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.
"Metropolitan Moves - Unleashed", Abstract, Blue, Mixed Media Painting
By Peter Knapp
Located in Franklin, MA
Peter Knapp’s “Metropolitan Moves - Unleashed” is a 24 x 36 x 1 inch mixed media abstract painting on panel in blue, aqua, purple, and gold acrylic, ink, and color pencil. This celeb...
Archival Ink, Acrylic, Panel, Color Pencil
$1,451
Blue Still Life, small, horizontal, impasto, oil, blue still lifem, fruit
Located in Oslo, NO
This expressive still life captures an intimate arrangement of porcelain vessels—teapot, cups, and glassware - and a persimmon set against a richly textured blue background. Painted ...
Charcoal, Oil, Cardboard
$2,388Sale Price|20% Off
Unawarness. Gestural Abstraction, Purple, Oil painting, Polish artist
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary purple abstract oil on canvas painting by Polish artist Piotr Butkiewicz. Composition consists of dynamic rounded shapes. Title of this painting is 'Unawareness'. Artwor...
Canvas, Oil
No title 2 and 3, Diptych. Abstract Watercolor
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this series, water and pigments dance in a liquid choreography, intertwining and painting their own destinies. Each brushstroke traces ephemeral paths that are born, intersect and...
Paper, Ink
$3,820Sale Price|20% Off
Untitled. Contemporary oil abstract painting by Polish Young Artist, Big format
By Klaudia Lata
Located in Warsaw, PL
Big scale abstract oil painting by Polish artist Klaudia Lata. Painting can be paired as a dyptich with another Untitled painting from ''transFORMATIONS" cycle. KLAUDIA LATA (born ...
Canvas, Oil
$680
Untitled #502, Mixed Media on Paper by Murray Duncan - Abstract Geometric Modern
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Untitled #502 by Murray Duncan, 2024 Mix media on paper Unframed Size: 32" x 40" Murray Duncan Studio: Murray Duncan, born in 1966, is a self-taught creative visionary celebrated f...
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
Large Abstract Expressive Floral Acrylic Painting On Canvas "Floral Exploration"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract floral artwork created by French artist Natalya Mougenot, is part of her Floral series. The piece, titled “Floral Exploration,” is a dynamic and expressive...
Acrylic, Canvas
Black gold abstraction 2
Located in Zofingen, AG
An abstract fluid-acrylic painting on canvas that resembles a cross-section of living matter or a cosmic nebula. The main surface is built on deep graphite-black tones, over which a ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Vintage American Thick Impasto Framed Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Measuring: 14 by 15 inches overall and 12 x 13 inches painting alone. Framed in a white molding. Excellent condition, ready to...
Oil, Board
Five Lines With Dots
Located in Dallas, TX
ink & graphite on mulberry paper
Ink, Mulberry Paper, Graphite
Untitled (PPR492) - Original Colorful Surrealist Abstract Mixed Media Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Max Manning is a Houston-based painter whose practice he describes as “algorithmic abstraction”, studio-built systems that he deliberately disrupts to create compositions where loose...
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache
Abstract 9, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Abstract painting. Light colors of yellow, gray and white, of a certain shape, scattered over the canvas with a spatula, vigorously mix on the palette. Painting is a way to show the ...
Oil
Red abstract flower
Located in Zofingen, AG
This expressive abstract floral painting explores movement, emotion, and inner energy through a rich red and pink colour palette. At the heart of the composition, a stylised flower e...
Canvas, Acrylic
Astra, abstract.
Located in Zofingen, AG
“Astra” is created on a round canvas using the acrylic pouring technique. The composition is built on the interplay of deep black, white, blue, and brown tones, enriched by two shad...
Canvas, Acrylic
Gold - Impasto Thick Paint Earth Tone Neutral Abstract Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Impasto-painted strokes of bright colors are the framework of artist Shiri Phillips’ abstract artworks. Her paintings are flooded with texture through the layering of acrylic paint i...
Canvas, Glitter, Mixed Media, Acrylic
The Citadel of Books, Monumental Oil on Canvas, Signed, 59x59 in
Located in LANGRUNE-SUR-MER, FR
The Citadel of Books is a monumental oil on canvas (59 x 59 inches / 150 x 150 cm unframed and framed: 156 x 156 cm (61.41 x 61.41 in)) by French contemporary artist Sophie Dumont. ...
Canvas, Oil
$14,279
TN 566 by Hachiro Kanno - Calligraphy-based abstract painting, red, white, black
Located in Paris, FR
TN 566 is a unique ink and acrylic on canvas painting by Japanese contemporary artist Hachiro Kanno. The painting is made with acrylic on paper, dimensions are 195 × 97 cm (76.8 × 38...
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
Modern Green & Brown Rural Village Landscape Painting with Playing Children
Located in Houston, TX
Modern realist green and brown toned landscape painting by Haitian artist Felix Deournoy. The work features a group of children playing a stick and hoop game set against a rural village...
