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Conceptual Photography

CONCEPTUAL STYLE

In 1967, artist Sol LeWitt wrote that in “Conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” He was giving a name to an art movement that had emerged in the 1960s in which artists were less focused on their medium being something traditionally “artistic” and instead engaged in using any object, movement, form, action or place to express an idea.

LeWitt’s work was featured alongside an assemblage of notes, drawings and outlines by other artists in “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” a groundbreaking show at New York City’s School of Visual Arts curated by Mel Bochner, another leading exponent of Conceptualism. Building on radical 20th-century statements, like Fountain (1917) by French artist Marcel Duchamp, Conceptual artists around Europe and North and South America were not interested in the commercial art scene and rather directly challenged its systems and values.

Stretching into the 1970s, this movement has also been called Post-Object art and Dematerialized art. Conceptual art reflected a larger era of social and political upheaval. Pieces associated with the style range from Roelof Louw’s Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) (1967) — a work of installation art that sees fresh oranges stacked into a pyramid from which visitors are allowed to take one orange away — to On Kawara’s “Today” series, which saw the Japanese artist carefully painting a date in white acrylic on canvases consisting of a single color from 1966 to his death in 2014. Artists such as Ed Ruscha, who created the Twentysix Gasoline Stations book — a collection of photos of gas stations that is widely said to be the first modern artists’ book — made photography a major platform for Conceptual art, as did Bruce Nauman, who burned one of Ruscha's books and then photographed it for his own.

Conceptual art’s legacy of questioning artistic authorship, ownership and how to work with complex ideas of space and time had a significant influence on the decades of culture that followed, and it continues to inform art today.

The collection of Conceptual photography, paintings and sculptures on 1stDibs includes artworks by John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth and others.

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Style: Conceptual
Untitled (Orgy), Digital Pigment Print by Peter Coffin
By Peter Coffin
Located in Long Island City, NY
A digital c-print by Peter Coffin. A conceptual work featuring a diptych of two pages from open books referring to the degrees of separation within the relationship between artist, a...
Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Digital Pigment

Jeff Becker, Slurry Pentagon, 2016, Inkjet Print
Located in Darien, CT
Using his inkjet printer as a paintbrush, Jeff Becker creates watercolor-like imagery without Photoshop or filters. He refers to this process of dynamic chemical processes as The Sl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Inkjet

THROUGH THE VEIL OF TIME OR A DREAM
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Edition of 10 C-Print 17.875 x 17.875 Framed in natural wood Michelle Buhler has a BFA from the University of Utah. She has studied photography at the International Center of Photography and cinematography at New York University. She currently lives in Idaho. Education: New York University, Cinematography, New York, New York, 2011 International Center of Photography, Advanced Color Photorgraphy with Liz Deschenes, New York City, 2007 University of Utah, BFA Photography, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003 Articles and Awards 2012 Honorable Mention in the 2012 First Edition of Hey Hot Shot, Jen Bekman Gallery, NYC 2012 The Stone Mind, Open House: Art on Iowa by Justin Roth 2003 Red Magazine...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

A HEAVY AND DULL DETONATION SHOOK THE GROUND
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Edition of 10 C-Print 17.875 x 17.875 Framed in natural wood Michelle Buhler has a BFA from the University of Utah. She has studied photography at the International Center of Photography and cinematography at New York University. She currently lives in Idaho. Education: New York University, Cinematography, New York, New York, 2011 International Center of Photography, Advanced Color Photorgraphy with Liz Deschenes, New York City, 2007 University of Utah, BFA Photography, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003 Articles and Awards 2012 Honorable Mention in the 2012 First Edition of Hey Hot Shot, Jen Bekman Gallery, NYC 2012 The Stone Mind, Open House: Art on Iowa by Justin Roth 2003 Red Magazine...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

Mao-Wei Wei
Located in Phoenix, AZ
inkjet on paper edition 4 of 15 For over thirty years Dominique Blain has examined and addressed the links between relationships of domination, such as racism, mass indoctrinatio...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Inkjet

