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.
$4,500
“Mistakes Were Made", Abstract Landscape Sky Blue White Pattern Acrylic Painting
By Sandra Cohen
Located in Franklin, MA
"Mistakes Were Made" by Sandra Cohen, abstract landscape blue turquoise red white text acrylic painting. A warped space-time landscape has a hidden "enter" button, which an overzealo...
Canvas, Acrylic
"Flor de membrillo"
By Elina Bilous
Located in Edinburgh, GB
My vision of quince blossoming is not about the details. It's about the feeling. About how the first warm rays paint the treetops in golden-green hues, and the air around turns pink ...
Oil
$1,190
Sensual Diptych, Organic Abstract Atmosphere in Pastel Pink and Orange, Paper
Located in Barcelona, ES
In this series, Perrine explores the profound relationship between light and color, both essential elements in her artistic expression. Without light, there would be no colors, and i...
Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
$2,000
"Dream Until Your Dream Come True" Abstract Oil and Mixed Media Painting Canvas
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
With layers of bright oils, whisking brush strokes, and thrown paint, Shaoul captures a love story through her paint pallet and abstract expression. The artist explores something new...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$3,900
Absorbed in Brilliance (Gerhard Richter Style Abstract Painting in Blue & Teal)
By Bruce Murphy
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstract expressionist painting in the style of Gerhard Richter in a blue, teal, and green palette with accents of peach, yellow, and pink "Absorbed in Brilliance", made by Bruce Mur...
Enamel
A Large, Dynamic 1960s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Painting
By George Waite
Located in Chicago, IL
A Large, Dynamic 1960s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Painting by Notable Chicago Artist, George Waite (Am. 1935-1994). Executed in the artist's signature palette of brig...
Canvas, Oil
"It Trails You" (contemporary, original painting, pattern, abstract, bold)
Located in Paris, IDF
IT TRAILS YOU 2025 Paris, France This bold abstract oil painting on natural linen canvas uses a single deep dark green-blue color applied in thick, fluid layers. The paint creates l...
Canvas, Acrylic
Topology of Space
By Kseniya Rai
Located in Zofingen, AG
The composition exists between abstraction and recognizability, inviting the viewer to enter a space that is both boundless and intimate. The work is based on the state of zero thin...
Canvas, Oil
$34,500
Nature Morte aux Poires abstract still life painting of fruit, red, yellow, blue
Located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Framed Size: 30.5" x 30.5" - Signed C. Venard bottom right Claude Venard’s 'Nature Morte aux Poires' is an exuberant and highly expressive still life that demonstrates the artist’s...
Canvas, Oil
Colorful Hard Edge abstract painting from circa 1960
Located in Colfax, CA
A great hard edge abstract painting, possibly by Michiel Gloeckner. This work was purchased from Trinity Auctions. Trinity Auctions have handled many works by the artist, and some a...
Oil
Let's Climb The Mountains - Large Colorful Abstract Nature Landscape on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Structural Imprint, Construction Series, Abstract Geometric Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
“Structural Imprint” reads like an architectural memory pressed into the surface. Stark black and white forms create a bold, high-contrast composition that feels both constructed and...
Canvas, Acrylic
$620Sale Price|20% Off
First Light I” Oil on Canvas (2025) Contemporary Abstract Landscape
By Gloria Sáez
Located in New York, NY
Imagine a high plateau bathed in morning light. The earth stretches outward in muted golds, ochres, and greens, with soft lilac and blue undertones shifting like memory beneath the s...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$6,666
Contemporary Art, Gold and Black Painting, Abstract Paintings-Abundance 904
Located in Delaware , OH
Contemporary Art, Gold and Black Painting, Abstract Paintings-Abundance 904 A B O U T T H I S P I E C E : “Abundance 904” is a piece of letter art inspired by graffiti by Addison Jo...
