem Group Exhibition - Etched Voices, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem painting and sculpture. Artists: Jankel Adler, Avigdor Arikha, Gideon Gechtman, Menashe Kadishman, Marcel Janco, Samuel Bak, Moshe Gershuni, Ori Gersht, Osias Hofstatter, Zvi Aldouby, Mordecai Ardon,Yosl Bergner, Mikhail Grobman, Igael Tumarkin, Naftali Bezem, Beit Shturman Museum, Kibbutz Ein Harod Artists: Adi Nes, Gal Weinstein...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Paint, Ink

Biology 101
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original oil on un-stretched canvas by Jackie Felix, currently featured in the exhibition at Benjaman Gallery "Over the Fence". Jackie Felix (1929-2009) earned her Bachelor of ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Interior Scene with Ocean View', by A. David Crown, Acrylic on Canvas Painting
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This 21" x 17" oil on canvas painting by David Crown, depicts an abstracted rendering of an interior scene, rich in color and detail. Dominating the compos...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

'Untitled Abstract Horses and Cow', by David Crown, Oil on Canvas Painting
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This 20" x 24" oil on canvas painting by David Crown dates to 1985. The focal point of this painting are three animal figures in the foreground rendered in...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Composition, Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting by Lance Balderson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lance Balderson, American Title: Abstract Composition Year: circa 1980 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 40.5 x 56 in. (102.87 x 142.24 cm) Frame Size: 41 x 57 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Patches
Located in Vancouver, CA
Ron Stonier (1933-2001) was a dedicated Vancouver artist celebrated for his exploration of abstract painting, influenced by his mentors Gordon Smith and Jack Shadbolt, as well as by ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Large Scale Abstract Geometric Landscape -- Trees Over Water
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant modernist abstract geometric landscape of trees by the water with reflections by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999). Signed "Loran" lower right corner. Estate stamp on verso. Unframed. Measures 52"H x 72"W x 2D. Erle Loran was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art under the direction of Cameron Booth...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

01AS-3
Located in London, GB
Acrylic on canvas, signed, titled and dated verso. 47.6 x 59 cm (18 3/4 x 24 1/4 in)
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

“Scacchi Series No. 6” Modern Gold Mixed Media Abstract Expressionist Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Modern mixed media abstract expressionist painting by artist Lamar Briggs. The work features strokes of black, purple, and blue against a gold background. Signed in the front lower r...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

More Afterthoughts 4, Abstract Painting by Nick Wallis
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Nick Wallis Title: More Afterthoughts 4 Year: circa 1980 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas,signed Size: 60 x 60 inches (152.4 x 152.4 cm)
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Surrealist Cut Canvas Tromp-l'oeil Blue and Purple Still Life Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Blue and purple toned surrealist still life with various shapes cut out of canvas adhered to the background canvas. Currently hung in a gold frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 47 in x W 59 in x D .5 in. Biography: Paulo Laport...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Patricia Zippin "Tillamook Flight 8 of 12" 1980s Abstract Pastel Painting
Located in Arp, TX
Patricia Zippin Tillamook Flight 8 of 12 1980s Mixed Media 30.5"x 22.5", unframed Signed in paint on bottom right and signed and titled on reverse in pen Patricia Jayne Zippin (1930...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Pencil

Large Abstract Expressionist Figure Handmade Paper Etching Silkscreen Print
By Sam Messer
Located in Surfside, FL
This is done on a very interesting handmade paper (Japanese?) it is hand signed and numbered. In this print the artist Sam Messer uses bold contrasting colors in a gestural manner. Messer's work, so apparently spontaneous or impulsive in its emphasis on highly dramatic gestural brushstrokes and intense color, is, in fact, carefully considered. The treatment of the composition conveys dynamic movement through the sweep...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Handmade Paper, Lithograph, Screen

