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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.

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Period: 1960s
Period: 1950s
Style: Abstract
Scottish Abstract - Exhibited 1965 Abstract Expressionist art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This very striking exhibited Scottish Abstract oil painting is by influential Scottish artist Jack Knox. Painted in 1964, it is a vivid mix of autumnal colours, textures and brushwork that work perfectly. A brilliant example of his work from the early sixties and which was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1965. Titled and dated 21.2.64 lower right. Provenance. Exhibited Royal Scottish Academy, Exhibition 1965, Edinburgh. Condition. Oil on canvas, 51 inches by 36 inches unframed and in good condition. Housed in a gilt sixties surround frame, 53 inches by 38 inches framed and in good condition. Jack Knox RSA (1936-2015) was one of the most influential artists to work in Scotland in the second half of the twentieth century. Born John Knox to a family of tailors in Kirkintilloch, Knox studied at the Glasgow School of Art (1953-57) where his drawings were noted for their mature draughtsmanship. After graduating, Knox went to Paris to attend the atelier of Cubist artist, André L’Hȏte. During his time in Europe Knox digested the various art movements of the moment, including Surrealism, Tachisme, Colour Field and Pop Art. Visiting the great museums, he was particularly interested in Analytic Cubism and Georges Braque’s intimation, rather than description, of object. He also went to Brussels to visit the first major show of American Abstract Expressionism in Europe. He returned to Scotland eager to establish his own style, drawing on everything he had seen in Europe. In 1960 the Glasgow Herald presented an exhibition during the Edinburgh Festival of young artists from the west of Scotland. Knox was selected to show alongside George Devlin, Carole Gibbons, Anda Patterson, Douglas Abercrombie and Duncan...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Untitled, 56-21" Stephen Pace, Pulsating Forms, Abstract Expressionist Painting
Located in New York, NY
Stephen Pace Untitled, 56-21, 1956 Signed and dated lower right Oil on canvas 22 x 30 inches Born in Charleston, Missouri, Stephen Pace grew up in Indiana, where his parents operat...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Modernist Southwest Cactus Still Life Framed Signed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Wonderful early American modernist cactus still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 20H by 24L.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School New York Minimalist Abstract Figure Signed Painting MCM
Located in Buffalo, NY
American school abstract painting. Watercolor on paper, circa 1960. Unsigned. Image size, 12"L x 9"H.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Watercolor, Gouache

Standing Nude Man, Mid-Century Figural Expressionist Painting, New York Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Standing Man, 1955 India ink and gouache on textured paper 10 x 8 inches 16.75 x 13.5 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, Okl...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