Gold
"Girl in the Rain - Gold Edition #6", Abstract, Painting, 21st Century
By Roger König
Located in Dessau-Rosslau, Sachsen Anhalt
Gold Edition - with real gold leaf, 23,75 carat Art measures 11.81 x 11.81 inches Frame measures 22.83 x 22.83 x 2.36 inches Framed in a high-quality contemporary wooden moulding. ...
Clay, Acrylic
Under The Night Sky - Abstract Cool Tone Figurative Textured Impasto Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ekaterina Ermilkina’s original, abstract fine art paintings are created using a skillful combination of applying and removing oil paint with a palette knife on canvas. Her inspiratio...
Canvas, Oil
$2,359
Original Lisianthus and Lily at Night-British Awarded Artist-archival collection
By Shizico Yi
Located in London, GB
This painting comes with a free custom-made framing service and Lowest Flat-rate shipping worldwide shipping via Royal Mail with end to end tracking guarantee; On top of that, it al...
Gesso, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$5,500
Hello Jit - Large Abstract Color Drenching Organic Mixed Media Artwork on Canvas
By Rue Bootay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rue Bootay, a New York-born artist now rooted in the vibrant artistic landscape of Los Angeles, navigates the avant-garde realm of nonrepresentational surrealism with a style uniquel...
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Echoes Unseen, Abstract Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
The composition invites exploration into abstraction, where the invisible resonates with the visible. Subdued blacks, creams, and blues weave a sophisticated ...
Acrylic
$1,065
avp_1021 - Colorful Textured Original Contemporary Abstract Painting on Paper
By Alex Voinea
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The colorful abstract artworks of Romanian artist Alex Voinea are inspired by experiments with paint poured over vibrating surfaces, such as speakers at full volume. Alex Voinea coll...
Paper, Acrylic
#1283 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
#1283 (Abstract Painting) Oil on canvas - Unframed. Boecker begins each new work by penciling in his composition. But the work ultimately is about the colors and layers that will e...
Canvas, Oil
$1,000Sale Price|50% Off
PA American Impressionist Bucks CO. Covered Bridge Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Gorgeous ca.1925 PA Impressionist painting of a covered bridge. Oil on canvas measuring 22 x 28 inches. Framed measurement: 27 x 33 inches. Unsigned. There is a puncture in canva...
Oil
The Hills - Impasto Thick Paint Tall Colorful 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, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Floating Colors - Abstract Geometric Composition in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Floating Colors - Abstract Geometric Composition in Oil on Canvas Abstract composition with bright colors by San Francisco artist Richard Turtletaub (American, b. 1959). Various sha...
Canvas, Oil
"Village Green, " Abstract Landscape Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This abstract landscape statement painting by Elwood Howell features a yellow and orange-hued landscape with a high horizon line and warm undertones. What appears to be a small white...
Acrylic, Canvas, Ink
$1,078
Lost in the Moment, original painting, abstract painting, acrylic, contemporary
Located in Deddington, GB
Lost in the Moment evokes the serenity of a clear morning by the lake, with soft blues and whites suggesting open skies and calm waters. Layered textures and delicate marks are like ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Poch 148 Tertulia Acrylic Painting, Abstract Expressionist, Unframed, 2010+
By Ramon Poch
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
R. Poch. original acrylic painting Born in Badalona (Barcelona). Photographer and advertising film director. Founding partner of the advertising production company La Cosa de las P...
Acrylic
$12,920
Gabriele Meunie Contemporary Abstract Diptych in Blue and Orange Large Painting
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
This artwork is a diptych and will be shipped rolled in a protective tube at no additional cost. Shipping the canvases unstretched is the safest method for international transport an...
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Pigment
$1,260Sale Price|30% Off
Tribute to Robert Motherwell - Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Tribute to Robert Motherwell - Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper A bold abstract painting by California-based artist, Ricardo de Silva (American/Brazil, 20th C). Drawing...
Paper, Acrylic
Untitled (hard-edge abstract painting)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Budd Hopkins (1931-2011). Abstract, 1968. Oil on canvas, 30 x 52 inches; 31 x 53 inches framed. Signed and dated lower margin. Provenance: Timothy Collins (1940-2017), Palo Alto, CA...
