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Abstract Photography

3,323 Results
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.

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Style: Abstract
Drunken Oak: original watercolor painting on archival pigment photograph of tree
Drunken Oak: original watercolor painting on archival pigment photograph of tree

Drunken Oak: original watercolor painting on archival pigment photograph of tree

By Ava Blitz

Located in Bryn Mawr, PA

"Drunken Oak" is an original abstract watercolor painting layered over an original archival pigment print of an oak tree using alternative process photography on 100% rag paper. Imag...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Rag Paper, Archival Pigment, Watercolor

Italian Vintage Dye Transfer Photograph Franco Fontana Color Landscape Photo
Italian Vintage Dye Transfer Photograph Franco Fontana Color Landscape Photo

Italian Vintage Dye Transfer Photograph Franco Fontana Color Landscape Photo

By Franco Fontana

Located in Surfside, FL

Franco Fontana (Italian, born 1933) Title: Los Angeles, California 1979 Edition 6/15 Medium: dye-transfer Dimensions: Frame 21.5 x 29.25. Sight 13 x 19.5 Provenance: Monique Goldstrom Gallery Franco Fontana (Italian, 1933) is an Italian photographer. He is best known for his Minimalist abstract colour landscapes. He was influenced by Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism. Franco Fontana was born in 1933 in Modena. He started taking photographs in the 1950s when he was working as a decorator in a furniture showroom. In 1961 he joined a local amateur club in Modena. The experience would be a turning point in his career, and Fontana went on to have his first solo exhibition in 1965 at the Società Fotografica Subalpina, Turin and at the Galleria della Sala di Cultura in Modena in 1968. Since then he has participated in more than 400 group and solo exhibitions including the exhibit Lines, Spheres and Glyphs at Robert Klein Gallery with works by photographers: Franco Fontana, Mario Giacomelli, Ernst Haas, Gyorgy Kepes and Aaron Siskind. Franco Fontana is considered one of the most relevant photographers of our time, In 1963 he exhibited his work at the Biennale of Color in Vienna, and in 1968 he held his first solo exhibition in Modena. Fontana often pares landscapes down to their essential elements, producing flat, geometric compositions reminiscent of the color field abstract expressionist paintings of Mark Rothko Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman, by underexposing his transparencies. Contrasting blue skies with green or yellow grass and the rigid lines of buildings with the softness of puffy clouds, he makes color and texture his primary subjects. He has also shot in Polaroid film, Cibachrome, C Print and chromogenic prints. His art has been acquired by some of the most important museums worldwide, including the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, MoMA in New York, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Museum of Modern Art in Norman, Oklahoma, National Gallery in Beijing, Australian National Gallery in Melbourne, University of Texas in Austin, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris. Fontana has photographed for advertising campaigns for brands such as Fiat, Volkswagen, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Snam, Sony, Volvo, Versace, Canon, Kodak, Robe di Kappa, Swissair, and has been a magazine photographer for publications including Time, Life, Vogue (USA and France), Venerdì di Repubblica, Panorama, and with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The New York Times. Fontana's first book, Skyline, was published in 1978 in France by Contrejour and in Italy by Punto e Virgola with a text by Helmut Gernsheim. Fontana is the art director of the Toscana Foto Festival. He has received numerous awards, such as the 1989 Tokyo Photographer Society of Japan - The 150 Years of Photography - Photographer Award. Fontana is especially interested in the interplay of colours. His early innovations in colour photography in the 1960s were stylistically disruptive. According to art critic Giuliana Scimé, Fontana "destroyed all the structures, practices, and technical choices within the Italian tradition." Fontana uses 35mm cameras, and as noted by Iwan Zahar, deploys distant viewpoints with telephoto lenses to flatten contours in a landscape of crops and fields into bands of intense, saturated colour. This is an effect that Franco Lefèvre has described as 'dialectical landscapism'. Of his use of colour in his 2019 retrospective exhibition Sintesi ('Synthesis') at Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, curator Diana Baldon has observed; “His bold geometric compositions are characterised by shimmering colours, level perspectives and a geometric-formalist and minimal language, By adopting this approach during the 1960s, Fontana injected a new vitality into the field of creative colour photography for then multicolour was not in fashion in art photography., The way Fontana shoots, dematerializes the objects photographed, which loose three-dimensionality and realism to become part of an abstract drawing”. Aside from the rural landscape Fontana has applied his graphic sensibility to other subjects: city architecture, portraiture, fashion, still-life and the nude. He was included in the exhibition of the Helmut Newton Collection along with Brassaï, Diane Arbus, Franco Fontana, Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, June Newton, Just Loomis, Man Ray, Mark Arbeit...