CRAIG KAUFFMAN “Phantom” 1982 Painting Red Yellow Black Green Blue 10 Feet Tall
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
A wonderful, museum caliber painting by Craig Kauffman. Initialed "CK" and dated "82" in the lower right corner. PROVENANCE: Asher Faure Gallery Luther Vandross Luther Vandross Estate Private Collection, New York Private Collection, San Diego, CA EXHIBITED: Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, California, CRAIG KAUFFMAN: NEW PAINTINGS April 23 through May 21,1983 CATALOGUE: Craig Kauffman Estate Archive Number CR No: P.1982.2 The following is from The New York Times, May 15, 2010, By Douglas Martin Craig Kauffman, who in the 1960s helped put Los Angeles on the art map with audacious experiments in molding industrial plastic to create ethereal wall-mounted sculptures — some resembling giant pieces of jelly candy — died Sunday in Angeles City in the Philippines. He was 78. The cause was complications of pneumonia following a recent stroke, said Frank Lloyd, his friend and dealer. Mr. Kauffman was eminent in an eclectic group of artists who reveled in the light, space and energy of postwar Southern California to forge new Minimalist, often glossy artistic approaches. Richard Armstrong, director of the Guggenheim Museum said that these Californians, sometimes called the Cool School — along with Chicago Imagists and Washington, D.C., painters called the Color School — were counterpoints to the Abstract Expressionists who ruled New York. "California was never ashamed of being a new society," Mr. Armstrong said in an interview on Thursday, "it all fit together nicely." Los Angeles was then ascending to the status of a metropolis, with a growing number of major-league sports teams, fresh industries and a surging population. There were new quarters for public galleries and the burgeoning of commercial ones. At the center of the action was the Ferus Gallery, which staged the first solo exhibition of Andy's Warhol's pop art and the first American retrospective of Marcel Duchamp. Mr. Kauffman was a featured artist at the gallery's inaugural exhibition in 1957, "Objects on the New Landscape Demanding of the Eye." Peter Plagens, in his book Sunshine Muse: Art on the West Coast, 1945-1970, (1974, 1999), wrote, "'Culture' meant 'art' and 'art' implied 'new,' and 'new,' as everybody was informed, meant California — particularly Los Angeles." The artists who seized this historic opportunity included Billy Al Bengston, Ken Price and Robert Irwin, among others. In an interview on Wednesday, Arne Glimcher, founder and chairman of Pace Gallery, which had Mr. Kauffman's first New York show in 1967, called the California scene in the late '50s and early '60s "a pressure cooker of ideas." Referring to artistic styles, he said, "It was California perfection against New York messiness." Mr. Kauffman's early paintings were critical in defining this new style. Mr. Plagens called them "the first evidence of a Los Angeles sensibility." Mr. Kauffman's later work blazed splashier trails, as he experimented with the effects of light on works that were painterly yet three-dimensional. "The true power of what he did was his incorporation and then redirection of light inside sculpture," said Mr. Armstrong, who was the curator of a show of Mr. Kauffman's work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1987. "Many of them glowed," he said. "Others were translucent. Even the supposedly opaque had a noteworthy shimmering quality to them." What Mr. Kauffman made reflected a wide range of inspirations. In a 2008 video interview in conjunction with a show at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena California, he said that the famed lingerie store Frederick's of Hollywood provided artistic nurture. With a smile, he confessed to a "shoe fetish" that had influenced some of his art. Robert Craig Kauffman was born on March 31, 1932, in Los Angeles. He started painting regularly at age 7 and went to theUniversity of Southern California to study architecture in 1950. But art soon won out over architecture, and he transferred to the University of California Los Angeles, to study painting. He earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees there. A breakthrough came in the early 1960s when he experimented with painting on glass, but found it too fragile. He then painted on flat acrylic plastic. His next inspiration came from the plastic packaging increasingly used to wrap merchandise. He sought out craftsmen at commercial factories to learn the technique, Time magazine reported in 1968. The results were several series of three-dimensional wall hangings. Some were inspired by large plastic fruit clusters on the wall of a doughnut shop he frequented in Los Angeles. These lozenge-shaped reliefs were sometimes called "bubbles." Barbara Rose, in a catalog essay for an exhibition at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art in 1967, wrote, "Shaping the brittle sheet plastic into a series of voluptuous curves, Kauffman achieves a kind of abstract eroticism that is purely visual." Mr. Kauffman's work was shown in countless exhibitions and many one-man shows. It has been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. In 2006, one of Mr. Kauffman's reliefs fell from a wall of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, where it was part of an exhibition titled "Los Angeles: Birth of an Art Capital, 1955-1985." It shattered. After storms of publicity, the Pompidou provided technical help and money to make a new version. Mr. Kauffman was married several times. He is survived by his daughters from his marriage to Dana Kauffman, from whom he was separated: Wilhelmina, Vida Rose and Georgia Kauffman. When they started in the 1960s, Mr. Kauffman and his artistic compatriots did not foresee a legacy, much less earning an income, Larry Bell, a prominent artist in the group, said in an interview on Wednesday. "The troops sort of banded together to be our own audience," he said. "Every once in a while, we'd sell...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Silk, Oil Crayon, Acrylic