Canvas, Oil
Summer in Italy No. 1 by Amy Dixon, Abstract Large Horizontal Canvas Painting
By Amy Dixon
Located in Atlanta, GA
Amy Dixon’s Summer in Italy No. 1 radiates the color and vitality of Mediterranean summers. This large-scale mixed media canvas brims with bold, expressive brushstrokes and layered t...
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,598Sale Price|23% Off
Earthly Pleasures (Geometric Abstraction, Minimalism, Josef Albers, Calming)
By Susan Kiefer
Located in Kansas City, MO
Susan Kiefer Earthly Pleasures Oil on canvas Year: 2023 Size: 30x24x1.35in Signed and inscribed by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1674 A lush composition of rounded geometric shapes...
Oil, Canvas, Stretcher Bars
Pause, Oil Painting
By Lisa Nielsen
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
More and more I love to experiment with abstraction. It's amazing how realism with some abstraction somehow looks more true than when rendered using just real...
Oil
Minimalist Abstract Painting, Black Linear Forms, 2025, Alicia Gimeno New
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, Ink, Acrylic
$1,650
Altschmerz - 21st Century, Contemporary, Abstract Expression, Pop Culture, Love
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
There was comfort in loving the broken. Not because I believed I could fix them, but because I couldn’t yet fix myself. I was tired of being the victim, so I chose to become the heal...
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
"From the Inside" (Contemporary, Abstract, Original, Dark, Textured, Black)
Located in Paris, IDF
From The Inside 2025 Paris, France This abstract oil painting features a textured surface with deep black tones and natural cracks spreading across the canvas. The fissures expose a...
Oil, Linen
Umbrella - Silent Rain Diptych No.3, Abstract Painting, 21st Century, Acryl
By Roger König
Located in Dessau-Rosslau, Sachsen Anhalt
Artist: Roger König b. Dessau, Germany (1968) Master student of Kurt Schönburg, HWK Halle, Germany. This diptych explores movement, emotion, and dissolution within the artist’s ong...
Clay, Acrylic
Velvet Horizon: Abstract Impressionist Landscape
Located in Atlanta, GA
Georgia based artist Niyati Jiwani creates works that aim to fuse abstraction and themes of nature utilizing color, gesture, and light. Born in India, Niyati grew up with a flair an...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Abstract Acrylic Composition on Canvas, Signed, Late 20th Century
Located in Astoria, NY
Fritz Bonner (XX), Untitled (Abstract Composition), Acrylic on Canvas, signed lower right and verso, unframed. 30" H x 44" W x 1" D. Provenance: From a Scarsdale, New York Estate.
Canvas, Acrylic
"Steady Heart (Body and Soul)", Colorful Abstract Acrylic Painting
Located in New York, NY
"Steady Heart (Body and Soul)" by Wendy Westlake Acrylic on raw canvas Wendy Westlake’s paintings are characterized by confident, gestural marks and layered surfaces where fields of...
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,680Sale Price|20% Off
Happiness. Modern colorful abstract painting 100x100 cm
By Anna Selina
Located in Zofingen, AG
This vibrant abstract painting bursts with an energetic fusion of colors, primarily dominated by luminous yellows and deep purples. Bold, sweeping brushstrokes create a dynamic sense...
Acrylic
Large Signed Vintage American Modernist Abstract Southwest Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist abstract oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Image size, 32H by 38L.
Canvas, Oil
$555
Moody - Color Drenched Impasto Inspired Textural Thick Paint 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, Acrylic
In the Wild, original painting, contemporary
Located in Deddington, GB
'In the Wild' is a painting about the waning evening light that permeates the valleys and hills of the Isle of Skye. The mysterious valleys and mountains take on an otherness which r...
Oil, Panel
New York Winter Scene
By Johann Berthelsen, 1883-1972
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Johann Berthelsen began his career as a professional singer. Graduating from the Chicago Musical College in 1905, Berthelsen toured the United States and Canada, performing in operas...