JUST THE OVERWHELMING PRESENCE
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Edition of 10 C-Print 17.875 x 17.875 Framed in natural wood Michelle Buhler has a BFA from the University of Utah. She has studied photography at the International Center of Photography and cinematography at New York University. She currently lives in Idaho. Education: New York University, Cinematography, New York, New York, 2011 International Center of Photography, Advanced Color Photorgraphy with Liz Deschenes, New York City, 2007 University of Utah, BFA Photography, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003 Articles and Awards 2012 Honorable Mention in the 2012 First Edition of Hey Hot Shot, Jen Bekman Gallery, NYC 2012 The Stone Mind, Open House: Art on Iowa by Justin Roth 2003 Red Magazine...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

The Great Wave
Located in New York, NY
The Great Wave, 2014-2015 Archival Pigment Print on Watercolor Paper Paper size 34 x 48 inches / 86 x 122 cm Edition of 3 +1 Ap Vanishing Poin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

THIS COULD BE A JUNGLE A MILLION YEARS AGO
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Edition of 10 C-Print 17.875 x 17.875 Framed in natural wood Michelle Buhler has a BFA from the University of Utah. She has studied photography at the International Center of Photography and cinematography at New York University. She currently lives in Idaho. Education: New York University, Cinematography, New York, New York, 2011 International Center of Photography, Advanced Color Photorgraphy with Liz Deschenes, New York City, 2007 University of Utah, BFA Photography, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003 Articles and Awards 2012 Honorable Mention in the 2012 First Edition of Hey Hot Shot, Jen Bekman Gallery, NYC 2012 The Stone Mind, Open House: Art on Iowa by Justin Roth 2003 Red Magazine...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

Biblioteca del Duca D'Aumale Terrasini
Located in New York, NY
The photographer is based in Florence, and is fascinated how his architectural subject matter allows him to control the composition of his image. For many years he has photographed ...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

Bulb
Located in New York, NY
Walker Pickering is an artist and educator based in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he has taught photography sinc...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

The Long Room V, Trinity College Library, Dublin Ireland
Located in Los Angeles, CA
40 x 60 inches ed. of 10 $6000 50 x 75 inches ed. of 7 $9000 60 x 90 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner, with his large format photograph...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Surreal photography, pop art, blue, water and tide, imagination.
Located in Carballo, ES
The photograph measures 50 x 50 cm. It is printed on matte Hahnehmühle paper. The dimension of time for María Moldes (Pontevedra, 1974) is used as a weapon of resistance against wha...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Terry O'Neill - Roger Moore as James Bond, Photography 1970, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
British actor Roger Moore poses with a gun as James Bond. Publicity shot from 1973, for his first Bond movie: Live and Let Die. It's the only time Bond used ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Wales. Architectural photo of a pool in a hotel by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints
Located in London, GB
Somewhere to Swim project by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints. "Somewhere to Swim," an internationally acclaimed photography project by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints, exhibited in Barcelona in 2...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Blue night sky in France. Large photo by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints
Located in London, GB
This stunning artwork is part of the Zero F*cks Given project, which was showcased at the Photobastei gallery in Zurich, Switzerland in 2019. It is expertly printed in large format a...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Colourful night in Swiss Alps. Large photograph by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints
Located in London, GB
This stunning artwork is part of the Zero F*cks Given project, which was showcased at the Photobastei gallery in Zurich, Switzerland in 2019. It is expertly printed in large format a...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Color night photo of Milky Way by Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints (pink, blue, green)
Located in London, GB
This stunning artwork is part of the Zero F*cks Given project, which was showcased at the Photobastei gallery in Zurich, Switzerland in 2019. It is expertly printed in large format a...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Niemeyer Brazil C
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Candida Höfer is a truly distinctive and influential late 20th-century photographer. As a student of Bernd and Hilla Becher and a member of the Dusseldorf School, Höfer established ...
Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Photography