India Ink, Gouache

"Untitled" Norman Bluhm, circa 1960 Abstract Black and White Composition
Located in New York, NY
Norman Bluhm Untitled, circa 1960 Signed lower right Oil on paper laid down on board 22 x 30 inches Norman Bluhm (1921-1999) was an American Abstract Expressionist celebrated for c...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Antique American New England Coastal Fall Fauvist Abstract Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist seascape signed oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed on verso. Framed. Image size, 30L x 15H.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Three Masks, Mid Century Abstract
Located in Soquel, CA
Three masks abstract by Novak (American, 20th Century). Presented in a white wooden frame. Signed "Novak" lower right. Image: 28.5"H x 26"W.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted American school abstract geometric oil painting in a period frame. Signed lower right "Flemming" but without an artist determined.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Trees Park Slope
Located in Buffalo, NY
Harriet was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and lived with her husband in Park Slope for over 35 years. She attended the Brooklyn Museum School at...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid Century Abstract Expressionist Painting-- "An Oblation to Shells"
Located in Soquel, CA
A dymanic mid century abstract expressionist painiting with geometric shapes in cool tones and two figures by Leslie Luverne Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Oil on masonite. Titled "...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Vintage American School Modernist Geometric Abstract New York School Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Framed.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1967 Abstract Geometric Expressionist NYC MoMA Silkscreen Card, Stable Gallery
Located in Surfside, FL
Al Dickstein New York school Abstract Geometric work. Came in with small collection of his work including signed letters and a signed card and some monogrammed pieces. Signed and inscribed by artist. Showed at New York's Stable Gallery...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Huge Antique American School Abstract Expressionist Original NYC Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. No signature found. Framing is available.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Modernist French Abstract Expressionist Colorful Bird Painting Roger Lersy
Located in Surfside, FL
Roger Lersy, French (1920 - 2004) Oil on canvas Signed, R. Lersy, dated 1961 lower right Measuring 35 X 31 Matted and framed. sight 26 X 21.5 Roger Lersy was born in Paris, France 1920, in the rough neighborhood surrounding Place Pigalle. His youth was marked by extreme poverty. Lersy studied art and music at the École des Arts Apppliqués. He was a painter, lithographer and musician-composer He belongs to the École de Paris and was a member in the movement of the Young Painting. By 1946, when he first exhibited in Paris, Lersy became one of the founders of the School of Paris’ New Graphic School. Lersy received the Prix des Amateurs d’Art in 1953, the Shell Prize in 1954 and the Grand Prize of the City of Marseilles in 1953. Lersy could be defined as a Baroque expressionist. For Bernard Dorival, Roger Lersy is along with Gabriel Dauchot, Jean Commère and Raymond Guerrier among "the most noted champions of this expressionism which is part of the continuation of Bernard Buffet's miserabilism". Famous works: New Year's Eve , Aubusson tapestry of the Manufacture des Gobelins , Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations , One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza , New York . Venice , bridges , watercolor, 1963 (theme of the Roger Lersy exhibition, Chicago). The poppy , original lithograph, Imprimerie Bellini, 1978, collection of the Cabinet des estampes , BNF . Still life at the pedestal table , oil on canvas, Jonzac town hall. Lohengrin , oil on canvas, Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal. Portrait of the painter Tony Agostini , drawing. Series Eiffel Tower. Stained glass: Saint-Laurent Church, Longlaville ( Meurthe-et-Moselle ), 29 stained glass windows. Musical works: Stained glasses for clarinet , saxophone, cello and percussion , creation in the church of Longlaville, 1972. Three pieces for two waves Martenot : 1. Scum of dream, 2. Scare and jubilation. Malicious connivance, sheet music Editions A. Leduc, Paris, 1979. Work for trumpet and piano , published by Éditions G. Billaudot, Paris, 1984. Five pieces for piano , scores published by G. Billaudot, Paris, 1989. Five preludes for piano and alto saxophone , scores at Éditions Combre, premiere at Flâneries musicales de Reims , 1993. In memory of Chagall , piece for flute and percussion , recording of Duo Hyksos (Henri Tournier, flute and Michel Gastaud, percussion) in 1995. Preface in black and yellow for horn and piano , score at Éditions Combre, Arc-en-ciel collection, 2000. Soundtracks: Diatomées Note 4 , 19 , film by Jean Painlevé...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Canvas

