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Modern Paintings

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
Creux de Genthod by Guy Pittet - Pastel on Paper - 65x50 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
**Artwork sold WITHOUT frame** Guy Pittet (1929–2010) was a Swiss painter and watercolorist celebrated for his evocative depictions of urban and natural scenes, particularly those c...
Category

1980s Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel

"La Belle Fille" Large Mid Century French Painting Portrait of a Beautiful Girl
Located in Surfside, FL
Beautiful gouache on paper, by French artist, Etienne Ret, signed on top right. Etienne Ret was born in Bourbonnais, France on Jan. 6, 1900. Ret graduated from the College of Mesnie...
Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Plant in a Pot - Mid 20th Century French Modernist Cubist Still Life Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful, large modernist cubist influence oil on canvas still life with potted plant by French artist Jef Friboulet. Striking and excellent quality work, presented in a box frame...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life of Two Pears French Modernist Original 20th Century Painting Framed
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Still Life by Max Toutain (French 1935-2006) signed oil on canvas, framed framed: 10 x 12 inches canvas : 7 x 9 inches Provenance: all the paintings we have for sale by this artist h...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Landscape - Oil Painting by Kurt Schwitters - 1936
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is a modern artwork realized by Kurt Schwitters in 1936. Mixed colored oil on canvas. Signed with monogram and dated on the lower right rec...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Reclining Figures
Located in Dallas, TX
Born in 1933, Otis Huband declared his intention to be an artist at age 6. He earned his BFA and MFA at Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William & Mary, now Virginia...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

King David, Jerusalem (after Marc Chagall) Oil Painting Israeli Judaica Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Framed 41.5 x 29.5 image 35.5 x 23.5 This large painting depicts a man and woman, Adam and Eve, interlocked and embracing one another. The woman holds an enticing apple as they are thrusted from the Garden of Eden. This is an original painting. Zamy Steynovitz was born in Liegnitz Poland, in 1951. He immigrated to Israel in 1957. The aspiration to be a painter stems from his childhood and before leaving Poland, he won the first prize in an art competition for children. Zamy was formally educated at the Art School in Tel-Aviv and at the Royal Academy of London. Upon completing his studies, Zamy earnestly pursued his career and establish his place in the art world by displaying his work in one man exhibits and arts fairs around the world. His art displays chromatic and thematic richness and his choice of subjects has been strongly influenced by Jewish tradition, his Eastern European Jewish heritage and folklore. Zamy’s popular themes include Paris cafes, still-life, flowers, circuses and landscapes. Circus with acrobats and Harlequin. In the early stages of his career, he was partial to rich pastels and light brush strokes. In the early 1980s, Zamy visited South America, where the new surroundings enhanced his work with local brightness and color. His art gained chromatic power and his palette became richer in tones as the textures became thicker and the background darker and more colorful. These changes coupled with his thematic persistence allowed him to develop into a sensitive and mature artist. Zamy expresses a universal humanistic vision in his creations: man’s connection to his heritage and physical surroundings, two imperative aspects of our lives that should be heralded during these estranged technological times. As a result of his devotion to world peace, Zamy is known in the circles of the Nobel Institute for Peace in Norway. He is acquainted with many Nobel Prize winners including Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, the Dalai Lama, Itzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu and Oscar Arias, the ex-President of Costa Rica, along with many other politicians and artists. Zamy tragically passed away in September 2000. Exhibitions One Man Show 1970 - Museum - Ramat - Gan 1973 - Brussels - Gallery L'Angle Aigu 1974 - London - International Gallery 1974 - Paris - Grand Palais Gallery 1975 - Milan - Brera Gallery 1976 - N.Y. Valentino Gallery - N.Y. Hilton 1977 - N.Y. Valentino Gallery - N.Y. Hilton 1978 - Basel - Actual Gallery 1978 - Geneve - Bohren Gallery 1978 - Oslo - Nobel Peace Prize Exhibit 1979 - London - Hamilton Gallery 1979 - N.Y. - Art Israel Kalt - Waldinger Gallery 1979 - N.Y. - Canty Art Gallery 1979 - Amsterdam - Schipper Gallery 1979 - Washington - International Art Fair 1980 - Cleveland -Jewish Museum 1980 - Tel-Aviv - Habima National Art Fair 1981 - Abraham - Goodman House N.Y. 1981 - San Lucas Galley - Bogota 1982 - Pedro Gerson Gallery - Mexico City 1983 - Simon Bolivar...
Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

