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Abstract Prints For Sale
Monumental Original Surrealist Signed Color lithograph "Puzzle of Life" 1974 COA
Located in Portland, OR
A very rare "Hors de Commerce", monumental signed color lithograph by the surrealist Spanish genius Salvador Dali (1904-1989), titled "The Puzzle of Life", 1974. This artwork is a gu...
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Prints

Materials

Color

Composition au verre a pied (Composition with stemmed glass)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Composition au verre a pied (Composition with stemmed glass) Lithograph (Ink drawing, pen and brush transferred to lithograph stone) , 1947 Unsigned Editi...
Category

1940s Cubist Abstract Prints

Materials

Ink, Lithograph

Roy IV.
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
A Hahnemuehle Fine Art Print, attributed to Roy Lichtenstein. Editioned 25.
Category

Mid-20th Century Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Photographic Paper, Color, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment

Roy IV.
Roy IV.
Sponsored
Praise, Rubber Stamp Portfolio, Agnes Martin
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Printer’s ink from rubber stamp on vélin Dalton natural bond paper. Paper Size: 8 x 8 inches. Inscription: Unsigned, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Rubber Stamp Portfolio, 1977. P...
Category

1970s Minimalist Abstract Prints

Materials

Printer's Ink

Science is Truth Found Out (Red), Limited 1st Edition signed silk twill scarf
Located in New York, NY
Ed Ruscha Science is Truth Found Out (Red) Limited Edition scarf , held in bespoke box, 2022 Limited Edition 100% silk twill scarf, bearing Ruscha's authorized signature on both the ...
Category

2010s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Cotton, Silk, Mixed Media, Screen

"Louisiana Museum of Modern Art LOVE" Vintage Pop Art 1972 Framed Show Poster
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American pop art show poster. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed . Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.
Category

1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Paper, Screen

Ezust
Located in Paris, FR
Silksreen, 1966 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 147/150 Publisher : Denise Renè, Paris Printer : Ateliers Arcay Catalog : [Benavides 57] 83.00 cm. x 75.00 cm. 32.68 ...
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Silk

Miró, Composition (Mourlot 238; Cramer 39) (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From volume, Joan Miro by Jacques Prévert and Georges R...
Category

1950s Surrealist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Le Lézard Aux Plumes D'or: Plate I (Mourlot 803; Cramer 148), Joan Miró
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Joan Miro (1893-1983) Title: Le Lézard Aux Plumes D'or: Plate I (Mourlot 803; Cramer 148) Year: 1971 Edition: H.C.; 195, plus proofs Inscription: Signed and inscribed ‘H.C.’ ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled, 2025
Located in New York, NY
Marlon Mullen (b. 1963, Richmond, CA) has been painting at NIAD Art Center, a progressive studio for artists with developmental disabilities since 1986. Mullen draws his inspiration ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Pigment

Miró, Composition (Cramer 112; Mourlot 439-442), Derrière le miroir (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, Derrière le miroir, N° 164-165, 1967. Published by Aimé Maeght, Éd...
Category

1960s Surrealist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Hand Drawn-Painted X-L One Off Edition-Constant Gardener-British Awarded Artist
Located in London, GB
This is an X-large hand drawn with original charcoal and hand painted with original oil and gesso paint; it is the No 1 of the only 10 Limited Editions; the colours of the painting ...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Paper, Giclée, Gesso, Charcoal, Oil, Acrylic

Drift Apart, Infinity Elipse in Blue Tones, Horizontal Diptych, Minimalist Style
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern minimalist shapes. "Drift Apart" it's made by layering paper cutouts and diff...
Category

2010s Post-Minimalist Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Monotype

Joan Miró - MARAVILLAS CON VARIACIONES... Lithograph Contemporary Art Abstract
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Joan Miró - Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró XV Date of creation: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Gvarro paper Edition: 1500 Size: 49,5 x 71 cm Condition: In ver...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Cinésias et Myrrhine (Bloch 267-272; Cramer 24), Lysistrata, Pablo Picasso
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Etching on vélin de Rives BFK paper. Paper Size: 11.5 x 9 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Lysistrata, 1934. Published by The Limited E...
Category

