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.
"Untitled (Seated Figure)" Milton Avery, Modernist, Interior Scene, Abstracted
By Milton Avery
Located in New York, NY
Milton Avery Untitled (Seated Figure), circa early 1930s Signed and inscribed on the reverse Oil on homemade canvas board 11 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches Provenance The artist Max Granick, Ne...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$480Sale Price|31% Off
Dappled Light I (Abstract, Expressive, Fun, Colorful, Warm, Green, ~30% OFF)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Katherine Bello Dappled Light I Mixed Media on Board 2023 Size: 12x12x1.5in Framed: 13x13x2in Signed, dated and titled by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1882 *framed in a white wood...
Oil, Board
$557Sale Price|20% Off
Nude Woman Posted In Purple Interior 20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Posed Nude Interior by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century 14 x 10.75 inches oil on canvas, unframed condition: very good and ready to enjoy provenance: from a private co...
Oil
Three Women, Surrealist Oil Painting by Lucio Ranucci 1971
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lucio Ranucci, Italian (1925 - ) Title: Three Women Year: 1971 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated upper left Size: 25 x 37 in. (63.5 x 93.98 cm)
Canvas, Oil
Hidden Portraits XXXI, Modern Acrylic on Canvas, Framed, Circa 1980s
Located in London, GB
'Hidden Portraits XXXI', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing...
Canvas, Acrylic, Board
$264Sale Price|20% Off
Sanary by André-Louis Lambert - Watercolor on paper 27x39 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on cardboard
Watercolor, Color Pencil
$3,000Sale Price|33% Off
City at Night (Cityscape)
By Abram Tromka
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Abram Tromka (1895-1964) City at Night, ca. 1940. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches; 20 x 24 inches in antique oak frame. Signed lower right. Frame is of the period, but probably not ...
Canvas, Oil
$765Sale Price|20% Off
Mid 20th Century Stylish Portrait of a Young Lady French oil painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Lady by Maurice Delavier (French 1902-1986) stamped verso with the artists studio mark oil on board, unframed board: 7.75 x 9.5 inches provenance: private collection, F...
Oil
$636Sale Price|20% Off
Vintage American School Kitchen Still Life Pepper Oil Painting Heydenryk Frame
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American school vegetable still life painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1960. Unsigned. Image size, 20L x 10H. Housed in a period modern heydenryk frame.
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Mythological Motifs - Oil Painting - Late 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life with Mythological Motivs is an original artowork realized by European Master in the Late 19th Century. Mixed colored oil on Canvas Includes a coeval wooden frame.
Oil
Anza-Borrego Desert California Modernist Large Landscape Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist landscape signed oil painting of the Anza-Borrego desert. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 36 by 44 inches overall. In excellent original condit...
Canvas, Oil
Large Tel Aviv Orchestra Israeli Bezalel School Modernist Painting Moshe Matus
By Moshe Matus (Matusovsky)
Located in Surfside, FL
Moshe (Matusovski) Matus (Polish Israeli , 1908-1958), Depicting an orchestral concert. Hand signed lower right. Dimensions: (Frame) H 31" x W 37", (Sight) H 21" x W 28" Moshe ...
Paper, Gouache
$1,050Sale Price|30% Off
"Sea Cliff" Mid Century Modern Coastal Cliff Seascape in Acrylic on Masonite
Located in Soquel, CA
"Sea Cliff" Mid Century Modern Coastal Cliff Seascape in Acrylic on Masonite Expansive seascape by notable California artist Farren Jensen (American, 19...
Masonite, Acrylic
$819Sale Price|20% Off
1950's Modernist Painting, Beautiful & Bright Colour French Oil Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Blue landscape by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century), stamped verso original oil painting on paper overall size: 14 75 x 22 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed....
Acrylic
Tide Pools 42 - Contemporary Shiny Resin Minimalist Abstract Artwork on Wood
By Ricky Hunt
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
$874Sale Price|20% Off
The Lily Pond 20th Century Modernist Oil Painting by Listed Polish artist
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Lily Pond by Jacob Markiel (Polish 1911-2008) *See notes signed below oil on board, unframed board: 25.5 x 19.5 inches provenance: the artists estate...