The Family
Located in London, GB
'The Family', gouache on fine art paper (1984), by Raymond Dèbieve. In a clear nod to Picasso's influence both stylistically and in terms of subject matter ...
Category

1980s Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Mid Century Modern Minimalist Vintage Landscape Oil Painting - Ice Fishing
Located in Bristol, GB
ICE FISHING Size: 43 x 56 cm (including frame) Oil on board A mid-century oil painting that captures the quiet moment of an ice fisher, seated beside a small sled on a vast, frozen ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

1960's Original French Pastel Sketch Nude Kneeling Nude Study Poised Elegance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Lady Study French School, circa 1960's chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed stamped size: 18 x 12.5 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed provenance: priv...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Pastel

Catalan peasant oil on canvas painting spanish
By Luis Graner Y Arrufi
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Oil mesures 36x23 cm. Frameless. Restored.
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

George Large, Street Musicians, Cubist art
Located in Harkstead, GB
***Please note the glass will be removed for shipping*** For local and London deliveries the glass can be retained if agreed prior to purchase. George Large, R.I. (born 1936) Street musicians Signed and dated (19)91 Watercolour over traces of pencil 15¾ x 26 25½ x 35 with frame ​​ George Large is a painter in watercolour and oil, born in Islington, London in 1936. He studied at Hornsey College of Art (1958-63), teachers including Maurice de Sausmarez, John Titchell and Alfred Daniels. Large spent some time in the display department of Simpson’s, Piccadilly, was part-time at Hornsey College of Art, then head of department at St Julian...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

"Arroyo Seco, New Mexico" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist Southwest Oil Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Arroyo Seco, New Mexico Signed lower right Oil on canvas 28 x 42 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to assign a...
Category

1940s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid Century Antica Roma Figurative Abstract Collage
Located in Soquel, CA
Stunning mid century mixed media collage of Roman travel items and photos by James A. Couglin, a Berkeley Abstract Expressionist (American, 1929-1979), c.1966. Painted during his Par...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Magazine Paper

Young man sitting white collar and polka dot sweater
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas Molded frame in wood and gilded plaster 96.5 x 79.5 x 4.5 cm
Category

1920s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Freddy Wittop “Kelly” Costume Illustration / Drawing
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Artist/Designer; Manufacturer: Freddy Wittop (1911-2001) Marking(s); notes: signed, marking(s); 1965 Country of origin; materials: Dutch/American; mixed media on paper Dimensions (H,...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Paper

'Baghdad by the Bay', SFMOMA, Oakland Museum, San Francisco, Bay Area Modernist
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Maude Church' (American, born 1949) and dated 1986. Additionally signed and dated, verso, and titled 'Baghdad by the Bay'. Formerly ...
Category

1980s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil Pastel, Acrylic

Lilith
Located in Milano, MI
This painting by Salvador Aulestia (Barcelona 1915 - Milano 1994) embraces the "figurative post-cubism" style. In fact Salvador Aulestia was artistically grown during the maximum su...
Category

1980s Modern Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

'Ginger Cat with Still Life', American Modernist, WPA Muralist, SFAA, GGIE, MoMA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Jay Risling' (American, 1896-1993) and dated 1941. A psychologically penetrating study of a contented, golden-eyed ginger cat shown re...
Category

