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.
to
240
348
550
322
329
1,570
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
217
2,899
2
1
4
5
16
69
37
65
44,235
15,151
3,119
2,804
1,328
799
605
279
216
126
116
97
43
26
1,388
1,196
493
261
235
216
122
118
90
82
82
76
76
71
69
64
63
56
51
50
47
40
37
1,414
1,237
952
644
622
325
318
129
93
88
244
438
1,683
1,170
Style: Abstract
#76, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#67, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#121, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#118, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Songs For Dead Heroes # 6 soft color floral abstract landscape photo composition
Located in New York, NY
This abstract floral landscape photography has a dramatic sense of composition which recalls the careful arrangements of Dutch and Flemish still life paintings from the 17-18 century...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Digital Pigment
#75, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#47, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Lumina # 202204 (Abstract Photography)
By Paul Snell
Located in London, GB
Lumina # 202204 (Abstract Photography)
Chromogenic Print Face-mounted 4.5mm Matte Plexiglas Box - Unframed.
Backed with Dibond and C-channel hanging system + keyhole option.
Editi...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, C Print
EM-78 Vajra 3 (Abstract new media)
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photography: light. Each work in ...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
#182, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
NY # 201801
By Paul Snell
Located in London, GB
Chromogenic Print Face-mounted 4.5mm Plexiglas - Unframed.
Backed with Dibond and C-channel hanging system + keyhole option.
Available on request 4-6 week turnaround.
Edition: 3/3...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, C Print
$5,263 Sale Price
20% Off
"Acacia ARM5" Abstract Photography 60" x 48" in Edition 1/4 by Giuliano Bekor
Located in Culver City, CA
"Acacia ARM5" Abstract Photography 60" x 48" in Edition 1/4 by Giuliano Bekor
Acacia series
Title of artwork: ARM5
Year: 2020
Printed on a high-quality museum-grade archival photo p...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Paper
#180, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#240, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#167, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#261, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#260, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#102, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#212, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#258, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#10, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#230, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Manhattan photograph 'New York Walk' 1984 (1980s New York street photography)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
"New York Walk " by Fernando Natalici:
Manhattan 1984. The simplicity & grace of the anonymous passer-by rendered timeless by the snap of the camera. A window into a street photogra...
Category
1980s Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
EM-3 Vajrayogini (Abstract Photography)
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
EM-3 Vajrayogini (Abstract Photography)
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photography: light. Each work in the series began its evolution as a scanned image of a Buddhist thangka—a spiritual painting of a Buddhist deity—which was then blurred and stretched until all that remained was a distilled image of color and form. These reduced images were then printed onto canvases, resulting in what Kane refers to as elemental “representations of the light bodies of the Buddhas.”
Bill Kane...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
$6,908 Sale Price
13% Off
Sundance - Mountain Skiing Black & White Art Photography
Located in Zürich, CH
Hailing from the picturesque city of Zaragoza, nestled near the Pyrenees, Carlos Blanchard's journey into the realm of photography was influenced by the rich tapestry of his upbringi...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Black and White
$1,284 Sale Price
20% Off
EM-57 White Tara (Abstract new media)
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
EM-57 White Tara (Abstract new media)
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspe...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
End Point (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
End Point (Abstract photography)
Silver Gelatin Print - Unframed.
Tenesh Webber is a Canadian artist who works in abstract black and white photography. She lives and works in the N...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
EM-36 Padmasambhara 2
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
EM-36 Padmasambhara 2
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photograph...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
EM-78 Vajra 3 (Abstract new media)
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
EM-78 Vajra 3 (Abstract new media)
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect ...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
$6,908 Sale Price
13% Off
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
Boat 3 - Signed limited edition still life print, Large format contemporary Blue
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Boat 3
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, Digital, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigme...
Passing Through 2 (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
Passing Through 2 (Abstract photography)
Silver Gelatin Print - Unframed.
Tenesh Webber is a Canadian artist who works in abstract black and white photography. She lives and works ...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
EM-57 White Tara (Abstract new media)
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
EM-57 White Tara (Abstract new media)
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photography: light. Each work in the series began its evolution as a scanned image of a Buddhist thangka—a spiritual painting of a Buddhist deity—which was then blurred and stretched until all that remained was a distilled image of color and form. These reduced images were then printed onto canvases, resulting in what Kane refers to as elemental “representations of the light bodies of the Buddhas.”
