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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
Evening, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Evening, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Evening, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Iryna Kastsova

Located in Yardley, PA

Modern, decorative still life in the kitchen, a bottle of wine, a glass, fruits on the table. Part of an ongoing series of colorful decorative still lifes. The picture has good spati...

Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism
"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism

"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism

By Kyra Markham

Located in New York, NY

"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism. 30 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas. Signed on stretcher, c. 1940s. Frame is likely original to the painting. Realist painter-printmaker Kyra Markham...

Category

1940s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1961 Mid Century Modern Swedish Original Oil Painting - Still Life with Sardines
1961 Mid Century Modern Swedish Original Oil Painting - Still Life with Sardines

1961 Mid Century Modern Swedish Original Oil Painting - Still Life with Sardines

Located in Bristol, GB

STILL LIFE WITH SARDINES Size: 52 x 60 cm (including frame) Oil on board An expressive mid-century still life painting, executed in oil onto board and dated 1961. This composition ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern
"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern

"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern

By Ludwig Bemelmans, 1898-1962

Located in New York, NY

"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern Ludwig Bemelmans (1898 – 1962), “Coney Island" 35 x 27 inches Oil on board Signed lower right Orig...

Category

1940s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Modern art painting of a small band of horses
Modern art painting of a small band of horses

Modern art painting of a small band of horses

Located in Colfax, CA

A modern art painting of three horses by artist Theodore Polos, in the manner of Marino Marini. Theodore C. Polos, (1901-1976), was a painter, printmaker and educator, was born in Mytilene, Greece. In 1916 Polos immigrated to the United States, settling in Boston first before moving to San Francisco in 1922. He studied art at the San Francisco Institute of Art, and at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland with Xavier Martinez...

Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

A Large 1960s Mid-Century Modern Florida Harbor Scene Painting, "Shrimp Boats"
A Large 1960s Mid-Century Modern Florida Harbor Scene Painting, "Shrimp Boats"

A Large 1960s Mid-Century Modern Florida Harbor Scene Painting, "Shrimp Boats"

By Charles Turzak

Located in Chicago, IL

A Large, 1960s Mid-Century Modern Florida Harbor Scene Painting, "Shrimp Boats" by Famed Chicago Artist and Printmaker, Charles Turzak (Am. 1899 - 1986). Titled "Shrimp Boats", the painting depicts a tranquil harbor scene of fishing and sailing boats docked alongside a quiet boathouse. The painting is oiI on panel, dating from the 1960s, and has a great visual appeal. A perfect complement to any Florida coastal home or collection in the Keys. Artwork size: 17 1/2 x 25 inches, accompanied with the artist's original hand-painted, stepped panel frame (Framed size: 21 x 28 1/2 inches). Signed "Turzak" lower right; titled on artist label on reverse. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Charles Turzak was one of Chicago’s greatest printmakers of the Art Deco-era. Son of a coal miner, Turzak was born in Streeter, IL in 1899. In 1920, Turzak won the first prize a cartoon contest sponsored by the Purina company and he used his prize money to enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago. Best known as a print maker, in the 1920s & 30s, he created woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most notable buildings, including the Merchandise Mart, Palmolive Building and the Old Water Tower, among others. In 1933, he was commissioned to create woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most iconic buildings to illustrate a guidebook called “All About Chicago” by John and Ruth Ashenhurst” that featured the upcoming Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. During the 1933 World’s Fair...

Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Queen of the Night, narrative, partial nude figure, red colors, ethnic fabrics

Queen of the Night, narrative, partial nude figure, red colors, ethnic fabrics

By Audrey Anastasi

Located in Brooklyn, NY

ABOUT the artist: Audrey Frank Anastasi is a prolific feminist artist, working in painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, & printmaking. She is also curator, gallerist, educator and arts advocate. Most of Ms. Anastasi's figurative works are painted with her non-dominant left hand. She has created large bodies of works of birds, animals and birch trees. She has had 20 solo & 200 group shows. Her "ref-u-gee" series will be shown in 2020 at Medgar Evers College in collaboration with the Valentine Museum of Art, Brooklyn. Accompanying the show will be a limited-edition monograph w/ over 180 images and a foreword by Phyllis Braff. Ms. Anastasi's collage series was exhibited at Welancora Gallery, Brooklyn, in May, 2019. In 2018, ten paintings were exhibited in "Painting to Survive," curated by Yale critic Jonathan Weinberg. Book and catalog publications include "Stations of the Cross", SPQR press, BREUCKELEN magazine, “Audrey Frank Anastasi”, catalog essay Cindy Nemser, and "Collage," essay by Giancarlo T. Roma. Public art includes a portrait of Jo Davidson...

Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia Bulldogs

Located in Atlanta, GA

Scott French has over 30 years of painting experience. His work focuses on figures, landscapes, and recently, cocktails. Known for his painterly and expressive style, French uses ric...

Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

American Pastoral
American Pastoral

American Pastoral

By John Koch

Located in New York, NY

John Koch is a beloved American realist painter who depicted people in their everyday lives. Here we see a slightly different approach where he has put a painter out in a rural town...

Category

1940s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fruits on Table Under Parasol — Arthur Van Hecke
Fruits on Table Under Parasol — Arthur Van Hecke

Fruits on Table Under Parasol — Arthur Van Hecke

Located in LE HAVRE, FR

This charming oil on canvas by Belgian artist Arthur Van Hecke (1924–2003) depicts a still life arrangement of fruits on a table set beneath a parasol, evoking the leisurely atmosphe...

Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paint

Bryan Ingham: Upright Jug oil abstract painting
Bryan Ingham: Upright Jug oil abstract painting

Bryan Ingham: Upright Jug oil abstract painting

By Bryan Ingham

Located in London, GB

To see our other Modern British Art, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the artist you want. Bryan Ingham (1936-1997) Upright Jug (1993-95) Pencil and oil on board 64 x 19 cm Provenance: Bohun Galleries, Paintings in Hospitals. Signed, titled and dated 1993-95 (on backboard). Bryan Ingham was born in Yorkshire. For his National Service he joined the RAF, and spent his time in Germany as an airman. After demobilisation, his final report included the statement that "Ingham is an artistic sort of airman." In his spare time he had started painting in oils, and by the time he left the RAF he had completed a large number of paintings. He studied at St Martin's School of Art in London, where he had the tuition of a fine post-war generation of teachers who helped him to hone his draughtsmanship and other skills, and he swiftly showed a capacity for painting that drew the attention of his tutors and peers. On graduating he was offered and accepted a post-graduate place at the Royal College of Art, where in his second year he was awarded a Royal Scholarship and was a contemporary of a number of now better-known names including David Hockney. Ingham applied for and received a Leverhulme travel award to explore the sites of the great Renaissance painters, and spent many happy months engaged in this expedition. He spent time at the English Art school...

Category

1990s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Large Vintage Painting Titled: “Grand”
Large Vintage Painting Titled: “Grand”

Large Vintage Painting Titled: “Grand”

By Wayne Timm

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

Wayne A. Timm MFA In the 1960's, Wayne Timm rubbed elbows with the likes of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauchenburg and many others, in the time he had an Art studio loft in New York City ...

Category

1970s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Stone Lion

Stone Lion

Located in London, GB

G R Neale Oil on Canvas, Signed and dated ‘1933’ lower right Image Size: 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches ( 34.3 x 24.1 cm) Hand made ebonised and gilded frame Accentuated by the works golden tones, the painting is a duality of strength and stillness. Explored through the compositions stoic stone lion; angled to gaze just out of frame; in contrast with the draped ochre curtain of the piece’s background. Reeves and Sons...

Category

20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Segovie
Segovie

Segovie

Located in Sheffield, MA

Marie Antoinette Boullard-Deve French, 1890-1970 Segovie Oil on canvas 29 by 21 ½ in. W/frame 39 by 31 ½ in. Signed lower left and titled and dated 1951 on the back Marie was born...

Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Blue Still Life
Blue Still Life

Blue Still Life

Located in Wiscasset, ME

This vibrant work by noted 20th century American artist, Joel Durand, employs a bold palette and sophisticated approach in this dramatic and abstracted sti...

Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Coastal Landscape Oil Painting - Moonlit Sea
Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Coastal Landscape Oil Painting - Moonlit Sea

Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Coastal Landscape Oil Painting - Moonlit Sea

Located in Bristol, GB

MOONLIT SEA Size: 34 x 47 cm (including frame) Oil on board An atmospheric mid-century abstract coastal landscape, executed in oil onto board. The composition presents a seascape w...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Standing Male Nude Back View French Modernist Ink Figure Drawing
Standing Male Nude Back View French Modernist Ink Figure Drawing

Standing Male Nude Back View French Modernist Ink Figure Drawing

By Jacqueline Boisselot

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title Standing Male Nude Back View French Modernist Ink Figure Drawing Artist Jacqueline Boisselot French late 20th century Medium Black ink on artist paper unframed Size 19 x 12.75 ...