1940s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Italian ca. 1960's Beautiful Young Woman Portrait
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Portrait of a Beautiful Young Woman, ca. 1965. Oil on linen canvas, 8 x 10 inches. Framed measurement: 10.5 x 12.5 inches. Signed indistinctly lower left.
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Signed Paris Modernist Framed Signed Melons and Wine Still Life Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive Paris school modernist still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 36H by 29L and overall 36 by 43 inches.
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Contemporary British Acrylic Painting Snow Leopards in Arctic Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
snow leopards by Ben George Powell, British contemporary artist signed acrylic on canvas, unframed canvas: 20 x 28 inches provenance: private collection of this artists work, UK The ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Swedish Landscape Framed Oil Painting - Fauvist Field
Located in Bristol, GB
FAUVIST FIELD Size: 43 x 73 cm (including frame) Oil on board A bright and vividly coloured mid century landscape composition, executed in oil onto board and dated 1963. Characteri...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Female Figure - Painting on Canvas by Antonio Feltrinelli - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Female Figure is an original artwork realized in the 1930s by Antonio Feltrinelli (Milan, 1887 - Gargnano, 1942). Original Painting on canvas. Hand-signed on the lower right corne...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint

Summer in Provence Signed French Modernist Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Provence Huguette Ginet-Lasnier (French 1927-2020) signed watercolor painting on paper, mounted on card framed: 7 x 5.5 inches canvas: 5 x 5 inches. All the paintings we have for sal...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

20th C. Figurative Abstract Painting Cleveland School African American Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Beni E. Kosh/Charles Elmer Harris (American, 1917-1993) Untitled Oil on canvas board Estate stamped #611 verso 24 x 18 inches Charles Elmer Harris was born in 1917 in Cleveland, Oh...
Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

British Modernist Oil Painting Golden Fields Beneath A Starry Blue Sky
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Jill Jackson (British, contemporary) Title: Golden Fields Medium: oil on artist paper, unframed Painting : 16 x 20 inches Provenance: all the paintings we have b...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Fishing Boat in New York Harbor 1948 Original Signed Oil Painting Modernist
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
New York Harbor by John Chapman LEWIS (American, 1920-1994) signed & dated 1948 oil on canvas, unframed Canvas: 14 x 22.5 inches Provenance: Private colle...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Mid Century Figurative Study of Pair
By Joseph Capozio
Located in Soquel, CA
Compelling figurative study in gouache and pencil by Joesph Capozio (American, 1928-2016). Estate stamp lower right corner with bio on verso. Presented in mahogany wood frame. Framed size: 19"H x 17"W. Capozio was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1927. After serving in World War II, he attended art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lived and worked in San Francisco, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Siesta Key...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Pencil

PASSION #1 - Nude Male painting Paula Craioveanu oil on canvas
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Passion #1" - An original signed oil painting on canvas by artist Paula Craioveanu - titled "Passion #1". Hand painted and hand signed by artist upper right. It is also signed, ti...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Walk by the lake signed F.F - Oil on canvas 103 x 56 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on canvas with frame in good statement. Total size with frame: 70 x 121 x 7 cm Signed F.F
Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Abstract plant painting of red water lilies in tribute to Claude Monet
Located in THOMERY, FR
"Getting lost in the infinite" is a meditation on a motif dear to painters of all times and all continents: the mass of water lilies. For Linda Clerget, ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

A Scenic Oil on Masonite Vermont Landscape by Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A scenic September, Vermont summer landscape by artist Harold Haydon. The oil on Masonite painting is dated 1964. Image size: 18" x 23". Framed size: 22" x 27". Estate stamped ...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Masonite

Huge Spanish/ French Oil Painting Girl Seated in Chair
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Lady in a Chair by Maria Tort Xirau (Catalan, 1924-2018) signed lower corner dated 1991 oil painting on canvas, framed canvas: 47 x 37....
Category

1990s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Broodmares
Located in Atlanta, GA
A passion for horses, equestrian pursuits, and painting define Brooke Major's life and career. A native of Atlanta, GA, Brooke Major has been living and working as a professional art...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Early 20th Century Landscape -- Columbia Blue Mountain
Located in Soquel, CA
Vivid mountain Landscape by Antioqueño, Medellín painter Humberto Valencia Chaves (Columbian, 1891-1971). Signed "Valencia Chaves" lower left. Presented in a rustic wooden frame. Ima...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas, Illustration Board

Train Station - Oil Paint by Eliano Fantuzzi - 1953
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on canvas realized by Fantuzzi in 1952. Hand signed lower left and on rear.
Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