Aurora
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Jeff Hoare, British Title: Aurora Year: 1980 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed and dated Size: 73 x 57 inches (185.42 x 144.78 cm)
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil, pastel, and paper collage on canvas. Signed and dated verso. 52.75 x 47.75 in. 54 x 49 in. (framed) Gilded floater frame. Provenance Compass Rose, Chicago Born Sylvan Irwin Goldberg in 1924 and raised in the Bronx, Michael Goldberg was an important figure in American Abstract Expressionism, who began taking art classes at the Art Students League in 1938. A gifted student, Goldberg finished high school at the age of 14 and enrolled in City College. He soon found New York’s jazz scene to be a more compelling environment, and he began skipping classes in favor of the Harlem jazz clubs near campus. Goldberg’s love of jazz would become a lifelong passion and a key component to his approach to composition in his paintings. From 1940 to 1942, like many of the leading artists of the New York School, Goldberg studied with Hans Hofmann. In 1943, he put his pursuit of painting on hold and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Serving in North Africa, Burma, and India, Goldberg received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star before being discharged in 1946. After his service, he traveled and worked in Venezuela before returning to the United States, settling back in New York and resuming studies with Hofmann and at the Art Students League. Living downtown and frequenting the Cedar Bar, Goldberg befriended many of the artists of the New York School. In 1951, his work was included in the groundbreaking Ninth Street Show, co-organized by Leo Castelli, Conrad Marca-Relli, and the Eighth Street Club, and featuring the work of - among others - Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline. In 1953, the Tibor de Nagy...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Pastel, Mixed Media, Oil, Handmade Paper

PHENOMENA CROSS WIND ALTERNATE
Located in Aventura, FL
Original painting on canvas. Hand signed, titled and dated on verso by Paul Jenkins. Artwork is in excellent condition. Acquired by our gallery from a private collector. Gallery i...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Oh, Susanna, Abstract Painting and Silkscreen by Daryl Hughto
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Darryl Hughto, American (1943 - ) Title: Oh, Susanna Year: 1981 Medium: Silkscreen with Acrylic Painting, signed l.r. Image Size: 39 x 22 inches Size: 42 x 30 in. (106.68 x 7...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Screen, Acrylic

Colorful Abstract Acrylic Painting by Michel Picotte
Located in Long Island City, NY
Black and Red Abstract Michel Picotte, Canadian (1947) Date: 1984 Acrylic on paper, signed and dated in pen Image Size: 28.25 x 21 inches Size: 30 x 22 ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Architectural Fantasies, Geometric Abstract in Color
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Architectural Fantasies" is a 40" x 30" gouache on paper, abstract painting of geometric shapes and forms, giving the illusion of a three dimensional, architectural structure. Born...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Archival Paper

Warriors Together
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Purvis Young (1943 - 2010) Warriors Together, 1987 Mixed Media house paint on cardboard and thin wood 17.50 x 48 in
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Wood, House Paint, Cardboard

George McClancy Abstract Pattern Painting Yellow
Located in Washington, DC
George McClancy (1930-2014) abstract pattern painting. Acrylic on canvas 72" x 72" George McClancy received a MA in painting from Catholic Universit...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

4.84
Located in Phoenix, AZ
oil and wax on canvas 1927 - 2017 Mala Breuer grew up attending classes in painting and drawing from a young age at the California College of Arts and Crafts. After high school sh...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wax, Oil

New Synthesis #34
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Acrylic on canvas. Signed, dated, titled, and estate stamped on verso. 50.25 x 31 in. 51.25 x 32 in. (framed) Custom framed in maple. Provenance Estate of Jack Roth Born in Brockway, Pennsylvania, Jack Roth was at various times a painter, poet, photographer, and mathematician. He enrolled at Pennsylvania State University in 1943 to study chemistry, but like many of his fellow Abstract Expressionists, his matriculation was interrupted World War II, where he served in both the Army and Air Force. Discharged from the service in 1948, Roth moved to Big Sur, California and married his first wife, Colleen Bleier, with whom he had two daughters. A year later, the young family settled in San Francisco, where Jack enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts. It was here that he studied painting under Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, and Elmer Bischoff. The Roth family left the Bay Area to return to Pennsylvania, where Jack completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1951. In pursuit of his seemingly discordant academic interests, Roth moved yet again, this time to Iowa where he received a Master of Fine Arts at Iowa State University in 1953. Seeking gainful employment, Roth moved to New York, settling in the lower East Side where he began looking for a teaching job and working as a reviewer for Arts Digest magazine. Now divorced, in 1954 Roth married the artist Rachel Chester whom he had met in Iowa. He continued to paint and work odd jobs, some of which were as a hotel night clerk and an orderly at Beekman Downtown Hospital. That year, he unsuccessfully applied for the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in the field of photography. However, Roth’s professional prospects greatly improved when his work was selected by James Johnson Sweeney, Director of the Guggenheim Museum of Art for the traveling exhibition Younger American Painters, alongside giants such as William Baziotes, Richard Diebenkorn, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Morris Louis, and others. One of the first major debuts of the Abstract Expressionist movement to be shown at an American museum, the exhibit traveled to the prominent museums across the country. In 1956 he began graduate work in mathematics at New York University. Opting to dive back into academia, Roth began graduate coursework in mathematics at New York University in 1956. He enrolled at Duke University in 1958, receiving his PhD in mathematics in 1962. Roth continued to create art throughout the pendency of his graduate studies and in 1963, legendary Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) curators Dorothy Miller and William Lieberman recommended Roth as the new talent graphic artist for Art in America. Concurrently, MoMA purchased several works from Roth for the museum’s permanent collection. During this period of artistic achievement, Roth continued to teach - first, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, before moving back north to Montclair, New Jersey, where he was hired as the chairman of the Mathematics department at Upsala College. In 1971 he accepted a dual appointment at Ramapo College, teaching both mathematics and advanced painting. After he received tenure and his finances were secure, his artistic production thrived as he received the first Thomases Award for contributions at the school, which came with the use of a large studio space. This allowed him to work with larger canvases and become what he saw as an Abstract Expressionist Color Field painter. In 1978, the acclaimed gallery Knoedler & Co. in New York began representation of Roth’s work. Other artists represented by the gallery at this time included Alexander Calder, Adolf Gottlieb...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