Acrylic
Portrait of Robert, Abstract White Oil Painting by Youri Broitman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Youri Yehuda Broitman, Russian (1956 - ) Title: Portrait of Robert Year: 1991 Medium: Oil on Canvas, Signed on Verso Size: 14 x 9 inches Frame Size: 16.5 x 11.5 inches
Canvas, Oil
Come Again from the Construction Series, Geometric Abstract Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Robert W. Petrick Come Again Construction Series East Village NYC , 2022 acrylic on canvas NYC, New York, 2nd street studio Colorful geometric abstract acrylic painting on canvas fr...
Canvas, Acrylic
5844 - Tall Original Figurative Abstract Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Blurring the distinction between figure and abstract settings, Swiss artist Edith Konrad’s spectral forms—human in shape—inhabit muted abstract environm...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
#179, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Pigment
#115, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Pigment
sbc 227 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
sbc 227 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on linen — Unframed Susan Cantrick's abstract paintings explore the pre-verbal realm of thought through structured visual responses. Her process ...
Linen, Acrylic
The Villagers - Abstract Figurative Syrian Middle Eastern Oil Portraits Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
* No US duty or taxes to pay on works of art * A beautiful Syrian abstract oil on canvas depicting female villagers, by Jumaah Nazhan. The artist is very interesting as was the onl...
Canvas, Oil
"The Study" (2025) By John McCaw, Mixed Media, Abstract Original
By John McCaw
Located in Denver, CO
John McCaw's (US based) "The Study" is an abstract mixed media and oil painting in blues, green, grey, tan, red, white and black John McCaw (b. 1967), the eldest son of American exp...
Canvas, Oil
Positively Pink
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated by artist on verso
Foil
Blue abstract painting LG431, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Radek Smach
Located in Yardley, PA
Radek Smach - Original abstract acrylic painting on canvas. Mixed media. My works are part of many private collections all over the world. Ready to hang. No framing required (i...
Acrylic
Quiet Elegance
Located in Zofingen, AG
Quiet Elegance from the series Reflections Quiet Elegance is a visual hymn to womanhood — to feminine beauty understood as inner balance, dignity, and calm self-confidence. As part o...
Canvas, Acrylic
Contemporary Abstract Diptych Painting in Soft Grey and Neutral Tones, Minimal
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Pigment
$841Sale Price|20% Off
Mid Century French Linear Geometric Abstract Drawing in Black Ink on Paper
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century French Linear Geometric Abstract Drawing in Black Ink on Paper by Serge Guerin (b. 1916), French Ink on artists paper, unframed Size: 25.75 (height) x 19.75 (width...
Ink
$18,000
"Knickfaltung (Folded)" Herbert Zangs, Modernist, Folded Fabric, Textural Work
By Herbert Zangs
Located in New York, NY
Herbert Zangs Knickfaltung (Folded), 1955 Signed and dated lower left Cotton cloth folded and painted with dispersion 42 x 32 inches Provenance Private Collection, Krefeld, Germany ...
Cotton, Paint
Tingari
Located in Miami, FL
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was born around 1943 at Tjiturrunya, about 100km west of the Kintore ranges in Western Australia. Following an extended drought in the 1950s, Ronnie's family move...
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Do You Like What You See?
Located in Barcelona, CT
All her work represents emotions on canvas. Abstract and figurative paintings.
Oil
Abstract Acrylic Painting on Panel
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Born in Havana, Cuba, in the late 70s during a well-documented time of religious and political oppression, abstract expressionist artist Mirtha Moreno, immigrated to the United State...
Oil
Summer Showers, Abstract Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Shades of blue and turquoise create an impression of pelting rain and splashing puddles on a summer's day. Subtle accents of orange add warmth to the scene, whi...
Oil
Large Colorful MCM Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting Modernist Ralph Rosenborg
Located in Surfside, FL
Ralph Rosenborg (American, 1913-1992) Mountain Weed with Two Clouds, oil on jute canvas, canvas is hand signed recto and verso, artists label and Snyder Fine Art gallery label, The p...
Canvas, Jute, Oil
"Floating City" Modern Impressionist Scene in Cambodia
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
"Heisler Park Twilight" is a colorful example of Bryan Mark Taylor's modern approach to Impressionism. This beautiful oil on panel captures the mood and feel of the Cambodian scene....
Oil
A Winter Dawn. Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Painting
Located in Brecon, Powys
Mixed media on stretched canvas.
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
French Marsh Abstract Landscape Painting, Oil on Canvas, Framed, 2010+
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
6059 Marshes,a contemporary abstract painting, oil on canvas displayed in a gilt wood frame,signed by P.Russo.Image size 20 H x 24 w
Oil
$1,516Sale Price|20% Off
Very Large Colorful French Oil Painting Group of Figures Chatting in Cafe Park
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figures Chatting by Younnes Bouhabi (French contemporary) signed oil on canvas fabric pinned on board, unframed board: 31.5 x 39.5 inches Provenance: private collection, Paris Condit...
Oil
Untitled, Dark Canyon Lake, LaSal Mountains, Utah (Trompe L'oeil)
By Minor White
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Abstract ca. 1970 vintage painting replicates the 1967 photographic image by Minor White: Untitled, Dark Canyon Lake, LaSal Mountains, Utah by Minor White, taken in 1967. Oil on ...
