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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Item Ships From: USA
Style: Abstract
A Ways Away, Contemporary Abstract Landscape Painting
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This painting uses cool earth colors and a combination of oil and wax to create a landscape focusing on brushwork, color and form. Like many of the artists paintings the landscape co...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wax, Oil
Book of Flowers 2 (small)
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Jordi Molla's "Book of Flowers" series is a collection of pages from a Botanical book in which he plastered them onto the canvas and proceeded to paint his own botanicals over them. ...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Wild Flower no. 4
Located in Dallas, TX
M aka Michael Chow was born in 1939 into a family of theater in Shanghai, China. His father, Zhou Xinfang, the grandmaster of Beijing Opera, is regarded as a national treasure to thi...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
LittleBrickWall
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
In 2024 Jordi Molla embarked on a new series based on life itself; painting 6 paintings in 6 different settings using the same color scheme.
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Untitled
By Paul Brach
Located in Austin, TX
Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right.
41.75 x 61 in.
44 x 63 in. (framed)
Custom framed in a hardwood floater with a matte white finish.
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Eri...
Category
1950s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Rebirth
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Atmospheric gradations of color are encased in hardened surfaces in a constant push and pull between depth, light and texture. Capturing the effect of light purely with color is wher...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Resin, Acrylic, Panel
Astronaut - Abstract on canvas
Located in New York, NY
Abstract painting. Browns, black, white and silver. No frame needed.
About the Artist:
Michael has been working as a painter and designer for over 20 years. His work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout the country including The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Austin Museum of Digital Art, The Westmoreland Museum of Art, UICA/Michigan, and The Mattress Factory. His paintings have been featured in Atlantic Homes and Lifestyles, Beaux Arts, Table Magazine, Perlora Contemporary Home Magazine, The Wall Street International Magazine and the cover of Housetrends. His work will also be featured in Design Within Reach’s 2019 Catalog.
His clients have included The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Nintendo, IBM, Sony Pictures and Panasonic. His work has been published widely in various publications including TIME, The Wall Street Journal, How Magazine, Graphis, London’s Computer Arts, BIg Magazine, The Book of Probes by Marshall Mcluhan (designed by David Carson), Big Magazine and Speak.
His collaboration with José Muniain on the short film installation “Navarro”, which documented his painting process, was a finalist in the D.C. Independent Film Festival. Some recent projects include the main lobby...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media
The Face in the Sea
By Dorothy Hood
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"The Face in the Sea" is an oil on canvas painting by Dorothy Hood, made in the 1970s. The artwork size is 70 x 60 inches.
For Hood, the sea and the infinite expanse of the cosmos a...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled
By Dorothy Hood
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Untitled" is an oil on canvas painting made by Dorothy Hood in the 1980s. The artwork size is 70 x 60 inches.
Hood often acknowledged that Arshile Gorky, Edvard Munch, Henri Matiss...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Red King - Enamels on Plexi
Located in New York, NY
Abstract painting on plexi. Vibrant red with black and yellow and charcoal hues. No frame needed. King theme.
About the Artist:
Michael has been working as a painter and des...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Night Falls - On Canvas
By Sara Conca
Located in New York, NY
Abstract painting on canvas. Rich texture and vibrant colors.
About the artist:
Sara Conca is a world renowned, American, contemporary abstract artist of French-Italian descent...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media
No.6
Located in Bantam, CT
Steven Miller trained at Parsons School of Design, Miller derives inspiration from electron microscope images that reveal the invisible building blocks of natural world. His pursuit ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
Marine Landscape done by Charles Movalli Painting "Covered Snow"
Located in Rockport, MA
Charles Movalli (1945–2016) had a BA from Clark University and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. He painted and wrote about art for over thirty years. He belonged to the Nort...
Category
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
In the Harbor done by artist Charles Movalli (1945-2016)
Located in Rockport, MA
Charles Movalli (1945-2016)
Charles Movalli (1945–2016) had a BA from Clark University and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. He painted and wrote about art for over thirty ye...
Category
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Cerulean Flora
Located in Readsboro, VT
Infused with a tranquil palette, this textile sculpture was crafted to evoke serenity and growth, drawing inspiration from the resilience of nature. Its cerulean hues and wood founda...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Fabric, Textile, Cotton, Wood, Latex
Children of the World: Midnight #4
Located in Southampton, NY
The latest in the wide world of J. Oscar Molina's "Children of the World" Collection--a profound collection of paintings and sculptures in assorted sizes and mediums which have been ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
"Stripe Drawing #11" Contemporary Original Abstract Drawing
Located in Roselle Park, NJ
My drawings and paintings are an examination of three major elements - color, surface and mark making. These nonrepresentational pieces give me the freedom to concentrate on and inve...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
Down Comes the Sky
Located in San Diego, CA
"Down Comes the Sky" in "Urban Peace" collection is an original painting by San Diego Artist Shima Shanti in the ancient art form of Encaustic. Up to 50 layers of purified beeswax m...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Wax, Encaustic, Oil
New Space Arabia 1979 Colossal Abstract Red Blue Green Museum Canvas James Yohe
By James Yohe
Located in Miami, FL
James Yohe painted this large scale red and deep hues of blue and green powerful and beautiful original work on canvas in 1979. This early work by this famous artist of the 1980's a...