"Lush Landscape with Greens and Blues" Mid Century Modern Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in New York, NY
This piece is a wonderful Mid Century pertinent example of Nannot de Groot's works from the prime of his career with thick use of impasto oil paint, and gestural brushwork throughout. In 1957 it was a transitional year from painting figures in his New York studio to his new studio into the countryside. And in 1959 he and his wife came back to Provincetown Massachusetts and rented a small cabin that was in a field belonging to Mary Cecil Allen on the west end. It was a small space, and there was a tree that was outside the front door, he was inspired and painted this tree over and over, and soon it was the beginning of a whole new series. The brush landscape that was outside of the window of the cabin became a focal point of this series and every year it would change, picking up inspiration to depict the tree in a new way each year. This piece is signed and dated 59' by the artist upper right corner and it comes housed with the original Mid-Century wood frame with gold rim and hanging wire on verso ready to be displayed. Art measures 49.5 x 39 inches Frame measures 51.5 x 40 inches Nanno de Groot was born on March 23 of 1913, in Balkbrug, Holland. He started drawing at six years of age. Although his father prevented him to study art at an early age, he moved to the United States in the year of 1941, and in 1946 at age 33 he discovered Picasso and he dedicated the rest of his life to painting and drawing. He worked for a year as a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. After his marriage to the New York School artist Elise Asher...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Large Colorful Abstract Expressionist Swiss Oil Painting Robert Lauro
Located in Surfside, FL
Oil Painting on canvas Hand signed to lower right Lauro. Provenance: Eleonore Austerer Gallery, San Francisco, CA Work Size: 39.5 x 39.5 in. framed 44 X 44 inches. Roberto Lauro is a British-Swiss Post War & Contemporary artist who was born in 1932. Roberto Lauro was born in 1932 in Gorey Harbor on the island of Jersey (Great Britain) the son of a Swiss mother, Rosa Ramseier, from Oberdiessbach / Emmental, Switzerland, and and Italian father Innocenzo Roberto Lauro, born in Mondovi, Italy. In 1941 he moved to Switzerland with his mother. 1949-1953 he lived in Gunten (Switzerland) where he did an Apprenticeship as a lithograph and offset printer and graphic designer in Thun. There he was introduced to the color theory of Johannes Itten by Hermann Oberli at the Bern School of Applied Arts. From 1953 to 1955 he worked as a fine art printer in Norway where he was influenced by the color theory of Edvard Munch. These works bears the influence of Russian artist Andre Lanskoy, Tachisme and the Cobra artists Karel Appel, Constant, Corneille, Christian Dotremont, Asger Jorn, and Joseph Noiret. In 1955-1956 he worked as an offset printer in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Visit to the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs. In 1957 he returned to Gunten, Switzerland. Where he started working in printmaking and and oil painting. He resumed his studies at the Bern School of Applied Arts. He was greatly impacted and influenced by abstract art on the occasion of a large Paul KIee exhibition. In 1958 he moved to Zurich where he worked part-time work as an offset copyist; fulfilling graphic orders for advertising agencies. In 1962 he took his final examination as graphic designer at the Zurich School of Applied Arts. In 1980 he begins his development of three-dimensional picture objects, Sculpture, detachment from the canvas, using metal as a support and play space for light and color. By 1981 he has turned full time to fine art. He spends the next years growing and developing his considerable talent. Inspired by classical music, the rhythm, mood and lightness of which form the basis for the large swings and loops of his colorfully lacquered metal and blown glass sculptures. These are "pensieri", thought sketches that capture the emotions in countless versions. There is something dance-like about his rotating sculptures. Everything becomes music and the rhythm of colors. In 1988, after exhibitions in Europe, he has his first exhibitions in Atlanta and San Francisco (USA), In 1989 he does his first glass and metal sculptures at the Roberto Niederer glassworks, Hergiswil (Switzerland). In 1992 has a retrospective exhibition in the Tan Gallery, Zurich, and the Eleonore Austerer Gallery, San Francisco. They Publish a catalogue raisonne, Eine Retrospektive, covering a 45 year career. In 1993 he creates A Retrospective, a unique sculpture in a table top form that contains his catalogue raisonne and an original lithograph. 1993–1995 he begins work on a number of large scale public outdoor commissions, including Light Columns for a Bank building, and a commission of a sculpture-fountain in Oetwil am See. In 2001 he creates a wall sculpture entitled "Color Poems of the Yearly Cycle. A linen bound book enclosed in a unique plexi display with a one - of a - kind metal and glass sculpture,containing 12 linocuts each printed in colors and signed. Roberto Lauro's sculptural work work is spontaneous and loaded with energy. The furrows, rifts, cracks and scars in the metal allow light to enter; it is then reflected back by the glass. His work is a clear statement of our times, uniting the intellect and the heart in search of the spiritual. Like the interplay of light and shadow, his sculpture combines fragile, transparent glass with solid, heavy iron. These colorful and luminous sculptures convey a powerful presence and emit vibrant positive energy. With their jagged exteriors and translucent cores, the spectacular sculptures created by the synergy of metal and glass are powerful - yet fragile. Lauro has created and mastered his own idiom and proven that through the artist sheer will and vision, seemingly incompatible materials such as iron and glass can indeed be combined. In 2004 he has an anniversary exhibition Light and Color, Love of Life on the island of birth, Jersey. Ceramic works (raku with glass inclusions). Roberto Lauro's works have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Europe and the USA around the world, and he has also realized projects such as "KUNST AM BAU" in public spaces and for industry. He lives and works in Switzerland. Select Exhibitions Eleonore Austerer Gallery, Palm Desert ART IN THE FRAME FOUNDATION: The Harbour Gallery, Isle of Jersey Galerie fur Gegenwartskunst,, Bonstetten, Switzerland Galerie Annamarie Anderson, Zurich, Switzerland “Color and Light,” Austerer-Crider Gallery, Palm Springs, CA, USA “Color and Light: the art of Roberto Lauro,” Eleonore Austerer Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA “Flower Power,” with Ed Baynard, Roberto Azank, Siegward Sprotte, and Daniel Phil...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Robert Mus Untitled 4
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Robert Mus Untitled 4 Oil on canvas / stretcher 1968 Signed and dated lower right 61 x 83 cms 1600 euros
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper

By the Dawn's Early Light, mid-century abstract black, red, yellow oil painting
Located in Beachwood, OH
Charles Green Shaw (American, 1892-1974) By the Dawn's Early Light, 1955 Oil on masonite Signed lower left, dated and titled verso 35.5 x 23.75 inches 38 x 26.25 inches, framed Provenance: The estate of the artist to Charles H. Carpenter Charles Green Shaw, born into a wealthy New York family, began painting when he was in his mid-thirties. A 1914 graduate of Yale, Shaw also completed a year of architectural studies at Columbia University. During the 1920s Shaw enjoyed a successful career as a freelance writer for The New Yorker, Smart Set and Vanity Fair, chronicling the life of the theater and café society. In addition to penning insightful articles, Shaw was a poet, novelist and journalist. In 1927 he began to take a serious interest in art and attended Thomas Hart Benton's class at the Art Students League briefly in New York. He also studied privately with George Luks, who became a good friend. Once he had dedicated himself to non-traditional painting, Shaw's writing ability made him a potent defender of abstract art. After initial study with Benton and Luks, Shaw continued his artistic education in Paris by visiting numerous museums and galleries. From 1930 to 1932 Shaw's paintings evolved from a style imitative of Cubism to one directly inspired by it, though simplified and more purely geometric. Returning to the United States in 1933, Shaw began a series of abstracted cityscapes of skyscrapers he called Manhattan Motifs which evolved into his most famous works, the shaped canvases he called Plastic Polygons. The 1930s were productive years for Shaw. He showed his paintings in numerous group exhibitions, both in New York and abroad, and was also given several one-man exhibitions. Shaw had his first one-man exhibition at the Valentine Dudensing Gallery in New York in 1934, which included 25 Manhattan Motif paintings and 8 abstract works. In the spring of 1935 Shaw was introduced to Albert Gallatin and George L.K. Morris. Gallatin was so impressed with Shaw's work, he broke a policy against solo exhibitions at his museum, the Gallery of Living Art, and offered Shaw an exhibition there. In the summer of 1935 Shaw traveled to Paris with Gallatin and Morris who provided introductions to many great painters. Shaw regularly spent time with John Ferren and Jean Hélion. The following year Gallatin organized an exhibition called Five Contemporary American Concretionists at the Reinhardt Gallery that included Shaw, Ferren, and Morris, Alexander Calder, and Charles Biederman...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mid Century Bay Area Abstract Expressionist - Cats & Birds
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Bay Area Abstract Expressionist Cats and Birds Composition in Acrylic on Paper How many cats and birds do you see? This striking painting by San Francisco's Bay Area abs...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