Category

1980s Abstract Photography

Materials

Dye Transfer

"Modernismo M48" Abstract Photography 48"x48" in Ed. of 12 by Giuliano Bekor

"Modernismo M48" Abstract Photography 48"x48" in Ed. of 12 by Giuliano Bekor

By Giuliano Bekor

Located in Culver City, CA

"Modernismo M48" Abstract Photography 48"x48" in Ed. of 12 by Giuliano Bekor Title of artwork: M48 Year: 2012 Printed on a high-quality museum-grade archival photo paper. Not framed...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-12. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves
28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-12. Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-12. 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

After Man Ray, Black and White Rayograph, Limited Edition Photogravure, 1982
After Man Ray, Black and White Rayograph, Limited Edition Photogravure, 1982

After Man Ray, Black and White Rayograph, Limited Edition Photogravure, 1982

By Man Ray

Located in Barcelona, ES

Discover the timeless elegance of this framed black and white Rayograph by the legendary artist and photographer Man Ray. This unique artwork, printed in heliogravure, is part of a l...

Category

1980s Abstract Photography

Materials

Paper

Lights in Motion Photograph Chromo Photo Kodak Professional Endura
Lights in Motion Photograph Chromo Photo Kodak Professional Endura

Lights in Motion Photograph Chromo Photo Kodak Professional Endura

Located in Surfside, FL

Artist Unknown. From Muse X Editions. An (now defunct) LA based innovative publisher of limited-edition prints, Muse X has launched its first group of prints and is just beginning to make itself known to artists, curators, dealers and collectors. Among works just off the press are otherworldly landscapes by Barbara Kasten and Oliver Wasow, a sizzling sunset by Peter Alexander, abstract compositions by Pauline Stella Sanchez and Jennifer Steinkamp...

Category

Early 2000s Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print

HegdeFun  - The Five Trees - Street Art made by the Rich
HegdeFun  - The Five Trees - Street Art made by the Rich

HegdeFun - The Five Trees - Street Art made by the Rich

By Robert Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Robert Funk’s photographs of elaborate landscaping redefine what Street Art is. Street Art created by the Rich with the help of Landscapers and Gardeners. This type of street art...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Jose Soto, Aurora, 2017, Mirror, Plexiglass, Digital Pigment Print
Jose Soto, Aurora, 2017, Mirror, Plexiglass, Digital Pigment Print

Jose Soto, Aurora, 2017, Mirror, Plexiglass, Digital Pigment Print

By Jose Soto

Located in Darien, CT

Created for the 2017 Whitney Biennial, Aurora uses a photograph of a dense, lush landscape captured at dawn. For this work, Soto developed a technique using layers of face-mounted, l...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Mirror, Plexiglass, Digital Pigment

Abstract Persian calligraphy limited edition photogravure ink print, black/white
Abstract Persian calligraphy limited edition photogravure ink print, black/white

Abstract Persian calligraphy limited edition photogravure ink print, black/white

By Nazanin Moghbeli

Located in Bryn Mawr, PA

Nazanin Moghbeli is a Persian American artist with training in Persian calligraphy, miniature painting, and music. The abstracted calligraphy text in her "Words from My Mother" seri...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Archival Ink, Photogravure

Light 2 - Photo by Sofia Mattioli - 2020

Light 2 - Photo by Sofia Mattioli - 2020

By Sofia Mattioli

Located in Roma, IT

This beautiful photograph Light 2 was shot by the Italian photographer Sofia Mattioli. From the series The lights I see since you are gone, limited edition of 50 copies in Arab numb...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Bling 15 - FRee delivery- Yellow print, Color abstract, Square brown photo
Bling 15 - FRee delivery- Yellow print, Color abstract, Square brown photo

Bling 15 - FRee delivery- Yellow print, Color abstract, Square brown photo

By Michael Banks

Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona

'Bling 15' - Limited edition pigment print Limited Editions of 5 Signed + numbered by artist, with certificate of authenticity This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber based pape...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment

Untitled 0472: still life photograph w/ gray vessels & abstract shadow patterns
Untitled 0472: still life photograph w/ gray vessels & abstract shadow patterns

Untitled 0472: still life photograph w/ gray vessels & abstract shadow patterns

By Paul Cava

Located in Bryn Mawr, PA

This is an archival pigment print depicting an abstracted still life printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 gsm by artist Paul Cava. It is from the "Table Top" series, which is one of t...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

'Lily in Charcoal no.3' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10
'Lily in Charcoal no.3' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

'Lily in Charcoal no.3' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

'Lily in Charcoal no.3' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal No.3' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a live lily emerging from a gash....

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

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

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

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

Enlighten 1 - Signed limited edition abstract pigment print, Large Format black
Enlighten 1 - Signed limited edition abstract pigment print, Large Format black

Enlighten 1 - Signed limited edition abstract pigment print, Large Format black

By Michael Banks

Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona

Enlighten 1 - Large scale photograph by Michael Banks -Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo RAG Baryta 315 gsm ) Limited Editions of 5 , signed + number...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Color, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Di...