Category
1980s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic Polymer
Four & Six, No. 1 painting by Naohiko Inukai
Located in Hudson, NY
Strong vertical and horizontal elements woven into a repeating pattern, Naohiko Inukai's painting Four & Six, No. 1 offers a calming rhythmic symmetry. ...
Category
1960s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Joy Factory
Located in Covington, LA
"The nostalgia of a tropical climate is the undercurrent that inspires my process. Bright and vibrant pigments live on my palette. I treat each canvas with an intuitive approach, nev...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Acrylic
Birchband
Located in San Luis Obispo, CA
Michael Kessler was born in 1954 in Hanover, Pennsylvania and had his first art show in 1080. His abstract art awards include the Rome Prize for Painting from the American Academy in Rome in 1990 and the Pollock/Krasner Award in Painting. His modern artwork has been widely exhibited in the US and abroad via international and national galleries, and has been featured in over 150 SOLO exhibitions since 1983. Michael Kessler’s abstract contemporary paintings are widely collected and appear in over 20 museum collections in the US, including the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Appearances are deceptive, and anyone who is interested in the true nature of the universe knows that there are far more questions than answers. The more we know, the more we know we don’t know. I want my paintings to reflect both the desire to know and the futility of trying to know. I’m building a surface and not so much an image. I see my work as a metaphor for nature – about wondering how it (nature) got that way, realizing that we may never find out. I’m interested in beauty, but not a superficial or superfluous beauty – something deeper. It is daunting, but if you go through the forest at night...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Forgotten Landscape
Located in Greenwich, CT
Elizabeth Higgins Biography
b. 1960
Elizabeth Higgins describes herself as an abstract figurative and landscape painter. Everything around her serves as a potential subject, an insp...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
El Ravel - Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in New York, NY
Abstract painting. Browns and blues.
About the Artist:
Michael has been working as a painter and designer for over 20 years. His work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout the country including The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Austin Museum of Digital Art, The Westmoreland Museum of Art, UICA/Michigan, and The Mattress Factory. His paintings have been featured in Atlantic Homes and Lifestyles, Beaux Arts, Table Magazine, Perlora Contemporary Home Magazine, The Wall Street International Magazine and the cover of Housetrends. His work will also be featured in Design Within Reach’s 2019 Catalog.
His clients have included The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Nintendo, IBM, Sony Pictures and Panasonic. His work has been published widely in various publications including TIME, The Wall Street Journal, How Magazine, Graphis, London’s Computer Arts, BIg Magazine, The Book of Probes by Marshall Mcluhan (designed by David Carson), Big Magazine and Speak.
His collaboration with José Muniain on the short film installation “Navarro”, which documented his painting process, was a finalist in the D.C. Independent Film Festival. Some recent projects include the main lobby...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media
"Deep River Turnaround"
Located in Bantam, CT
Emilia Dubicki's paintings evoke the infinite: duration, expanse and change knowing no limits. The artist based in New Haven Connecticut says " I like to combine the feelings, struc...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
City Scene with Faces casein tempera on canvas by Vaclav Vytlacil
Located in Hudson, NY
Modernist painting by Vaclav Vytlacil of "City Scene with Faces". Signed and dated "Vytlacil 32" lower right.
Provenance: Estate of the artist #1584; Martin Diamond Fine Art
Exhibi...
Category
1930s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Tempera, Casein, Canvas
Mea Culpa #26
Located in Roselle Park, NJ
The Mea Culpa series is more about feeling than a specific vision. I attempt to use mark-making, color, and surface to explore the emotions I need to convey. I never know when they w...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel
The Girl with Headphone
Located in New York, NY
2017, Oil on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Manhattan Day 3
Located in New York, NY
2023, Acrylic on Canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Vis
By Holly Addi
Located in Sausalito, CA
"There is a constant internal back and forth, and it's a huge part of my creative process. I'm simultaneously creating space for dialogue and following the lead of the piece, and to...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Green swamp path 2
Located in Southampton, NY
The latest in the wide world of J. Oscar Molina's "Children of the World" Collection--a profound color driven body of paintings in assorted sizes and mediums which have been inspired...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Blue Heart
Located in New York, NY
2022, Acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
Summer Dream III
Located in New York, NY
Acrylic on canvas
43x 86in unstretched
Vicky Barranguet found her own voice and colorful expression of life, emotions, and music through her studies with master painters, Larry Pon...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"Rocket" Original Abstract Painting on Paper by Meredith C. Bullock
Located in Pleasant Shade, TN
This original painting was created by abstract painter, Meredith C. Bullock.