American School Modernist Framed Original Southern Iron Gate Nola Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist architectural iron gate oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed.
Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Elm Trees in Autumn Landscape in Antique Newcomb-Macklin Frame
By Mary H. Brubaker
Located in Soquel, CA
Elm trees in autumn at the edge of Salt Creek, Illinois, by Mary H. Brubaker (American, b. 1891). Signed and dated "Mary H. Brubaker 35" in the lower left cor...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board

Warm Evening with Tea
Located in Zofingen, AG
Warm Evening with Tea" is a painting permeated with soft light and the aroma of a summer garden. Lush flowers in a vase seem to whisper stories of quiet evenings, and a cup of tea s...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Mid Century Modern Swedish Original Landscape Oil Painting - Rural Terrain
Located in Bristol, GB
RURAL TERRAIN Size: 32 x 52 cm (including frame) Oil on board A very textured mid century modernist landscape composition, painted in oil onto board. This painting is a landscape t...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Pere Creixams Spanish Woman, Oil on Canvas
Located in Saint Amans des cots, FR
Oil on canvas by Pere Creixams Pico (1893-1965), School of Paris, ca.1920. Beautiful Spanish woman. Provenance: Charpentier Gallery, 76 rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris (Sotheby's...
Category

1920s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Dandelion" Original Vintage Oil Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
"Dandelion" Original Vintage Oil Painting Like a scientific illustration, Edith Bruning (American, 1899-1961) depicts various stages of a dandel...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Woman portrait. Whisper of Spring
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Whisper of Spring" portrays the serene beauty of a young woman with her auburn hair and scarf gently flowing in the breeze. This movement, captured through rich, textured brushstrok...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1950's French Modernist/ Cubist Painting Floral Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Floral Abstract by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century) original watercolour/ gouache painting on artist paper, unframed size: 12 x 9 inches condition: very good and ready to be e...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Vintage American School Modernist Interior Scene Portrait Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist interior scene oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 28 by 22 inches.
Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Contemporary oil painting Port of Marseille, art of Marseille.
Located in La Canada Flintridge, CA
A painting by Areg Elibekian, a third-generation artist from the renowned Elibekian family. Titled "Port of Marseille," this artwork features welcoming color combinations that depict...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

"February 21st - Red" Abstract Expressionist Landscape by William Morehouse
Located in Soquel, CA
"February 21st - Red" Abstract Expressionist Landscape by William Morehouse The image shows an abstract landscape painting by William Paul Morehouse (American, 1929-1993), titled "February 21st - Red". The painting has a textured application of impasto, in oil on canvas, with dominant earth tones and a contrasting red section at the top. The composition is divided into geometric shapes and lines, suggesting a stylized representation of a landscape. The colors and textures evoke a sense of the Northern California coastal prairie, a recurring theme in Morehouse's work. The painting is signed, titled, and dated 1960 on the reverse., and WM '60 center bottom of painting. Image, 34"H x 20"W x .5"D Signed center at bottom, Signed and dated on verso, with exhibition label and title. Post War California artist, William Paul Morehouse studied at the California School of Fine Arts (1947-1950) receiving his BFA. Not long after graduation from the CSFA he joined the Army during the Korean War. He became a Master Sergeant and was released with a Purple Heart in 1953, at which point he enrolled in courses at the California College of Arts and Crafts (now the California College of the Arts). A transfer to the San Francisco Art Institute the following year led to his Bachelors in Fine Arts, and in 1954 he enrolled at San Francisco State University where in under two years he earned his MFA. He traveled to New York that same year to participate in the Young American Painters exhibition at the Guggenheim, along with Diebenkorn, deKooning, Motherwell, and Jackson Pollock. He soon began dividing his time between the two coasts. Morehouse eventually settled in Bodega Bay permanently, where he continued to paint as part of the group the "Sonoma Four" Selected Group Exhibitions: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; University of Illinois; Fort Worth Museum; Los Angeles County Museum; National Academy; Oakland Art Museum; Rotunda Gallery, San Francisco; Denver Art Museum; Fourth Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, California Palace of The Legion of Honor 1951; First Pacific Coast Biennial Exhibition, Santa Barbara Museum of Art & California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco 1955; PACIFIC COAST ART...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