Oil
1940's American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Tenement Market
Located in Surfside, FL
The Market, (fauvist painting of NYC scene) 1940's. image is 10X 11.5 inches. Hand signed lower right Lower East Side Tenements Pushcart Market Watercolor on paper board. Samuel G...
Watercolor, Board, Paper
Still life on black table. Oil on canvas, 135x140 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Still life on black table. Oil on canvas, 135x140 cm
Canvas, Oil
Everybody's Cowboy, Original painting, Cowboys, Landscape, Horses
Located in Deddington, GB
Inspired by an old blues record, one of only a few where I've started with a title for a piece. normally they come to mind whilst painting. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Acrylic paint on ...
Canvas, Acrylic
In Her Own World
Located in Zofingen, AG
shipped in roll Acrylic on canvas Size: 80 x 100 x 2 cm Signed by the artist with certificate of authenticity In Her Own World is a modern abstract painting that captures the essen...
Canvas, Acrylic
$5,500
'Modernist Still Life', Paris, Salon d Automne, Centre Pompidou, Budapest
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed upper right, 'G. Simonka' for Georges Simonka (Hungarian, 1916-2001) and dated 1955. A substantial, mid-century modernist, oil still-life showing an assemblage of items on a ...
Oil, Board
$142Sale Price|20% Off
Red Roof Hut Nestled In Forest Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch
By Irina Hale
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Pastel Landscape by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) pastel on brown artist tracing paper , unframed painting: 3.75 x 4.5 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds condition: ve...
Pastel
$380Sale Price|20% Off
Vintage Hawaiian Landscape Framed Tropical Modern Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Finely painted contemporary tropical landscape. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed verso.
Canvas, Oil
A Vibrant 1950s Mid-Century Modern Watercolor of Provincetown, MA, Cape Cod
Located in Chicago, IL
A Vibrant, 1950s Mid-Century Watercolor of Provincetown, Massachusetts by Famed Chicago Modern Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A superb example of Chapin's Post-War landscap...
Paper, Watercolor, Pastel
$1,680Sale Price|30% Off
Friday Market Ocotlan, Mexico, Colorful Mexican Market Scene, NYC Artist
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Lou (Louis) Sackman (American, 1911-2000) Signed: Lou Sackman 7-78 (Lower, Left) " Friday Market, Ocotlan ", 1978 (Mexico) Acrylic on Board 19 1/4" x 32" Housed in its original ...
Acrylic, Illustration Board
$956Sale Price|20% Off
Bright Golden Green Fields, British Modernist Contemporary Painting
By Jill Jackson
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: by Jill Jackson, British contemporary Title: Golden Light upon the Fields Medium: oil on canvas, framed Framed: 17.75 x 22 inches Pai...
Oil
1970s Abstract Italian Signed Titled and Dated Painting
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful abstract 20th-century painting by the important Venetian post-war artist Roberto Ferruzzi (VENICE 1927 - 2010) "Interno con Helene R Ferruzzi 1978" “Interior with Helene”,...
Oil, Panel
$1,109Sale Price|35% Off
Vintage 20th Century Painting of Lush Green Ireland Village by Irish Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Vintage 20th Century Painting of Lush Green Ireland Village by Irish Artist, Liam Reilly Art measures 24 x 18 inches Frame measures 28 x 22 inches This stunning painting captures t...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
$431Sale Price|20% Off
20th Century German Modernist Oil Painting Abstract Study
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Elisabeth Hahn (German 1924-2021) Elisabeth Hahn was born in Dortmund, Germany, where she began her artistic studies. In 1953, she moved to Paris. She continued her studies ...
Canvas, Oil
Antique French Modernist Signed Sunflower Still Life Framed Rare Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage French modernist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 35 by 20 inches overall. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a modern...
Canvas, Oil
$1,600
A Delightful 1940s Modern Painting of Two Women in a Summer Vermont Landscape
Located in Chicago, IL
A delightful & colorful 1940s American Modern painting of two women resting in a summer Vermont landscape by notable Chicago artist, Harold Haydon. Painted near the artist's longtim...