Oil, Board
$1,958
Large French Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting Black Purple Pink Composition
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Large French Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting Black Purple Pink Gestural Composition by Gilbert Pelissier (French, born 1924) signed and dated 1997 French abstract expressionist oil...
Oil
$1,480
Turquoise and Nocturnal Marina, Modern Seascape Diptych in Blue Tones, Organic
Located in Barcelona, ES
This diptych draws on the visual language of the seascape, using flowing, interlaced lines to evoke the movement of water and shifting currents. Contrasting tones of turquoise and de...
Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor, Monoprint
#260, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
Original Abstract Acrylic Canvas Painting, Framed, Late 20th Century
By Rafael Ruz
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
original abstract acrylic canvas painting. framed , Rafael (Barcelona 1956) While contemplating the painting of Ruz, we are inclined to talk about real ‘psychodrama’, in the same ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Exuberance
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This series of paintings is based on nature.
About the Artist
Krispen Spencer’s artistic process is about more than putting paint to canvas. “Paint...
Acrylic
A little bird on a lettuce background.
Located in Zofingen, AG
An exotic bird is depicted on a 40×40 cm canvas, painted with acrylics. Its plumage shimmers with vibrant shades of green, blue, turquoise, and yellow, creating a sense of living ra...
Canvas, Acrylic
ACOPLE II and Aguas Claras, Diptych. Mixed media Abstract painting on Canvas
By Alec Franco
Located in Miami Beach, FL
" The work resists framing in concepts, it overflows the contours and borders of the rational. It is through the presence of color, combined with an abstraction at times with express...
Canvas, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Textural Minimalist Abstract Wall Relief in Handmade Paper, Plaster and Natural
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...
Gesso, Ink, Handmade Paper, Bamboo Paper
$525
Sunlit Landscape 1 - Abstract Expressive Green and Yellow Ink Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bettina Mauel expresses dynamism and sensuality in her paintings: “I paint what I experience,” she articulates. “This includes landscapes, flowers, and people in motion, capturing th...
Linen, Ink, Mixed Media, Graphite
Mountain Quest // Original impasto painting, impressionism /
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Mountain Quest" is not just a landscape image, but an emotional invitation to reflect on the power and beauty of the surrounding world, on the desire to achieve a goal and learn so...
Oil, Tempera
$10,800
"1392 abstract landscape series", Landscape, Abstract, Painting, 21st Century
By Roger König
Located in Dessau-Rosslau, Sachsen Anhalt
Artist: Roger König b. Dessau, Germany (1968) Master student of Kurt Schönburg, HWK Halle, Germany. The works are developed through a historically informed, proprietary material pra...
Clay, Acrylic
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Antique American Signed Interior Modernist Abstract San Fran Museum Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist signed interior oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 9L x 10H. Provenance from the San Francisco Museum of Art.
Canvas, Oil
$11,000
Time and Motion - rich, dark, colourful, geometric abstract acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Milly Ristvedt continues her exciting exploration of colour and form in this stunning new work. Hard-edged geometric shapes—rectangles and squares almost appear to be dancing around the canvas. The colour palette is bright—yellows, red, blues, purples which play off the darker, fluid burgundy/black backdrop. Art Critic Barry Lord (Art in America) declared that Ristvedt’s paintings were ‘more insistent than Bush, more consciously structured than Molinari.’ “Colour has been central to my explorations in painting from the beginning.” Milly Ristvedt Born in British Columbia, Ristvedt studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University) and had her first solo exhibit at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in Toronto. In the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with famed Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitiski...
Canvas, Acrylic
$107Sale Price|20% Off
French Expressionist Abstract Original Painting Artists Studio Provenance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 8.5 x 5.75inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we hav...
Oil
$280Sale Price|20% Off
Modern Abstract Geometric Painting Signed Kaulani 2005 24x24" Textured Art
By Kaulani
Located in Palm Coast, FL
This striking original abstract painting signed by Kaulani (probably) is a bold and textured work of contemporary art. Dated 01/05, the painting features a dynamic blend of burgundy,...
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.