Nature morte au vase, Modern Oil Painting on Canvas by Claude Venard
Located in Long Island City, NY
Claude Venard, French (1913 - 1999) - Nature morte au vase, Year: 1970, Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right, Size: 29.5 x 29.5 in. (74.93 x 74.93 cm), Frame Size: 35.5 x 35...
Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

A Large, 1950s, Oil on Masonite Painting of a Michigan Harbor by Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A lovely summer day in a ca. 1950s Lake Michigan harbor, perhaps in Saugatuck, Douglas or at Oxbow! This is a large oil on Masonite painting by notable artist Francis Chapin that is...
Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Life Path Mastery. Foliage green painting
Located in Zofingen, AG
The canvas is a metaphor for life, where through the interweaving of our realisations and steps, we create our own unique pattern of life. Its beauty and complexity depends on our i...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Personage" Heavy Impasto Expressionist Portrait of Lady with a Hat
Located in Soquel, CA
"Personage" Heavy Impasto Expressionist Portrait of Lady with a Hat Abstract expressionist portrait of a woman wearing a hat by California artist Harald "Harry" Dry Schmidt (America...
Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

Abstract Expressionist Figurative Homage to Willem de Kooning
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist Figurative Homage to Willem de Kooning's "Women Singing" Colorful and dynamic abstract expressionist figurative mixed media painting contemporary piece, featu...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Magazine Paper, Stretcher Bars

