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.
Cube. From the Trama series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The interlacing of what sustains In the series Trama, Eduardo Rezende turns his gaze to the hidden structures of the built environment — the elements usually concealed beneath the po...
Canvas
Laminariales VIII. From the series Bosque Cyanotype photograhs
By Paola Davila
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Water is constant in the artist's visual investigation, for her water is no longer the stage in which the body's memory bursts, but rather the environment and protagonist, constant o...
Archival Pigment
$197Sale Price|84% Off
Green Abstract Photography Print, Signed Limited Edition of 15
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Print, limited edition of 15. Signed by the author.
Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Gaia 128b - Catalonian Landscape Natural Environment Photograph Diptych
Located in Brighton, GB
Gaia 128b - Catalonian Landscape Natural Environment Photograph Diptych by Jaume Llorens Bach Gaia Diptych 128b is a 18cm x 24cm Black and White Photographic print on Premio Kozo 18...
Black and White, Digital
#206, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#192, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Pigment
#20, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
Voyeur. From The Lavori in Corso series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Eduardo Rezende’s 2024 series Lavori in Corso revisits one of the artist’s most enduring themes: the urban and architectural landscape — this time focused on construction sites, scaf...
Canvas, Archival Pigment
A Raccoon. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Untitled VI. From LenkPlay Series. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
ID No. 7 The Melancholic. Limited edition photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this early photographic series, Dubravka Lazić turns her lens toward a subject rarely treated with such a quiet dignity: domestic cats. Shot in 2005, these portraits mimic the fo...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
ID No. 9 The Melancholic. Limited edition photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this early photographic series, Dubravka Lazić turns her lens toward a subject rarely treated with such a quiet dignity: domestic cats. Shot in 2005, these portraits mimic the fo...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
#139, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Pigment
Untitled IV. From LenkPlay Series. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
#147, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
$580
Forest Embers, Giclée Print Diptych Landscape, Warm Tons Abstract Autumn Leaves
By Cyd Fontaine
Located in Barcelona, ES
Cyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world o...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Humpback Whales, Kalbari, Western Australia
Located in New York City, NY
David Burdeny Humpback Whales, Kalbari, Western Australia, 2016 Archival Pigment Print Signature Label Print only. Ask us for framing options. Also...
Archival Pigment
$570
Dripping Paint, Graffiti Forms in Blue Tones, Floating Abstract Shapes on Paper
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This unique monotype cyanotype, rendered in rich blue tones, invites the viewer into a dreamlike rhythm of interwoven shapes. Created using the cyanotype process, this one-of-a-kind ...
Paper, Watercolor, Lithograph, Monotype
Friends, 2025. Cyanotype photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The photos from the series Let Me Tell You a Story show, each one individually, certain themes through strongly narrative visual units. Each photograph is dedicated to a specific rep...
Archival Paper
Untitled Triptych
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Works of Fire When I look into the night sky I am awestruck by the darkness that is the universe. As the sparse light of the stars descends, I am entangled in a state of wonder, sea...
Silver Gelatin
A Hippopotamus. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
#190 II Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
Agave No.2 - monochrome abstraction, from limited edition of 20
By Ugne Pouwell
Located in London, GB
Black and white fine art photograph capturing the sculptural elegance of an agave plant. The interplay of light and shadow emphasizes the organic geometry of the plant’s serrated edg...
Giclée
The Deer, Doe, Fawn. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
$2,355
Contemporary large figurative painting of women on paper "Invisible thread"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
“Invisible Thread” is a contemporary figurative–abstract painting by French artist Natalya Mougenot, part of her ongoing series dedicated to women, emotional connection, and the unse...
Paper, Acrylic
Peacock Displaying Blue and Green Plumage
Located in Miami, FL
Sometimes the simplest images are the most complex. Peacock Displaying Blue and Green Plumage is more than a bird portrait. It's a portrait of a bird as a living work of abstract ar...
Inkjet
#157, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#49, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Pigment
Untitled II. From LenkPlay Series. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Academy. Cyanotype photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The photos from the series Let Me Tell You a Story show, each one individually, certain themes through strongly narrative visual units. Each photograph is dedicated to a specific rep...