Category

Late 20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic, Felt Pen

Better World
Better World

Better World

By Peter Max

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

Mid Century Modern Wheat & Fruit Still-Life
Mid Century Modern Wheat & Fruit Still-Life

Mid Century Modern Wheat & Fruit Still-Life

Located in Soquel, CA

Wonderful mid-century modern oil painting of wheat and fruit by Wanda Faust (American, 20th century), c.1950. Signed lower left corner "Faust." Displayed i...

Category

1950s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

Modern British landscape of Mousehole Regatta harbor with fishing boats
Modern British landscape of Mousehole Regatta harbor with fishing boats

Modern British landscape of Mousehole Regatta harbor with fishing boats

Located in Woodbury, CT

Eric Ward (British, 20th Century) Mousehole Regatta, Cornwall Oil on canvas Signed lower right Eric Ward was a gifted British landscape and marine painter whose colourful interpretations of Britain’s coastal villages captured the charm and vitality of seaside life during the twentieth century. Working in a fresh Impressionist manner, Ward became particularly known for his evocative harbour scenes, where brilliant coastal light, shimmering reflections and the movement of sailing craft combined to create compositions of enduring decorative appeal. His paintings celebrate the unique character of Britain’s maritime heritage, especially the picturesque fishing communities of Cornwall. This delightful painting depicts the picturesque harbour of Mousehole, one of Cornwall’s most celebrated fishing villages, during the excitement of the annual regatta. Sheltered by its historic granite harbour walls, the tranquil waters are alive with traditional sailing boats, their colourful sails reflected in the calm sea beneath an expansive summer sky. Small rowing boats drift quietly in the foreground, while visitors stroll along the quayside, enjoying the festivities against a backdrop of whitewashed cottages climbing the hillside beyond. Ward masterfully captures the distinctive atmosphere that has attracted artists to Mousehole for well over a century. His confident brushwork and luminous palette beautifully convey the clarity of the Cornish light, where brilliant blues, soft turquoise waters and warm earth tones combine in perfect harmony. The vibrant red and white sails punctuate the composition with striking accents of colour, while the broken reflections dancing across the harbour create an impression of gentle movement and sparkling sunshine. Throughout the twentieth century, Mousehole became one of Britain’s most important artistic destinations, drawing painters inspired by its intimate harbour, traditional fishing boats and unspoilt coastal scenery. Ward continues this distinguished tradition, producing a work that balances careful observation with an impressionistic freedom, allowing colour and atmosphere to take precedence over meticulous detail. The result is a painting that is both instantly recognisable as one of Cornwall’s most beloved harbours and timeless in its celebration of the English seaside. Beautifully composed and executed with a lively painterly touch, this oil on canvas perfectly encapsulates the relaxed spirit of a Cornish regatta. Rich in colour, light and maritime character, it is an excellent example of Eric Ward’s coastal paintings and would make a charming addition to any collection of British marine art, Cornish paintings...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled

Untitled

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Untitled, 1953, oil on Masonite, signed and dated lower left, 7 x 11 1/2 inches, presented in an older (likely original) frame Ralph McGuire was an American painter whose work celeb...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Portrait of Other-Acrylic painting, tissue paper, large monoprints on canvas.
Portrait of Other-Acrylic painting, tissue paper, large monoprints on canvas.

Portrait of Other-Acrylic painting, tissue paper, large monoprints on canvas.

By Majio

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

Ancestors Series, cold wax, oil stick with monoprints and layers of marked tissue paper, explores through transparent overlapping images, the subtle awareness of unconscious influenc...

Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas, Tissue Paper

Portrait of a Bearded Nobleman in Red Robes Large Oil on Canvas
Portrait of a Bearded Nobleman in Red Robes Large Oil on Canvas

Portrait of a Bearded Nobleman in Red Robes Large Oil on Canvas

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Portrait of a Bearded Nobleman in Red Robes European, 20th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 30 x 24 inches provenance: private collection condition: very good and sound condi...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mid Century Modern Swedish Still Life Oil Painting - Fruit & Vase on a Table
Mid Century Modern Swedish Still Life Oil Painting - Fruit & Vase on a Table

Mid Century Modern Swedish Still Life Oil Painting - Fruit & Vase on a Table

Located in Bristol, GB

FRUIT & VASE ON A TABLE Size: 44.5 x 52.5 cm (including frame) Oil on board An energetic mid-century still life painting that presents a lively arrangement of everyday objects, infu...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Rubout #2, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Rubout #2, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Rubout #2, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Craig Moran

Located in Yardley, PA

This painting started out as several abstract figures against a red background. Dissatisfied with the result, I grabbed a tube of Mars black paint and a brush, and wiped out half the...

Category

2010s Modern Paintings

Materials

Oil

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.