ABSTRACT WOMAN WITH FLOWERS
Located in Three Oaks, MI
Bookatz's artistic practice embodies a dynamic and multifaceted approach to creation. His canvases resonate with an improvisational interplay, a reflection reminiscent of the nuance...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Deluxe, Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media on Canvas Painting by Thaddeus Strode
Located in Long Island City, NY
Thaddeus Strode, American (1964 - ) - Deluxe, Year: 1988, Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas, signed, Size: 36 x 36 in. (91.44 x 91.44 cm), Frame Size: 38 x 38 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Evolution - Late 20th Century Oil Abstract Piece - George De Goya
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Professor George De Goya. PhD. MA. FRSA. Born In Budapest, 1915-1992, related to the Spanish artist Goya on his mother’s side. Educated in Budapest and France where he received a de...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Springtime Resurrection
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Acrylic on canvas. Signed, titled, and dated on verso. 86 x 74 in. 87.25 x 75.25 in. (framed) Please note: This work was re-framed AFTER photography was completed. The frame seen in the photos was original, and has since been replaced with a solid maple floater, finished in a polyurethane clear coat (see other listings for an example of this frame). Provenance Steve Chase Design, Palm Springs, CA Ronnie Landfield was born in the Bronx, NY on January 9, 1947 - the same day as his older brother. As a teenager, he was encouraged to pursue a career as an artist, subsequently creating his first real paintings around the age of 14. He was particularly influenced by a Life magazine article from 1961 on the Abstract Expressionists, most notably: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline. After stints at the Art Students League, the Kansas City Art Institute, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the University of California at Berkeley, Landfield’s professional career as a painter began in New York in 1965. The following year, after completing a major series of hard-edge border paintings, success as a painter began to materialize. The famous architect and collector Philip Johnson and the collector Robert Scull each acquired large paintings works, as did the Sheldon Memorial Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1967, Landfield was invited to participate in the Whitney Annual at the end of the year. His work attracted considerable attention, and he was invited to participate in important group exhibitions at the Bykert, Bianchini, and Park Place Galleries in New York. Landfield joined the David Whitney...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Mixed Media Painting Minnesota Woman Artist Figurative Abstract
Located in Surfside, FL
Known for her painting and sculpture as well as printmaking. Nancy Randall’s work is featured in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, the Walker Art Center, the Nelson Atkins ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paint, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media

Marea Ofranda
By Gabriela Patulea Dragut
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Gabriela Patulea Dragut, Romanian (1935 - 2007) Title: Marea Ofranda Year: 1982 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and titled verso Size: 57 x 53.5 in. (144.78 x 135.89 cm) Frame ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Tide
Located in Jerusalem, IL
Menashe Kadishman - The Tide - Kings Gallery - Fine art - Israeli art - Israeli artist - international art - Sheep. “The Tide” by Menashe Kadishman Menashe Kadishman721ViewsItamarIta...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract composition C1, 1980 - Acrylic, 116x158
Located in Nice, FR
Acrylic on canvas, signed lower left and right. Not framed.
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Bottles and Fruit"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001) Born in New York in 1913 to famed Philadelphia Modernist, Arthur B. Carles, Mercedes Matter g...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

"Dos Épocos" Modern Abstract Red, Teal, and Orange European Townscape Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Colorful red, teal, and orange modern abstract impressionist landscape painting by Cuban artist Illeana Mulet Batista. The work features multiple buildings in a town center rendered ...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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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