Archival Paper
Caribbean Blues
Located in Fairfield, CT
Also available 50 x 70 in. $9,500, edition of 10. Christine Matthäi was born in Germany. She lives and works between Shelter Island, New York, Germany and the Bahamas. Her LIGHT a...
C Print
Abstract. From the Trama series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The interlacing of what sustains In the series Trama, Eduardo Rezende turns his gaze to the hidden structures of the built environment — the elements usually concealed beneath the po...
Canvas, Archival Pigment
Spiare. From The Lavori in Corso series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Eduardo Rezende’s 2024 series Lavori in Corso revisits one of the artist’s most enduring themes: the urban and architectural landscape — this time focused on construction sites, scaf...
Canvas, Archival Pigment
Statue of liberty with colorful multiple exposures
Located in Miami, FL
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 4/15, unframed, other sizes available, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper In-camera multiple exposures with red, orange,...
Photographic Paper, Inkjet, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Gaia 108 - Spanish Landscape Photograph Natural Environment Diptych
Located in Brighton, GB
Gaia 108 - Spanish Landscape Photograph Natural Environment Diptych by Jaume Llorens Bach Gaia Diptych 108 is a 18cm x 24cm Black and White Photographic print on Premio Kozo 180gsm ...
Black and White, Digital, Photographic Paper
ID No. 5 The Naive. Limited edition photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this early photographic series, Dubravka Lazić turns her lens toward a subject rarely treated with such a quiet dignity: domestic cats. Shot in 2005, these portraits mimic the fo...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
ID No. 3 The Ambitious. Limited edition photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this early photographic series, Dubravka Lazić turns her lens toward a subject rarely treated with such a quiet dignity: domestic cats. Shot in 2005, these portraits mimic the fo...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Landscape I. Areal Landscape ocean limited edition color photograph
By Jill Peters
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Peters has gone on to capture and document man’s wider imprint on nature. Whether it’s the graphic symmetry of urban architecture or the abstract choreography of the forms and hues o...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Color
#243, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#107, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
$12,000Sale Price|20% Off
2632 - Double Splash - 1/8 - Diasec - mounted on plexiglass - can be vertical
By Bob Tabor
Located in New York, NY
Water photography - abstract feel - close up of rough seas. B/W. Can be vertical. About the Artist: Known for his large format prints of equestrian portraits and stunning seasc...
Archival Pigment
#170 Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#18, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#167, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#165, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#160, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
Delphinium 2 - Royal Horticultural Society Wisley Flowers
By Giles Revell
Located in Brighton, GB
Delphinium 2 by Giles Revell This is an Archival Pigment Print available in this size of 50cm x 50cm in a limited edition of 25 prints. In Cartographic Colour, Giles Revell reduc...
Color, Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper, Pigment
#164, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#158, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
'Lilly in Charcoal' abstract expressionism photography edition of 20
By Ugne Pouwell
Located in London, GB
'Lilly in Charcoal' 2023 Abstract expressionism black and white photography of Charcoal abstract drawing and Lilly. Photograph shot using mid-century large format film camera Linhof...
Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
#249, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
A Dinosaur Lake. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
#249, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#98, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to explore the deeper structures underlying film and digital imagery. Bas...
Pigment
$490
Misty Underwater Shapes, Mid-Century Modern Organic Blue, Handmade Monotype 2021
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes. It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...
Watercolor, Paper, Mulberry Paper
Gaia 44 - Black and White Diptych Skeleton Trees Fall in Catalonia Photograph
Located in Brighton, GB
Gaia 44 - Black and White Diptych Skeleton Trees Fall in Catalonia Photograph by Jaume Llorens Bach Gaia 44 is a 18cm x 24cm Black-and-White print on Premio Kozo 180gsm White Paper ...
Photographic Paper, Black and White, Digital
$450
Caribbean Sandy Shore, Black and White Abstract Seascape, Sunny Waves, Limited
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive limited edition black and white giclée print, on 100% cotton Hahnemühle Photo Rag Fine Art matte paper. This series of black and white photographs captures the ...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée
ID No. 1 The Optimist. Limited edition photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this early photographic series, Dubravka Lazić turns her lens toward a subject rarely treated with such a quiet dignity: domestic cats. Shot in 2005, these portraits mimic the fo...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
#125, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment
#122, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece in this size More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket ...
Pigment