Bill Kane...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
EM-36 Padmasambhara 2
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photography: light. Each work in ...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
#136, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#116, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#111, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#261, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
2 Large Format Abstract Unique Color Photo Polaroid Pulls Ellen Carey Photograph
By Ellen Carey
Located in Surfside, FL
Ellen Carey
Unique pair of photo art Polaroid panels
Untitled, Red Moire Positive (Polaroid Pulls)
Dimensions: H 75" x W 25.5" x D 2"
From a series...
Category
1980s Abstract Photography
Materials
Polaroid
EM-12 Red Tara
By Bill Kane
Located in London, GB
Pigment on canvas - Unframed.
Edition of 3.
The Emanations series is an attempt to express the spiritual potential of the most essential aspect of photography: light. Each work in ...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
Untitled 12 and 18, Diptych. From The While You Are Surfing Series
By Arslan Sükan
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The physical gestures that make up our interactions with touch-screen personal devices are intensely intimate, yet abstract signatures of our everyday browsing and messaging patterns...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Inkjet, Archival Pigment
Summer Sea - Unique Abstract Colour Print, Custom Framed
Located in London, GB
“Colour gives me a new way of working - in complete darkness. It seems contradictory that to produce colour you need to work in the dark. You blindly feel your way around the paper w...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Color, C Print, Wood, Glass
Shadows and Marbles, Cushing, ME Vintage Print
Located in Carmel, CA
Gelatin Silver Print, signed, titled, and dated on verso in pencil.
Great Condition.
Matted to 16x20"
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
$2,000 Sale Price
33% Off
Round Falls, Finger Lakes, NY
Located in East Hampton, NY
Black and white photo of the waterfall at Round Falls, Finger Lakes, NY
Size: 21” x 14”
Edition: 1/5
Medium: Archival Pigment Print
Printed to Order
Also available in 20"x30"
Gerr...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Beach II, Nude Beach, Sandbar. Areal Landscape beach 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment
"Railroad Cars, Atlanta, Georgia X 36" - Composite Image Photography - Cubism
By Peter Essick
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Railroad Cars, Atlanta, Georgia X 36" is an abstract photograph with hues of grey, green, red and blue.
Peter Essick is a photographer, author, speaker, instructor, and drone pilot...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Large format vintage multiple exposure male nude, signed by Jack Mitchell
Located in Senoia, GA
16 x 20" vintage silver gelatin photograph, multiple exposure male nude. Titled, numbered, dated, and signed by Jack Mitchell on the recto. Comes directly from the Jack Mitchell Arch...
Category
1990s Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
$1,200 Sale Price
20% Off
#42, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
#43, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Untitled (Signal Box, Basel)
By Roland Fischer
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original Aluminum backed C-print by Roland Richer created in 2001.
The work was acquired from Von Lintel Gallery in May of 2002.
(71 x 49 1/4 inches)
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Photography
Materials
Aluminum
#70, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Gaia 90 - Black and White Diptych View of Clouds and Skyscape above Valley
Located in Brighton, GB
Gaia 90 - Black and White Diptych View of Clouds and Skyscape above Valley by Jaume Llorens Bach
Gaia 90 is a 18cm x 24cm Black and White Photographic print on Premio Kozo 180gsm Wh...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Black and White, Digital, Photographic Paper
The Peacock of Coconut Grove, Animal Photography
By Robert Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Peacocks roam freely in the streets around Coconut Grove in Miami. Arguably, they are one of nature's most exquisite works of art. They are adorned wit...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment
Gaia 125 - Natural Landscape Diptych Photograph Spanish Countryside Environment
Located in Brighton, GB
Gaia 125 - Natural Landscape Diptych Photograph Spanish Countryside Environment by Jaume Llorens Bach
Gaia 125 is a 18cm x 24cm Black and White Photographic print on Premio Kozo 180...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Digital, Black and White
#213, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Water Reflection, Abstract Color Photography by Geoffrey Baris, Blue
Located in New York, NY
Water Reflection, Abstract Color Photography by Geoffrey Baris
Archival pigment print on museum fine art paper
Edition of 7
Includes certificate of authenticity. Signed and numbered...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Color, Archival Pigment
#211, 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...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Pigment
Photographs 1960–2024. Book & signed Gelatin silver print ‘Sardegna, 1980'
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
Breathe # 202501 (Abstract Photography)
By Paul Snell
Located in London, GB
Edition: 1/3
Work can be hung with either the WallCleat system (support bar supplied) or the screw-eye system if it needs support from wire or above.
Paul Snell is an Australian ar...
Category
2010s Abstract Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, C Print
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.