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
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil Crayon, Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Encaustic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Ink, Acrylic, Pigment
Artist Comments
Inspired by the sky after a rainstorm, this artwork captures the moment when the sun begins to emerge from behind the clouds. Metallic silver blends seamlessl...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1940s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil Crayon, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Paintings
Encaustic, Mulberry Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Chalk, Tempera
1990s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Paint, Acrylic, Board
Early 2000s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil
1980s Abstract Paintings
Mixed Media, Laid Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
1960s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
1960s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Fascinated by the birds that soar over her Big Sur home, artist Heidi Hybl paints an abstract depiction of their migration. Their bold forms contrast the soft...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Mica
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Abstract Paintings
Gold Leaf
1980s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Board
1960s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Board
1960s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic Polymer, Ink, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Paintings
Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings
Masonite, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Paintings
Gouache, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
Abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
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