Canvas, Oil
$1,092Sale Price|20% Off
20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting Still Life Objects
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French School, 20th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 24 x 18 inches provenance: private collection condition: very good and sound condition
Oil
A Compelling, Fauvist 1940s Modern Still Life Painting, Green Pears
Located in Chicago, IL
A Compelling 1940s Modern Fauvist Studio Still Life Painting of Green Pears by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A wonderful Modernist still life, the paintin...
Oil, Board
$868Sale Price|20% Off
Flowers in Vase French Modernist Signed & Framed Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Still Life of Flowers Huguette Ginet-Lasnier (French 1927-2020) signed and inscribed verso framed oil painting on canvas framed: 20 x 17 inches canvas: 16 x 13 inches. All the painti...
Canvas, Oil
$685
A Striking, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Surrealist Architectural Scene / Set Design
By Andre Delfau
Located in Chicago, IL
A striking, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Surrealist architectural scene / set design by notable French stage, costume and fashion designer, Andre Delfau (1914-2000). Titled "Britannicus...
Paper, Gouache
A Cheerful, 1930s American Scene Landscape Painting with Church and Country Road
Located in Chicago, IL
A Cheerful, 1930s American Scene Landscape Painting with Church and Country Road by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A gem of a painting, exemplifying ...
Canvas, Oil, Board
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...
Masonite, Oil
A mare and foal shading under the trees
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
Arthur Spooner (1873-1962) A mare and foal shading under the trees Signed lower right Oil on canvas board Painting size - 14 1/8 x 18 1/2 in Framed size - Arthur Spooner (1873–1962...
Oil
$1,020Sale Price|20% Off
Antique American Modernist Large New York Cityscape Framed Street Scene Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist street scene painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a late 19th century fluted cove giltwood molding. E...
Canvas, Oil
$1,100
A Compelling 1940s American Scene, Social Realism Oil Painting, "Tenement Ruins"
Located in Chicago, IL
A Brooding, Compelling 1940s American Scene, Social Realist Oil Painting, "Tenement Ruins" by Notable Canadian / American artist Emil Weddige (1907-2001). Oil on canvas, dating from...
Canvas, Oil
$2,350
"Cubist Bouquet" Modern Teal and Maroon Abstract Floral Still Life Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Modern Cubist inspired still life painting by the iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. The work features an abstracted teal and maroon toned floral still life on a small table....
Acrylic
Oil Painting Woman Portrait French Armenian Modernist Jean Jansem Ecole De Paris
By Jean Jansem
Located in Surfside, FL
Jean Jansem (Hovhannes Semerdjian) 1920-2013 Hand signed upper left corner Dimensions: 14 X 9.5 Framed 21 X 16.75 Jean Jansem (Hovhannes Semerdjian) 1920-2013 Bursa, Ottoman Turki...
Canvas, Oil
$2,520Sale Price|20% Off
Colorful Modernist Still Life with Fruit and Water Jug
Located in Soquel, CA
Colorful Modernist Still Life with Fruit and Water Jug by Ellis Hopkins (American, b. 1952). This bold still life depicts a bowl of fruit resting on a table with a large green jug....
Board, Oil
$703Sale Price|39% Off
Mid-Century Spanish Roses Still Life Oil Painting Floral Impressionist Mallorca
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Mid-Century Spanish Roses Still Life Oil Painting Floral Impressionist Mallorca School TECHNICAL DETAILS Artist: José Miret Aleu (1912–...
Oil, Canvas
"Tighties" 1950's Gouache Male Nude Mid Century Painting
By Jerry Opper
Located in Arp, TX
From the estate of Jerry Opper & Ruth Friedman Opper Tighties c. 1950's Gouache on Paper 15" x 18" blue lacquered frame 18.5"x1.75"x21.5" Unsigned From the estate of Ruth Friedmann Opper & Jerry Opper. Ruth was the daughter of Bauhaus artist, Gustav Friedmann...
Paper, Gouache
Flower Blossom Lady Acrylic Painting, American Modern, 20th Century
By Peter Max
Located in San Francisco, CA
Peter Max was born in 1937. He is a very well listed and well collected American artist. He has been very prolific in his career, but nevertheless, he is highly sought after and collected, especially recently. This wonderful original acrylic on canvas was most likely painted in the late 1990s or early 2000. It is a favorite subject matter of his the blossoming lady or lady with blossoms. This painting is so vibrant exploding with colors. It measures 10 1/2 inches wide by 10 1/2 inches high. The frame measures 18“ x 18“. He has had Auction results over $70,000 but sells for much more privately and in galleries Once again, this is an original Peter Max acrylic...