Finding the Universe in Oaxaca, Bizalu (Eye)

Finding the Universe in Oaxaca, Bizalu (Eye)

By Gary Goldberg

Located in San Francisco, CA

Gary Goldberg Finding the Universe in Oaxaca, Bizalu (Eye), 2018 Archival pigmented print 19 x 13 in Edition of 10 Gary Goldberg has been photographing the unique qualities of Oaxac...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Blue on Light Blue with Dancing Angels

Blue on Light Blue with Dancing Angels

By Gary Goldberg

Located in San Francisco, CA

Gary Goldberg Blue on Light Blue with Dancing Angels, 2021 Archival pigmented print 19 x 13 in Edition of 10 Gary Goldberg has been photographing the unique qualities of Oaxaca City...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-6 Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves
28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-6 Cyanotype photograph of the ocean waves

28° 14' 34.127’’N, 114° 6' 44.679’’W-6 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

Man Ray, Electricite Rayograph, 1931, Framed Heliogravure
Man Ray, Electricite Rayograph, 1931, Framed Heliogravure

Man Ray, Electricite Rayograph, 1931, Framed Heliogravure

By Man Ray

Located in Barcelona, ES

Framed Rayograph Heliogravure by Man Ray for Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d'Electricite´, 1931. Printed in Heliogravure and signed in the negative. Limited to 500 copies. ...

Category

1930s Abstract Photography

Materials

Paper

'Black Hellebore No.5' black and white botanical film photograph, edition of 20

'Black Hellebore No.5' black and white botanical film photograph, edition of 20

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

Black Hellebore No.5 reflects on openness and retreat through two flowers, one facing outward and one bowed. Made by Ugnė Pouwell on large format 4 × 5 film and printed on Hahnemühle...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

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

'Lily in Charcoal No.5' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10
'Lily in Charcoal No.5' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

'Lily in Charcoal No.5' abstract expressionism photography edition of 10

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

'Lily in Charcoal No.5' 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 ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

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

Florist, Mandala - Collage of Dead Flowers - Colour Print with Black Background
Florist, Mandala - Collage of Dead Flowers - Colour Print with Black Background

Florist, Mandala - Collage of Dead Flowers - Colour Print with Black Background

By George McLeod

Located in London, GB

‘Florist’ originally called ‘dead flowers’, was created using the flowers from my girlfriends ‘Zoom’ backgrounds over the space of several months. Usually scanned the moment she considered them to be wilted. About the series: " 'Detritus' series was born from the twin frustrations of lockdown halting all planned projects, yet litter still somehow being dropped in abundance on my street. With no idea of the final output, or indeed the hygiene implications, I started to collect, scan, and record what I found. When I realised these colourful misshapen objects could be turned into something beautiful, the frustrations left me and I began looking for other sources of Detritus. Florist, 2020 Series: Detritus Archival Pigment Print, Mounted on Dibond in custom made Frame; with Black Stained Oak and antireflective UV protective museum standard Art Glass Print 45 x 45 cm / Framed: 50 x 50 cm/ 19.6 x 19.6 inches approx. Edition of 8 + 2AP About the Artist George McLeod...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment

Looking Glass

Susie LoucksLooking Glass, 2012

$300Sale Price|20% Off

Looking Glass

By Susie Loucks

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Time lapse photograph

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink

Ink 1 - Signed limited edition abstract art print, Large format contemporary
Ink 1 - Signed limited edition abstract art print, Large format contemporary

Ink 1 - Signed limited edition abstract art print, Large format contemporary

By Michael Banks

Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona

Ink 1 - Large scale photograph by Michael Banks Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo RAG Baryta 315 gsm ) Limited Editions of 5 , signed + numbered by ar...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment, Photographic P...

Abstract Ceiling, Cambria Hotel, Detroit

Abstract Ceiling, Cambria Hotel, Detroit

By Deborah Benedic

Located in Chesterfield, MI

Uniquely decorated with abstract designs throughout, The Cambria Hotel in Detroit is one of the most tastefully decorated in the country. Formerly WWJ Radio Station, it is now a pop...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Diamond 11 - Signed limited edition abstract print, square photo, contemporary
Diamond 11 - Signed limited edition abstract print, square photo, contemporary

Diamond 11 - Signed limited edition abstract print, square photo, contemporary

By Michael Banks

Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona

Diamond 11 - Limited edition pigment print Limited Editions of 5, unframed Signed + numbered by artist, with certificate of authenticity This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber ...

Category

2010s Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Black and White, Giclée, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment

Ralph Gibson, Signed Art Edition No. 101–200 ‘Untitled, Sardegna 1980’ & Book
Ralph Gibson, Signed Art Edition No. 101–200 ‘Untitled, Sardegna 1980’ & Book

Ralph Gibson, Signed Art Edition No. 101–200 ‘Untitled, Sardegna 1980’ & Book

By Ralph Gibson

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Limited Art Edition (No. 101–200), with the gelatin silver print Untitled (Sardegna, 1980), numbered and signed by Ralph Gibson. Edition of 100 Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in., in ...

Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

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.