Materials

C Print

Totem of Unmeasurable Memory, 1995 Assemblage of 7 silver gelatin prints
By Lewis Koch
Located in Surfside, FL
Totem of Unmeasurable Memory, 1995 Assemblage of 7 vintage silver gelatin prints Lewis Koch lives in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. After completing undergradu...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Constructivism - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Signed and numbered on label affixed to reverse of mount Pigment print 44 x 57 1/3 inches Edition of 4 The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfits and props, demonstrate a wide ran...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Residential Beauty Series No.5 Illinois
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : David K. Pugh Title : Residential Beauty Series No.5 Illinois Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2019 David has been a photographer for 10 years. After having photo...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper

Residential Beauty Series No.3 Grimes, Iowa
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : David K. Pugh Title : Residential Beauty Series No.3 Grimes, Iowa Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2019 David has been a photographer for 10 years. After having p...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Pattern Series No.6
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : David K. Pugh Title : Pattern Series No.6 Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2019 David has been a photographer for 10 years. After having photographed a magnolia t...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Pattern Series No.4
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : David K. Pugh Title : Pattern Series No.4 Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2019 David has been a photographer for 10 years. After having photographed a magnolia t...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper

Residential Beauty Series No.8 Kansas City, MO
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : David K. Pugh Title : Residential Beauty Series No.8 Kansas City, MO Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2019 David has been a photographer for 10 years. After havin...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Do Not Go Quietly Into the Night (B&W)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : Gary Hodson Title : Do Not Go Quietly Into the Night (B&W) Materials : Archival Pigment Print Date : 2018 Dimensions : 13 x 19 in. Gary Hodson’s subject matter remains di...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Digital, Archival Pigment

7000 Oak Trees - Original Vintage Photo by Buby Durini - 1984 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
7000 Querce (7000 Oaks) is an original b/w photograph representing the indoor of the Marino Gallery (in Mignanelli Square, Rome) where Joseph Beuys' exhibition was held in the Eighty...
Category

1980s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Suffocating
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist: Rachel Lauren Title: Suffocating Date: 2019 Medium: Inkjet print Dimensions: 14 x 11 in. Photographer Rachel Lauren invites viewers to become more aware of the way natural beauty has been contorted, packed and sold as a cold, manufactured, cloned and empty product. Are women inherently beautiful, or do they require modifications? Are you seeing your uniquely created reflection through a distorted lens? By imposing a juxtaposition between real and fake through abstract portraiture, Lauren calls attention to these complex ideals in "Distorted Beauty". Lauren is currently an MFA candidate at UMKC and based in Colorado. Since the age of two, she has fostered a love for photography and traveling which have both shaped her understanding of the issues she addresses in her work. Contemporary photography, portrait photography, experimental portraiture, conceptual photography, Steve McCurry, Lisa Kristine...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Color, Inkjet, Photographic Paper

“Untitled” (from Body Series)
Located in Kansas City, MO
David Pugh “Untitled” (from Body Series), 2018 Year: 2019 Archival Inkjet Print on Museo Silver Rag Dimensions: 20 x 15 inches Unframed David Pugh’s photographic work tends to pull ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment, Archival Paper

Pawns - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Pawns - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and numbered on label affixed to reverse of mount Pigment print 44 x 34 inches From an edition of 7 The dogs, bewigged and bedeck...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Split Level
Located in London, GB
Signed and numbered on label affixed to reverse of mount Pigment print 44 x 34 inches From an edition of 7 + 2 APs
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Boy and His Boy - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Boy and His Boy - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Two unique colour Polaroid prints, printed 2002 24 x 20 inches each The dogs, bewigged and bede...
Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Breakout - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Breakout - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1995 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfits...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Presentation - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Presentation - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 2004 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with out...
Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Look There - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Look There - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1996 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfi...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Armed and Matching - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Armed and Matching - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1989 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked wi...
Category