Acrylic
Portrait of a solitary woman at a café table with a glass of absinthe
Located in New York, NY
Very good condition. Signed R Giraud Paris.
Canvas, Oil
$136Sale Price|20% Off
Paired Studies of Lions in Profile 1960's British Modernist Drawing
By Irina Hale
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Paired Studies of Lions in Profile 1960's British Modernist Drawing by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) oil crayon drawings on brown artist paper stuck on A4 artist paper, unframed ove...
Oil Crayon
$1,256Sale Price|20% Off
Yellow Green French Expressionist Abstract Oil Painting Golden Landscape Fields
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Golden Fields by Lucien Gondret (French b. 1941) signed oil painting on board, unframed board : 13 x 16 inches provenance: private collection, France co...
Oil
$601
Hilary Hennes, Cat Sleeping (c.1940), painting Modern British Art Hilary Miller
Located in London, GB
To see our other Modern British Art, including others by Hennes, 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. Hilary Hennes (née Hilary Miller) (1919-1993) 'Cat Sleeping...
Ink, Gouache
$11,500
The Inlet
By Paul Burlin
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Signed and dated lower right: Burlin 1914 Oil on board 8 x 10 inches (20.3 x 25.4 cm) Framed dimensions 14 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches Provenance Private collection Born in New York City, Paul Berlin...
Oil
View of the Gulf of Naples, Gouache on Paper, 19th Century, Framed
Located in Roma, IT
Gouache on paper by Neapolitan School, mid-19th century. Not signed, very good condition. Includes a coeval wooden frame cm. 35x30.
Gouache
$1,275
Antique American New England Fall Impressionist Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American impressionist landscape painting by Will S. Taylor (Born 1882). Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Image size, 12 by 13 inches.
Oil, Masonite
The Isle od the Dead - Oil Paint after Arnold Böcklin- 1906
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on canvas. A beautiful, outstanding early 20th century copy of the fifth version of Bocklin's famous painting "The Isle of the Dead" (painted in 1886 and housed in Museum der Bildenden Kunste in Leipzig). Hand signed "W. Salomon" and dated 1906 lower right. Mounted in a beautiful ebony frame. Few paintings have exercised as profound an influence on the visual imagination of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Arnold Böcklin's The Isle of the Dead (Die Toteninsel...
Oil
Set of 2 Bright Landscape Studies of 1960's British Modernist Drawings
By Irina Hale
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Set of Two Paired Studies 1960's British Modernist Drawing by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) oil crayon drawings on light brown artist paper stuck on A4 artist paper, unframed overal...
Oil Crayon
Vintage Crab Illustration Marker Drawing Blue Orange Marine Artwork
By Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Modernist Crab in Blue and Orange Marker Drawing By Guy Nicod (French, 1923–2021) Felt-tip pen and marker on artist's paper, unframed. 12.25 × 16.5 inches (height × width) Pro...
Pen, Felt Pen
"Winter Landscape" William Lester Stevens, Cape Ann Snowy Landscape
Located in New York, NY
William Lester Stevens Winter Landscape Signed lower right Oil on canvas 32 x 36 inches Born on June 15, 1888, in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens displayed his artistic abilities ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
Large Mid 20th Century French Modernist Figurative Oil Painting Bathers
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Bathers by Jacques Courtade (French 1923-1994) studio stamped verso oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 26 x 32 inches Provenance: private collection, Paris Condition: very good cond...
Oil
$1,200Sale Price|40% Off
Vibrant Post War Bay Area Garden Landscape - Original Watercolor Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant Post War Bay Area Garden Landscape - Original Watercolor Painting Lively landscape of a path and steps through a garden by Turkish-American artist Ömer Şahingil (Turkish/Ame...
Watercolor, Paper
American Modernist Nicely Framed Woman Portrait Signed Original Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist portrait oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 19 by 17 inches overall, and 13 by 11 painting alone. Excellent condition, ready to hang ...
Canvas, Oil