North on West Street (West Side Highway NYC Cityscape)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
De Hirsh Margules (1899-1965). North on West Street , 1939. Watercolor on Arches wove paper. Signed and dated in pencil by artist lower margin. Sheet measures 15 x 22 inches. Framed measurement: 27 x 34 inched. Incredibly vibrant and saturated color with no fading or toning of sheet. Provenance: Babcock Galleries, NYC De Hirsh Margules (1899–1965) was a Romanian-American "abstract realist" painter who crossed paths with many major American artistic and intellectual figures of the first half of the 20th century. Elaine de Kooning said that he was "[w]idely recognized as one of the most gifted and erudite watercolorists in the country". The New York Times critic Howard Devree stated in 1938 that "Margules uses color in a breath-taking manner. A keen observer, he eliminates scrupulously without distortion of his material." Devree later called Margules "one of our most daring experimentalists in the medium" Margules was also a well-known participant in the bohemian culture of New York City's Greenwich Village, where he was widely known as the "Baron" of Greenwich Village.[1] The New York Times described him as "one of Greenwich Village's best-known personalities" and "one of the best known and most buoyant characters about Greenwich Village. Early Life De Hirsh Margules was born in 1899 in the Romanian city of Iași (also known as Iasse, Jassy, or Jasse). When Margules was 10 weeks old, his family immigrated to New York City. Both of his parents were active in the Yiddish theater, His father was Yekutiel "Edward" Margules, a "renowned Jewish actor-impresario and founder of the Yiddish stage." Margules' mother, Rosa, thirty-nine years younger than his father, was an actress in the Yiddish theater and later in vaudeville. Although Margules appeared as a child actor with the Adler Family[11] and Bertha Kalich, his sister, Annette Margules, somewhat dubiously continued in family theater and vaudeville tradition, creating the blackface role of the lightly-clad Tondelayo (a part later played on film Hedy Lamarr) in Earl Carroll's 1924 Broadway exoticist hit, White Cargo. Annette herself faced stereotyping as an exotic flower: writing about her publicist Charles Bouchert stated that "Romania produces a stormy, temperamental type of woman---a type admirably fitted to portray emotion." His brother Samuel became a noted magician who appeared under the name "Rami-Sami." Samuel later became a lawyer, representing magician Horace Goldin, among others. A family portrait including a young De Hirsh, a portrait of Rosa and Annette together, and individual photos of Rosa and Edward can be found on the Museum of the City of New York website. At around age 9 or 10, Margules took art classes with the Boys Club on East Tenth Street, and his first taste of exhibition was at a student art show presented by the club. By age 11, he had won a city-wide prize (a box camera) at a children's art show presented by the department store Wanamakers. As a young teenager, Margules was already displaying a characteristic kindness and loyalty. Upon hearing that two friends (one of them was author Alexander King), were in trouble for breaking a school microscope, the nearly broke Margules gave them five dollars to repair the microscope . Margules had to approach a wealthy man that Margules had once saved on the subway from a heart attack. Margules didn't reveal the source of the five dollars to King until twenty-five years later. In his late teens, Margules studied for a couple of months in Pittsburgh with Edwin Randby, a follower of Western painter Frederic Remington. Thereafter he pursued a two-year course of studies in architecture, design and decoration at the New York Evening School of Art and Design, while working as a clerk during the day at Stern's Department Store. He was encouraged in these artistic pursuits by his neighbor, the painter Benno Greenstein (who later went by the name of Benjamin Benno). Artistic career In 1922, Margules began work as a police reporter for the City News Association of New York .Margules then considered himself something of an expert on art, and the painter Myron Lechay is said to have responded to some unsolicited analysis of his work with the remark "Since you seem to know so much about it, why don't you paint yourself?" This led to study with Lechay and a flurry of painting. Margules' first show was in 1922 at Jane Heap's Little Review Gallery. Thereafter Margules began to participate in shows with a group including Stuart Davis, Jan Matulka, Buckminster Fuller (exhibiting depictions of his "Dymaxion house") in a gallery run by art-lover and restaurateur Romany Marie on the floor above her cafe. Jane Heap, left, with Mina Loy and Ezra Pound During the 1920s, Margules traveled outside of the country a number of times. In 1922, with the intent of reaching Bali, he took a job as a "'wiper on a tramp steamer where [he] played nursemaid to the engine." He reached Rotterdam before he turned back. He would return to Rotterdam shortly thereafter. In 1927, Margules took a lengthy leave of absence from his day job as a police reporter in order to travel to Paris, where he "set up a studio in Montmartre's Place du Tertre, on the top floor of an almost deserted hotel, a shabby establishment, lacking both heat and running water." He studied at the Louvre and traveled to paint landscapes in provincial France and North Africa. Margules also joined the "Noctambulist" movement and experimented with painting and showing his artwork in low light.Jonathan Cott wrote that: the painter De Hirsch Margulies sat on the quays of the Seine and painted pictures in the dark. In fact, the first exhibition of these paintings, which could be seen only in a darkened room, took place in [ Walter Lowenfels'] Paris apartment. Elaine de