'Fireflies', Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Art Association, Seattle
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed upper right, 'Laisner' for George Laisner (American, 1914-1984), titled, verso, 'Fireflies', and painted circa 1955. Born in Czechoslovakia, Laisner first studied at the Uni...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paint, Encaustic, Board

Vibrant Seascape Abstraction by Woman Artist Syril Frank
Located in New York, NY
Syril Frank (American, 1929-2021) Untitled, c. 1963 Oil on canvas 44 x 48 in. Provenance: Estate of the Artist Syril Harriet Frank was born in Brooklyn t...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Finely Framed 1959 Abstract Expressionist Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very nicely painted mid century modernist abstract oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 26H by 19L.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Road to Damascus" Mid 20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field
Located in New York, NY
"Road to Damascus" Mid 20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field James Daugherty (1887 – 1974) "The Road to Damascus" 16 x 20 inches Oil on panel Initialed and dated 63 lowe...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Vintage American School Precisionist Cat Portrait Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American School cat portrait painting. Cubist / Precisionist style Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Framed. Image size, 29.25 by 23.25H.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Abstract Expressionist Signed Original Mid Century Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage modernist abstract oil painting by Anton Sipos (Born 1938). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Expressionist Golden Gate Bridge and Coastal Highway
Located in Soquel, CA
Dynamic abstract landscape painting in the San Francisco Bay Area Abstract Expressionist School-style by an unknown California artist (American, 20th Century), c.1965. Unframed. Imag...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

Antique American Modernist Abstract Harbor Seascape Signed Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist seascape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Measuring 18 by 24 inches.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Naval Occurrence, orange, blue & green mid-century, abstract geometrical work
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Naval Occurrence, c. 1963 oil on canvas signed and titled verso 24 x 32 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller designed and made the simple gold wedding ring Avis wore for their 65 years of marriage. During those 65 years neither wavered in their mutual love, nor in the respect they shared for one another’s art. The couple lived in a converted chicken coop in Missouri while Richard was in boot camp. At the camp, he would volunteer for any job offered and one of those jobs ended up being painting road signs. His commander noticed how quickly and neatly he worked and gave him more painting work to do - eventually recommending him for a position painting murals for Army offices in Panama. Until her dying day, Avis remained angry that “The army got to keep those fabulous murals and they probably didn’t even know how wonderful they were.” In Panama, their first son, Mark, was born. After Richard’s discharge in 1953, they moved back to the Cleveland area and used the GI bill to attend Kent State gaining his BA in education. The small family then moved briefly to Buffalo, where Richard taught at the Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo – and their second son, Peter, was born. Richard had exhibited work in the Cleveland May Show and the Butler Art Museum during his art school years, and during the years in Buffalo, his work was exhibited at the gallery he had so loved as a child, the Albright Art Gallery. In 1956, the family moved back to the Cleveland area and Richard began teaching art at Lincoln West High School during the day while working toward his MA in art at Kent State in the evenings. Avis and Richard, with the help of an architect, designed their first home - a saltbox style house in Hudson, Ohio, and in 1958, their third son, Max (after Max Beckmann) was born. Richard enjoyed the consistency of teaching high school as well as the time it gave him to paint on the weekends and during the summer months. In 1961, he received his MA and his daughter, Claire, was born. With a fourth child, the house was much too small, and Avis and Richard began designing their second home. An admirer of MCM architecture, Richard’s favorite example of the style was the Farnsworth house – he often spoke of how the concepts behind this architectural style, particularly that of Mies van der Rohe, influenced his painting. Andres described himself as a 1950’s...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Adele Becker (1929-2021). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid Century Modern Pacific Northwest Rain Forest, Earthtone Abstract Landscape
By Hilda Davidson Kaster
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful mid century modern mixed media abstracted Northern California landscape by Hilda Davidson Kaster (American, 1912-2008), circa 1950. The artist uses layers of mixed media earthtones and natural textures such as leaves and bark to create the aesthetic of the deep forest of Sebastopol, California. Signed lower left corner, on verso with exhibition and gallery labels. Presented in rustic wooden frame of period (fair condition), Image size: 18"H x 24"W. Hilda Davidson Kaster was born in Oakland, California in 1912 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. She went to New York in the early 1930s to study art. At the Traphagen School of Design, she was a student of Moses Soyer and William Gropper, who were founders of the Ashcan School. Later in the 1930s she worked as a commercial artist and designer for I. Miller Shoes...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

