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Abstract Photography

ABSTRACT STYLE

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.

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Style: Abstract
Hampton Fields

Michael WilliamsHampton Fields

$1,200

Hampton Fields

By Michael Williams

Located in New York, NY

Michael Williams, Untitled Landscape 4, Color Photograph on Paper, 22 x 32, 2010 - Colors: Blue, Gold, Brown, Green

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Eternity Abstract Cyanotype, 24x18 Inch, Signed Monotype

Christine SoEternity Abstract Cyanotype, 24x18 Inch, Signed Monotype, 2022

$300

Eternity Abstract Cyanotype, 24x18 Inch, Signed Monotype

By Christine So

Located in Oakland, CA

Though it resembles a giant abstract watercolor painting owing to its soft gradations and luminous quality, this is a form of photography called a cyanotype, photogram or sun print. ...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Paper, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Monotype, Photogram

'Lily in Charcoal' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10
'Lily in Charcoal' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

Ugne Pouwell'Lily in Charcoal' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10, 2023

$853

'Lily in Charcoal' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

'Lily in Charcoal' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a live lily emerging from a gash. The charc...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper

Bleed # 202414 (Abstract Photography)
Bleed # 202414 (Abstract Photography)

Paul SnellBleed # 202414 (Abstract Photography), 2024

$8,259

Bleed # 202414 (Abstract Photography)

By Paul Snell

Located in London, GB

Bleed # 202414 (Abstract Photography) Chromogenic Print Face-mounted 3mm Matte Plexiglas — Unframed. "Work can be hung with either the WallCleat system (support bar supplied) or the...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, C Print

Frosted Window
Frosted Window

Paul CaponigroFrosted Window, 1957

$7,000

Frosted Window

By Paul Caponigro

Located in Pacific Grove, CA

This vintage silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount. This rare exhibition print in glossy paper (later prints of this image from Portfolio II were made on...

Category

1950s Abstract Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Blue Horizons
Blue Horizons

Gary MankusBlue Horizons, 2013

$1,000

Blue Horizons

By Gary Mankus

Located in Los Angeles, CA

This unframed, signed, limited edition pigment print by artist Gary Mankus exists in an edition of 40. Paper size is 24"h x 48"w with an image size of 18.5"h x 41"w. Gary Mankus was...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Digital, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment

Gaia 4, Black-and-White Diptych Landscape Photography, Limited Edition

Jaume LlorensGaia 4, Black-and-White Diptych Landscape Photography, Limited Edition

$571

Gaia 4, Black-and-White Diptych Landscape Photography, Limited Edition

By Jaume Llorens

Located in Brighton, GB

Gaia 4 by Jaume Llorens Bach Gaia 4 is a 18cm x 24cm Black-and-White print on Premio Kozo 180gsm White Paper by Awagami Factory This size in a Limited Edition of 10 + 2 Artist's Pr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Black and White, Digital

ID No. 10 The Visionary. Limited edition photograph
ID No. 10 The Visionary. Limited edition photograph

Dubravka LazicID No. 10 The Visionary. Limited edition photograph, 2005

$2,100

ID No. 10 The Visionary. Limited edition photograph

By Dubravka Lazic

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...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Set of 2 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves
Set of 2 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

Paola DavilaSet of 2 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves, 2022

$9,000

Set of 2 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

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...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Pigment

Set of 3 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves
Set of 3 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

Paola DavilaSet of 3 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves, 2022

$13,500

Set of 3 Photographs. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

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...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Pigment

Blanco 8, 2010 - Limited Edition Digital Photographic Print on Cotton paper

Rosa BasurtoBlanco 8, 2010 - Limited Edition Digital Photographic Print on Cotton paper, 2010

$991

Blanco 8, 2010 - Limited Edition Digital Photographic Print on Cotton paper

By Rosa Basurto

Located in Brighton, GB

Blanco 8 is a 30cm x 30cm digital print on 50cm x 50cm cotton paper in a limited edition of 9 + 2 Artist Proofs. Rosa Basurto is a self-taught photographer from Spain who, within ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Digital

Visible, Disappearance and Destiny, Triptych
Visible, Disappearance and Destiny, Triptych

Arslan SükanVisible, Disappearance and Destiny, Triptych, 2009

$22,000

Visible, Disappearance and Destiny, Triptych

By Arslan Sükan

Located in Miami Beach, FL

‘While you are sleeping’ (Seascape Series) In his seascape works, Sukan manipulates his imagery connected to the constant tensions between the mental grasp of the specificity and rep...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Black and White, Archival Pigment

Holding Light In Darkness #5

Susan IsaacsonHolding Light In Darkness #5, 2016

$1,300

Holding Light In Darkness #5

By Susan Isaacson

Located in Los Angeles, CA

THE COLOR OF WATER Lake Michigan blue sits at the pastel confluence of green, grey and cyan on the nearby shoreline. In truth, the color of the lake is as transitory as Chicago weather. The shade of blue is widely determined by the reflection of the sky above and the organic material and sediment carried below. I recently learned that invasive mussel species have slowly transformed the lake from green to bluer over the past two decades. I often return to the water’s edge to document the color of a given day. Susan Isaacson...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper

Gaia 6, Black-and-White Photographic Diptych, Limited Edition of 10

Jaume LlorensGaia 6, Black-and-White Photographic Diptych, Limited Edition of 10

$571

Gaia 6, Black-and-White Photographic Diptych, Limited Edition of 10

By Jaume Llorens

Located in Brighton, GB

Gaia 6 by Jaume Llorens Bach Gaia 6 is a 18cm x 24cm Black-and-White print on Premio Kozo 180gsm White Paper by Awagami Factory This size in a Limited Edition of 10 + 2 Artist's Pr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Black and White, Photographic Paper, Digital

Crosshatch
Crosshatch

Christopher Kennedy (Photo Luminism)Crosshatch, 2014

$880Sale Price|20% Off

Crosshatch

Located in Plano, TX

" "Crosshatch" is a classic example of my abstract PhotoLuminism technique. When light travels, the human eye cannot see its trails, but the camera can. Capturing images that are int...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Black and White

Lily in Charcoal No.2 - Limited Edition of 10 Abstract Expressionist Photograph
Lily in Charcoal No.2 - Limited Edition of 10 Abstract Expressionist Photograph

Ugne PouwellLily in Charcoal No.2 - Limited Edition of 10 Abstract Expressionist Photograph, 2023

$1,369

Lily in Charcoal No.2 - Limited Edition of 10 Abstract Expressionist Photograph

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

'Lily in Charcoal no.2' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal No.2' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper

Surfer, Perth, Western Australia (Oceans series)

David BurdenySurfer, Perth, Western Australia (Oceans series), 2016

$7,800

Surfer, Perth, Western Australia (Oceans series)

By David Burdeny

Located in New York City, NY

David Burdeny Surfer, Perth, Western Australia (Oceans series), 2016 Archival Pigment Print Signature Label Print only. Ask us for framing options. Also available in 59 x 59 inches

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Abstract photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract photography 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 photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, red, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mitchell Funk, Paul Snell, Michael Banks, and Seb Janiak. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Pigment Print and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract photography, so small editions measuring 0.5 inches across are also available. Prices for photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $50 and tops out at $36,000, while the average work sells for $3,359.

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