Kooning remarked that studying the works of the Noctambulists confirmed Margules' "direction toward the use of primary colors for perverse effects of heavy shadow." It was also in Paris that Margules initially conceived his idea of "Time Painting", where a painting is divided into sectors, each representing a different time of day, with color choices meant to evoke that time of day. In Paris, his social circle included Lowenfels, photographer Berenice Abbott, publisher Jane Heap, composer George Anthiel, sculptor Thelma Wood, painter André Favory, writer Norman Douglas, writer and editor George Davis, composer and writer Max Ewing, and writer Michael Fraenkel. Upon his return to New York in 1929, Margules attended an exhibition of John Marin's paintings. While at the exhibition, he "launched into an eloquent explanation of Marin to two nearby women", and was overheard by an impressed Alfred Stieglitz. The famous photographer and art promoter invited Margules to dine with his wife, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and his assistant, painter Emil Zoler. Stieglitz thereafter became a friend and mentor to Margules, becoming for him "what Socrates was to his friends." Alfred Stieglitz Stieglitz introduced Margules to John Marin, who quickly became the most important painterly influence upon Margules. Elaine de Kooning later noted that Margules was "indebted to Marin and through Marin to Cézanne for his initial conceptual approach - for his constructions of scenes with no negative elements, for skies that loom with the impact of mountains." Margules himself said that Marin was his "father and ... academy." The admiration was by no means unreciprocated: Marin said that Margules was "an art lover with abounding faith and sincerity, with much intelligence and quick seeing." Stieglitz also introduced Margules to many other artistic and intellectual figures in New York. With the encouragement of Alfred Stieglitz, Margules in 1936 opened a two-room gallery at 43 West 8th Street called "Another Place." Over the following two years there were fourteen solo exhibitions by Margules and others, and the gallery was well-respected by the press. It was in this gallery that the painter James Lechay, Myron's brother, exhibited his first painting. In 1936, Margules first saw recognition by major art museums when both the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston purchased his works. In 1942, Margules gave up working as a police reporter, and apparently dedicated himself thereafter solely to an artistic vocation. "The Baron of Greenwich Village"[edit] Margules made his mark not only as an artist, but also as an outsized personality known throughout Greenwich Village and beyond. To local residents, Margules was known as the "Baron", after Baron Maurice de Hirsch, a prominent German Jewish philanthropist. Margules was easily recognizable by the beret he routinely wore over his long hair. Writer Charles Norman said that he "dressed with a flair for sloppiness." He was said to "know everybody" in Greenwich Village, to the extent that when the novelist and poet Maxwell Bodenheim was murdered, Margules was the first one the police sought to identify the body. Margules' letters show him interacting with art world figures such as Sacha Kolin, John Marin and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as with prominent figures outside the art world such as polymath Buckminster Fuller and writer Henry Miller. Most of his friends and acquaintances found Margules a generous and voluble man, given to broadly emotionally expressive gestures and acts of kindness and loyalty. In 1929, he exhibited an example of this loyalty and fellow-feeling when he appeared in court to fight what the wrongful commitment of his friend, writer and sculptor Alfred Dreyfuss, who appeared to have been a victim of an illicit attempt to block an inheritance. The Greenwich Village chronicler Charles Norman described the bone-crushing hugs that Margules would routinely bestow on his friends and acquaintances, and speaks of the "persuasive theatricality" that Margules seemed to have inherited from his actor parents. Norman also wrote about Margules' routine acts of kindness, taking in homeless artists, constantly feeding his friends and providing the salvatory loan where needed. Norman also notes that Margules was blessed with a loud and good voice, and was apt to sing an operatic air without provocation. The writer and television personality Alexander King said I think the outstanding characteristics of my friend's personality are affirmation, emphasis, and overemphasis. He chooses to express himself predominantly in superlatives and the gestures which accompany his utterances are sometimes dangerous to life and limb. Of the bystanders, I mean. King also spoke with affectionate amusement about Margules' pride in his cooking, speaking of how "if he should ever invite you to dinner, he may serve you a hamburger with onions, in his kitchen-living room, with such an air of gastronomic protocol, such mysterious hints and ogliing innuendoes, as if César Ritz and Brillat-Savarin had sneaked out, only a moment before, with his secret recipe in their pockets." Margules was such a memorable New York personality that comic book writer Alvin Schwartz imagined him at the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria in a risible yet poignant debate with Clark Kent about whether Superman had the ability to stop Hitler. Margules' entrenchment in the Greenwich Village milieu can be seen in a photograph from Fred McDarrah's "Beat Generation Album" of a January 13, 1961 writers' and poets' meeting to discuss "The Funeral of the Beat Generation", in Robert Cordier [fr]'s railroad flat at 85 Christopher Street. Among the people in the same photograph are Shel Silverstein...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Rag Paper