1980s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Leggings - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Leggings - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Two unique colour Polaroid prints, printed 1998 24 x 20 inches each The dogs, bewigged and bedecked wi...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Illuminary - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Illuminary - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1993 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfi...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Left to Right - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Left to Right - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Three unique colour Polaroid prints, printed 1989 24 x 20 inches each The dogs, bewigged and bede...
Category

1980s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Dressed from Below - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Dressed from Below - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Two unique colour Polaroid prints, printed 1994 24 x 20 inches each The dogs, bewigged and b...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Towelling - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Towelling - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1993 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfit...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Climber - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Climber - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1991 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfits ...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Side Views - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Side Views - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique black and white Polaroid print, printed 1998 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked w...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Posed on Pedestal - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Posed on Pedestal - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1994 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked wit...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Primary Trio - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Primary Trio - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1991 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with out...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Chair Piece - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
Chair Piece - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1991 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outf...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

3 Out of Four - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
3 Out of Four - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1988 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with ou...
Category

1980s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

My Coo Kie - William Wegman (Colour Photography)
Located in London, GB
My Coo Kie - William Wegman (Colour Photography) Signed and inscribed with title Unique colour Polaroid print, printed 1991 24 x 20 inches The dogs, bewigged and bedecked with outfi...
Category

1990s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Polaroid

Theater, or Eye
Located in New York, NY
Sofia Borges Theater, or Eye, 2014 Pigment print on cotton paper mounted on Sintra Edition 1 of 5 + 1 AP Size 1: 47 ¼ x 74 inches (120 x 188 cm) Size 2: 150 x 235 cm Edition of 3 + 1 AP (⅓ printed in Brazil) Sofia Borges makes haunting, large-format photographs of archival objects and illustrations such as museum dioramas, taxidermy animals, Cold War-era ephemera, and archaic medical drawings...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

It was finally my day! 2015
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Jennifer Greenburg challenges social norms and the nature of vernacular photographs in her series Revising History. Interjecting herself in mid-century images from the 1940’s – 60’s,...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Two years later, I was drunk enough to sing at the St. Pat's party. 2014
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Jennifer Greenburg challenges social norms and the nature of vernacular photographs in her series Revising History. Interjecting herself in mid-century images from the 1940’s – 60’s,...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Napping with Floyd, 2011
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Jennifer Greenburg challenges social norms and the nature of vernacular photographs in her series Revising History. Interjecting herself in mid-century images from the 1940’s – 60’s,...
Category

2010s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Fragile
Located in New Orleans, LA
As a conceptual artist, Joe Zammit-Lucia works with a photographic medium to explore issues within the human-animal relationship. He is one of the world’s leading animal portrait art...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Joseph Beuys & Nam June Paik, Sogetsu Hall Tokyo, Japan
Located in New York, NY
Joseph Beuys & Nam June Paik, Sogetsu Hall Tokyo, Japan, 1982 Vintage silver gelatin print 11 × 14 in 27.9 × 35.6 cm signed
Category

1980s Conceptual Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE #112, South Africa 2014
Located in Santa Monica, CA
This large format, color-photograph belongs to Jay Mark Johnson's wave series - the images from which depict the rhythmic cycling and recycling of oceanfront waves as recorded on remote coastlines around the world--in Hawaii, Florida, California, the Caribbean, Great Britain, Australia and South Africa. These artworks belong to the artist’s ongoing inquiry into the possibilities for timeline photography. For this decades-long project Johnson employs an unconventional camera system to produce seamless delineated renderings of familiar events as they occur over time. The results present an altered view of our surroundings. Artworks from Johnson’s timeline series have been exhibited extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe. They can be found in the permanent collections of the Bundestag (German Parliament) in Berlin, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie at Karlsruhe, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Langen Foundation, Hombroich, Germany, the Peter Klein...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Photography

Materials

Aluminum

Conceptual photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Conceptual 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, green, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Reinhard Görner, Jose Sierra, xulong zhang, and Gianfranco Pezzot. Frequently made by artists working with C Print, and Paper and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Conceptual photography, so small editions measuring 1 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 $45 and tops out at $46,412, while the average work sells for $3,512.

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