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.
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Board, Oil
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
Gouache, Board
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil, Panel
1860s Abstract Paintings
Oil
1880s Abstract Paintings
Paper
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Early 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Glass, Archival Paper
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Fabric, Canvas, Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
1880s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
1880s Abstract Paintings
Oil
1870s Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
1870s Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-19th Century Abstract Paintings
Pencil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Panel, Oil
1880s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1890s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil, Illustration Board
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil, Watercolor
1960s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Paintings
Oil Pastel, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache
1980s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Oil
1940s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Oil, Board
1950s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1880s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1890s Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
1860s Abstract Paintings
Oil, Panel
1830s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1860s Abstract Paintings
Watercolor
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Oil
19th Century Abstract Paintings
1890s Abstract Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1820s Abstract Paintings
Paper, Acrylic