"Work 1" Yoko Matsumoto, Abstract Expressionist Work by Japanese Artist
Located in New York, NY
Yoko Matsumoto Work 1, 1965 Signed and dated lower left; signed on reverse and inscribed extensively in Japanese Oil on canvas 36 x 35 3/4 inches Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1936. Mats...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Harriet Nash, Gouache on board, Abstract Painting, Circa 1950, Green and Black
Located in Buffalo, NY
A mid-century gouache on board painting by American female artist Harriet Holden Nash depicting an abstract Matisse like floral composition in shades of green and black. The board i...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique Asian Modernist Abstract Signed Original Minimalist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century Asian abstract painting. Oil on board. Signed verso.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled (Autumnal Landscape in Ochre, Red, Green)
Located in New York, NY
Unidentified/Unknown Artist "Untitled (Autumnal Landscape in Ochre, Red, Green) , Abstract Landscape Oil on Canvas signed, 26.25 x 32.50, Mid 20th Century, 1957 Colors: Ochre, White...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Untitled" Edward Zutrau, 1963 Post-Painterly Abstraction Expressionist Work
Located in New York, NY
Edward Zutrau Untitled, 2/17/1963 Signed and dated on verso Oil on linen 25 1/2 x 21 inches Edward Zutrau is among the American artists who worked within the whirlwind of diverse a...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Important and Large Antique American Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century abstract oil painting by Ken Munowitz. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Untitled" Edward Zutrau, 1957 Blue And Green Abstract Expressionist Work
Located in New York, NY
Edward Zutrau Untitled, 1957 Oil on linen 44 x 60 1/2 inches Edward Zutrau is among the American artists who worked within the whirlwind of diverse abstraction that blossomed in th...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Mid Century Modern Boats and Bridge, Abstracted Maritime Landscape Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Modern Boats and Bridge, Abstracted Maritime Landscape Painting Wonderful mid-century modern abstracted maritime seascape by listed San...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Mid Century Modern Yellow, Blue, and Grey Abstract
By Americo D'Ambrosio
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid Century Modern Yellow, Blue, and Grey Abstract Striking mid century modern abstract with yellow, blue, grey and geometric patterns by Bay Area artist Americo D'Ambrosio (America...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Florida Oil Painting African American Woman Art Annie Nobles Miller Indian River
Located in Surfside, FL
"Annie Nobles Miller" Abstract Florida landscape oil on board painting Hand signed lower left Inscribed on verso St. Lucie County. Measures: Board 24"H x 30"W; Framed - 32"H x 38"W. Annie Miller was a member of the Indian River School of Painting, which was not a formal school but was a group of mostly African-American Florida working class people who wanted to paint. Following is the explanation of that school and its participants. Indian River School is a name applied to Floridian artists in the 1950's and 1960's. They were heavily influenced by nature. Most of the artists in this movement were African American. Their work is characterized by quick strokes and eschews traditional methods of paintings. The main influence for the group was a man named A.E. Backus, a Bohemian white man who mentored the group of young black artists. The group used to congregate in his studio and learnt to paint from 'Beanie' (as he was called) as a way out of their lower class labour jobs. Their work was powerful, dramatic yet captured the serenity and beauty of the Florida Although the exact count of artists mentored by A.E. Backus remains unknown, experts estimate it to be around 20 individuals, many of whom he supported through college. Albert Ernest "Beanie" Backus (1906–1990) was famous for his vivid, naturalist Florida landscapes capturing a fast-vanishing Florida wild lands. Backus would come to be seen as the seminal Florida landscape painter, and others who followed would emulate him. Primarily of the Indian River and Everglades areas of Florida. Backus was a Native Floridian artist of great importance recreating scenes of Florida's sky, rivers, ocean, back country, unpredictable weather, clouds, and birds. Born in Fort Pierce, FL to a family of talented boat designers and builders. His "Uncle" Reg Goodwin helped Backus as a young painter go to the Parsons School of Fine Art in New York in 1924. He was referred to as “Florida’s painter laureate,” and the “Dean of Florida’s landscape painters.”In addition to his influence on the Florida Highwaymen painters (Alfred Hair...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Mid Century Bay Area Figurative Movement -- Reclining Nude in Pastel Tints
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful Bay Area Movement figurative of a reclining nude women in pastel tints by Warren Edgar Lamm (American, 1937-2017), circa 1960. Signed on verso. Presented in rustic frame. Image Size: 24"H x 20"W. Warren Edgar Lamm, b. 1937 in Walnut Park, California was owner of a design firm, artist, illustrator. He attended Chouinard Art Institute and held a BA degree from San Jose State University. Recipient of five awards, New York Art Directors, 1986, awards Society Illustrators, 1978-1983, 11 awards Broadcast Design Association. Member National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (7 Emmy awards 1976-1993). He was staff artist at KNTV-Channel 11...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Expressionist Painting American Late 1960's Mid Century Black White
Located in Buffalo, NY
Mid Century Modern, American Abstract Expressionist Painting on artist board. This lively action painting has wonderful interjections of color within the predominantly black and whi...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Acrylic