Portrait of Young Woman - Painting by Francesco Settimj - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait realized by Franco Settimj in 1932. Oil on cardboard. Hand signed and dated lower right. Good condition except for some minor issing parts on edges.
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

White - Acrylic Painting by Mario Padovan - 1976
Located in Roma, IT
White is an contemporary artwork realized by Mario Padovan in 1976. Mixed colored acrylic painting on canvas. Signature, title, date and technique on the back.
Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

English mid century oil painting Portrait of Saluki dog
Located in Woodbury, CT
Wonderful English mid century portrait of a Saluki dog. Kate Gray was a British animal portrait painter during the last half of the 20th century. She also painted flower subjects. ...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Modernist Portrait of a Woman
Located in Milford, NH
A fine modernist portrait of a woman by American artist Margaret Hawkins Keane (1927-2022). Keane was born in Nashville,TN, and attributes her deep respect for the Bible and inspirations of her artwork to the relationship with her grandmother. In the 1960’s, while married to her second husband Walter, she was forced to paint and sell under his name, but during their divorce proceedings, she was able to prove that the paintings were actually done by her and the court determined that she was able to paint under her own name again. She became known for painting women and children with large black sad eyes...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mountain Landscape by Henri Weissenbach - Oil on Canvas - 46x55 cm
By Henri Weissenbach
Located in Geneva, CH
Théobald Charles Henri Weissenbach (1891–1966) was a Swiss visual artist known for his contributions to painting. Born in Fribourg, Switzerland, and later active in Geneva, Weissenb...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Young Swimmer (Modern, Academic Style Portrait Painting in Antique Gold Frame)
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative oil on canvas painting of a young athletic male 24 x 20 inches, 29.5 x 23.5 inches vintage gold painted wood frame signed B. Sargeant in red in upper right hand corner T...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Important Contemporary Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive contemporary abstract expressionist painting by Stephen Heigh. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 8H x 10L.
Category

Early 2000s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Asked you how you were doing
Located in Zofingen, AG
This artwork is about the beginning of falling in love—when even asking the object of your affection a simple question like "how re you doin'?" fills you with sharp anxiety and embar...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Antique American Modernist SunFlower Still Life Framed Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American school modernist still life painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a gold giltwood molding. Excellent c...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Les Soeurs (The Sisters), Oil Painting by Charles Levier
Located in Long Island City, NY
Les Soeurs (The Sisters) Charles Levier, French (1920–2003) Date: circa 1965 Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Frame Size: 29.5 x...
Category

1960s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Party
Located in MADRID, ES
Hand signed by artist on the reverse
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Bromoil

Face, Mixed Media on Paper by Modern Artist Jogen Chowdhury "In Stock"
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Jogen Chowdhury - Face Coloured Dry Pastel Charcoal , Wash on Paper 11.6 x 8.2 inches ( Unframed ) 2021 Signed in Bengali ( All in door delivered ; framed and ready to hang ) Style ...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel, Mixed Media

Stunning Mid Century French Portrait of Young Lady, signed oil painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, mid 20th century, indistinctly signed lower right corner. Title: Portrait of a Young Girl Medium: oil on canvas, framed Framed: 23.5 x 17 inches Pa...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Simka Simkhovitch WPA W/C Painting Gouache American Modernist Beach Scene Nude
Located in Surfside, FL
Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintings. This is a watercolor and gouache beach scene three young men bathing...
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board, Watercolor

Better World
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Peter Max Title: Better World Size: 48 x 24 Inches (Framed: 57.25 x 33.25 Inches) Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Edition: Original Year: 2010 Notes: Max Studio Catalog Nu...
Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Portrait of Old Woman - Painting by Francesco Settimj - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on plywood realized in 1930s. Painted on both sides, recto and verso. Good condition.
Category

1930s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

St Tropez Harbor France Large 1970's French Modernist Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
St Tropez French Modernist artist, indistinctly signed circa 1970 oil on canvas, framed framed: 13 x 37 inches canvas: 12 x 36 inches provenance: private collection, France conditio...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Washington Street" Modern Abstract Warm Toned Downtown City Street Scene
Located in Houston, TX
Modern warm toned downtown city street scene by Texas-based artist Herb Mears. The work features a variety of building facades including a grill, bar, and wholesale store. Signed in ...
Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Woodland Tapestry, 1970s Vintage Forest Landscape by Mildred Nordman
By Mildred Nordman
Located in Soquel, CA
Woodland Tapestry, 1970s Vintage Forest Landscape by Mildred Nordman Beautiful vintage forest scene titled "Woodland Tapestry" by Mildred Nordman (Ame...
Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen

Modern paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern 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, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Bernard Labbe, Christel Haag, Sunil Das, and Antonio Feltrinelli. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil 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 Modern paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available.

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