Canvas, Oil
Just Be Happy
Located in Zofingen, AG
Just Be Happy This painting is a warm and sincere wish from the artist — a visual expression of joy, lightness, and inner freedom. It is created not for analysis, but for feeling: a...
Canvas, Oil
$6,425
TN664 by Hachiro Kanno - Calligraphy-based abstract painting, vertical, red
Located in Paris, FR
TN664 is a painting by Japanese contemporary artist Hachiro Kanno. The painting is made with ink and acrylic on canvas, dimensions are 100 × 65 cm. The artwork is signed, sold unfram...
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
$2,034Sale Price|20% Off
Very Large French 20th Century Blue Textured Abstract Composition Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Gilbert Pelissier (French born 1924) signed oil painting on canvas, unframed inscribed verso dated 68' canvas size: 35 x 46 inches condition: ov...
Canvas, Oil
"Ectype" (abstract, movement, dye, oil, red, pink, brown, antique linen)
Located in Paris, IDF
ECTYPE 2024 Paris, France The painting features a textured, abstract composition on a brown canvas. The central area is dominated by a vibrant, chaotic mix of colors, including reds...
Linen, Dye, Oil, Acrylic
$2,790
Ocean Whispers by Gabriela Azar Schreiner. Contemporary abstract Painting
Located in Mentone, AU
This painting is unstretched and unframed. It will be carefully rolled and shipped in a tube. "Creating large-scale abstract paintings that evoke tranquility and presence in any spac...
Acrylic
French Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas, Les Alliance au Crepuscule
Located in Cotignac, FR
French late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist oil on canvas by Abstrus. The painting is signed bottom right and signed titled and dated to the rear stretcher. Presented in a fine b...
Canvas, Oil
$1,146Sale Price|20% Off
All Is Complicated: Original Abstract Painting in Oil and Acrylic
Located in Oslo, NO
Human relations are described in the language of abstraction .Working on abstraction is often very intuitive and sometimes the artist has to rein in this "beast" to achieve the desir...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
diptych olive pink
By Vicki Sher
Located in Dallas, TX
acrylic on paper
Paper, Acrylic
Untitled #SP-206, Mixed Media on Paper by Murray Duncan - Abstract Geometric
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Untitled #SP-206 by Murray Duncan Mixed media on paper Size: 32" x 40” Unframed, signed A bold mixed-media work with dynamic lines and textures. This captivating piece by Murray D...
Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
$390
"For Granted II." (flora, quiet, soft, natural, abstract, antique French linen)
Located in Paris, IDF
"For Granted II.", 2024, Paris, France "For Granted II." is a quiet, rich and cerebral abstract painting using a subtle but powerful color palette of brown, magenta, purple, green a...
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
The Fondest Memories
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas 20 x 20 x 1.5 2025 Edges painted white, back wired, ready to hang. Sarah Trundle is a Charlottesville, Va. painter who, after beginnings in repres...
Acrylic
Arial Landscape (Black Blocks with Red)
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Gary L. Shaffer (American, 1936-2001) Title: Arial Landscape (Black Blocks with Red) Year: 1989 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 54 x 48 inches. Signature: Signed, titled, dated...
Canvas, Oil
1960 Italy Abstract Painting and Paper Collage by Ermete Lancini
Located in Brescia, IT
This stunning abstract artwork was made in 1960, by the well known Italian artist Ermete Lancini. The artwork is a painting and a collage with newspaper sheet and other glued element...
Paper, Magazine Paper, Oil
Quiet by Gabriela Azar Schreiner. Contemporary abstract Painting
Located in Mentone, AU
This painting is unstretched and unframed. It will be carefully rolled and shipped in a tube. "Creating large-scale abstract paintings that evoke tranquility and presence in any spac...
Acrylic
$819Sale Price|20% Off
Mid Century French Black and White Geometric Abstract Drawing Signed SG
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century French Black and White Geometric Abstract Drawing Signed SG by Serge Guerin (b. 1916), French signed lower right “SG”, name stamped verso Ink on artists paper, unf...
Ink
$475
Contemporary expressionist woman's portrait painting "Hope in her ocean eyes"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract expressionist woman's portrait was created by French artist Natalya Mougenot, and belongs to her ongoing series dedicated to women — a series that explores...
Acrylic, Paper
Mixed Media on Canvas Painting “AbEx Orange Series 005”
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Born in Havana, Cuba, in the late 70s during a well-documented time of religious and political oppression, abstract expressionist artist Mirtha Moreno, immigrated to the United State...
Oil, Acrylic
$776
Contemporary abstract figurative woman's portrait on paper "Woman Flowered"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
"Woman Flowered," a striking contemporary figurative–abstract painting by French artist Natalya Mougenot, continues her four-year exploration of the feminine experience — resilience,...
Paper, Acrylic
The Italian-American’s 2020 abstract painting “The Hoe” personifies his “art of not knowing.”
In his current show at New York's Lehmann Maupin gallery, the Puerto Rican–born talent reveals new paintings with a semiautobiographical aspect.