Mid-Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original mid century modern abstract expressionist painting by American artist Toma Yovanovich. Toma Yovanovich (1931-2016) Yovanovich was a painter/printmaker whose w...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Untitled
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. 41.75 x 61 in. 44 x 63 in. (framed) Custom framed in a hardwo...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Impressionist European Framed Summer Sailboat Seascape Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Large nicely painted impressionist seascape oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 32H by 26L.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School Original Large Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American school abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 25L x 47H.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Fossils and shells" Oil cm. 100 x 120 Yellow, Brown 1960
Located in Torino, IT
Giacomo Soffiantino (Turin 1929 - Turin, 2013) He taught at the artistic high school and at the Albertina Academy in Turin. He was a pupil of Francesco Menzio, Aldo Bertini and Mario...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bold & Dynamic ca. 1965 Abstraction Titled "October Landscape" by Valfred Thelin
Located in Chicago, IL
A bold & dynamic ca. 1965 Abstraction titled "October Landscape" by Valfred Thelin. Image size: 13 1/2" x 30". Framed size: 18" x 35". Painter Valf...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Vintage Large American Modernist Surreal Framed Abstract Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist abstract painting by Alton S. Tobey (1914 - 2005). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Image size, 24 by 66 inches.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School Modernist Abstract Expressionist NYC Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Early Female Modernist Geometric Hard Edge Abstract Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century hard edge abstract by Gabrielle Roos. Oil on canvas. Signed verso.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

American Modernist Black Woman Artist New Orleans Family Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist southern school painting. A family portrait on a New Orleans porch. Beautiful detail in the wrought iron. Brilliant color palette here. Signed verso. ...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Moonlit Landscape, signed "Douvos"
Located in New Orleans, LA
Abstract Moonlit Landscape, signed and dated "Douvos"
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American School Abstract Expressionist Large Neutral Tone Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School New York City View Beach Swimming Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Measuring 17 by 21 inches overall and 11 by 16 painting alone.
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled 1960s Abstract Geometric Expressionist New York Stable Gallery Drawing
Located in Surfside, FL
Al Dickstein New York school Abstract Geometric work. Came in with small collection of his work including signed letters and a signeed card and some monogrammed pieces.. Signed with monogram and inscribed and signed verso. Showed at New York's Stable Gallery...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Mid Century Abstract Figurative -- Navajo Hunters
Located in Soquel, CA
Dynamic, mid century multi colored abstract by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999). Depicts a group of hunters and their horses participati...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Archival Paper

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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