The painting measures 19x24" on thick white paper. Materials used: acrylic painting, chalk pastel, and ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Chalk, Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Love in the NY City
Located in New York, NY
2017, Oil on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mea Culpa #1
Located in Roselle Park, NJ
The Mea Culpa series is more about feeling than a specific vision. I attempt to use mark-making, color, and surface to explore the emotions I need to convey. I never know when they w...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Paper
Joy
Located in New York, NY
2023, Acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Play #6 Contemporary Original Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Roselle Park, NJ
This series focuses on the idea of play and the emotions involved in the act of playing. We often forget the importance of relaxing the mind, of letting go of our troubles, of being ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Creation
Located in New York, NY
2023, Acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Carried Away
By Thea Schrack
Located in San Luis Obispo, CA
Thea Schrack is a photographer and painter with a penchant for the past. Her photographic forays have taken her to English country estates, Czech castles, vineyards and to the shores...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Republic of Haut Bay II
Located in San Luis Obispo, CA
Danielle Eubank is a painter who is exploring the relationship between abstraction and realism. Based on the oceans of the world, her abstract oil paintings are modern and emotive.
...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Tampoco imagine ver paisajes flotantes, acrylic on wooden panel, soccer painting
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Artist Statement on “Empty Landscapes” series:
In the life of the artist, sport fields and arenas have been a refuge and a home. Empty Landscapes is a project that started during the pandemic which explores the football field as a place de-peopled. Among other things we never imagined happening in our lifetime, this space built into our landscapes to be occupied became for nearly a year and a half a space inaccessible- even prohibited. By placing the field vertically, deconstructing it, or rearranging the boundaries and shapes that lay down the foundations of the game the artist creates a familiar, but obsolete representation of a space treasured by so many.
About the artist:
Magdalena Paz...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
Floating Music
By Thea Schrack
Located in San Luis Obispo, CA
Thea Schrack is a photographer and painter with a penchant for the past. Her photographic forays have taken her to English country estates, Czech castles, vineyards and to the shores...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Listen
By Amrta Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This piece is part of the Amrta Gold Series. These pieces are incredibly unique and cannot be replicated. The are multilayered mixed media abstracts all with 24k gold leaf on top. Th...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Gold Leaf
Renneth Over
Located in New York, NY
2021, Photograph on aluminum
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Photographic Film
Bardo
Located in New York, NY
The watercolor series is a group of forty iridescent watercolors made during my time in the Hawaiian Islands. Those works on paper are made under the inspiration of the light phenome...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Orange and White
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Shingo Francis grew up in Los Angeles, immersed in the intense light and vast ocean vistas of life in southern California. Like many LA artists, Francis be...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Parkside Place
Located in San Luis Obispo, CA
Suzie Buchholz is a Bay Area-based abstract painter with a playful yet rebellious approach to the tradition of Abstract Expressionism. Her process is highly physical,driven by an ins...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Green Tulip
Located in Southampton, NY
The perfect shape of a fresh tulip is poised with grace on it's stem, in a medley of color blocks that capture the movement perfectly.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Henri
Located in New York, NY
2021, Acrylic & oil on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Oil
Human Centipede
Located in New York, NY
2022, Oil on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Génétic ‘ IOTA
Located in New York, NY
2023, Watercolor & acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Watercolor
To Plant Flowers While Waiting
Located in New York, NY
2012, Acrylic on canvas (Triptych)
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Play Drawing #8 Contemporary Original Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Roselle Park, NJ
Play Drawing #8 Contemporary Original Abstract Oil Painting
This series focuses on the idea of play and the emotions involved in the act of playing. We often forget the importance o...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Oil
Génétic ‘ TAU
Located in New York, NY
2023, Watercolor & acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Watercolor
Scallop Shanty
Located in New York, NY
2019, Oil on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Drive Home from Montauk
Located in New York, NY
2022, Acrylic on canvas
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"Love in the Eye of a Hurricane" - Abstract Expressionist Painting on Panel 2022
Located in San Diego, CA
A contemporary painting in an abstract expressionist style, "Love in the Eye of a Hurricane" features gestural acrylic brushstrokes and mixed media markings atop wood panel. It is an original, fine art painting created in 2021 by abstract artist Kara Greenwell. Sophisticated Payne's gray blue hues blend with beige, white and pale pink acrylic paint in contrast to dramatic black and white charcoal and graphite marks. The artist continued the painting extending around the edges of this gallery wrapped canvas, ensuring visual interest from all angles. Measuring 40 inches by 30 inches, this mid-sized abstract painting is the perfect modern statement piece for any wall. The painting can be hung a nail or picture...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Charcoal, Crayon, Acrylic, Pencil, Graphite
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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