1930s Cubist Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Verde y Amarillo (Green and Yellow). Folder of 3 lithographs. Edition 4 of 4
Located in Miami, FL
Folder of three lithographs by Carmen Herrera published in an edition of twenty, plus eight artist's proof and four printer's proof. Each print is signed "Carmen Herrera" in the lowe...
Category

2010s Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Galerie Maeght Murales et Peintures
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Galerie Maeght Murales et Peintures Color lithograph poster, 1961 Unsigned as issued Large edition Published by Maeght Editeur Imprimeur Reference #13 from J. Corredor-Matheos, "Miro's Posters', 1980 Condition: Framed Colors fresh Image/sheet size: 25 x 19 inches Frame size: 34 x 27...
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Louise Bourgeois, Je t'aime - Limited Edition Porcelain Plate, Abstract Art
Located in Hamburg, DE
Louise Bourgeois (French-American, 1911-2010) Je t'aime, 2005/2023 Medium: Fine bone china plate Dimensions: 26.7 diameter (10.5 in) Edition of 250: Not signed, not numbered (Printed...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Porcelain

Joan Miró - MARAVILLAS CON VARIACIONES... Lithograph Contemporary Art Abstract
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Joan Miró - Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró XVIII Date of creation: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Gvarro paper Edition: 1500 Size: 49,5 x 35,5 cm Observations...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Composition, Heart of Darkness, Sean Scully
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Etching in colors on vélin de Lana Royal paper. Paper Size: 11.93 x 9.81 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Heart of Darkness, 1992. Publ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Mockney
Located in Manchester, GB
Werner Bronkhorst, Mockney, 2025 Giclée print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks 43 x 33 cm (16.9 x 13 in) ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Canvas

Seascape XVIII - Diptych - abstract photograph of water color cloud horizon
Located in San Francisco, CA
large format abstract photograph of water color clouds and horizon from a series of photographic works capturing the sea blue color palette of the ocean SEASCAPE XVIII Diptych by F...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment

Kelly, Composition (Axsom I-a, page 176), Derrière le miroir (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered. Good condition. Notes: From Derrière le miroir, N° 110, published by Aimé Maeght, Éditeur, Paris; printed by Éditions...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Urban Curves and Forms, Abstract Photogram Cyanotype in Blue Tones and White
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-...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Emulsion, Watercolor, Monotype, Paper

Le Serment des femmes (Bloch 267-272; Cramer 24), Lysistrata, Pablo Picasso
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Etching on vélin de Rives BFK paper. Paper Size: 11.5 x 9 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Lysistrata, 1934. Published by The Limited E...
Category

1930s Cubist Abstract Prints

Materials

Etching

Hand painted Artist Proof-Magnolias-Weaver Series-British Awarded Artist #2 of 3
Located in London, GB
This stunning Proof is hand-painted by the artist , signed at front and on the back label too; each proof is 80% hand painted and gold gilded by Shizico Yi, because the nature of han...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gold Leaf

Paper Highways Uno
Located in New York, NY
ABOUT THIS ARTIST: Maria Piessis is a multimedia artist based in NYC and Paris. She is always playing somewhere in the endless universe where photography, art and design meet. She ha...
Category

2010s Abstract Prints

Materials

Photographic Paper

Reef - X large format photograph of sun reflections on a coral reef
Located in San Francisco, CA
large format photograph of sun reflections on a coral reef water surface, mesmerizing light reflections of glistening sunlight on turquoise aquamarine water surface, an homage to th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment

Joan Miró - MARAVILLAS CON VARIACIONES... Lithograph Contemporary Art Abstract
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Joan Miró - Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró VII Date of creation: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Gvarro paper Edition: 1500 Size: 49,5 x 71 cm Observations: Li...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Günter Fruhtrunk, Farbbewegungen - Portfolio of 6 Screenprints, Abstract Prints
Located in Hamburg, DE
Günter Fruhtrunk (German, 1923-1982) Farbbewegungen, 1970 Medium: Portfolio of 6 screenprints on cardstock Dimensions: each 65 x 90 cm Edition of 125: Each hand-signed and numbered i...
Category

20th Century Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Eve
Located in Vancouver, CA
Discover "EVE," a vivid and expressive screenprint by Helen Frankenthaler, exemplifying her abstract expressionist style. Created in 1995, this artist's proof (9/16) is beautifully r...
Category

1990s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Screen

Berkeley:Suite
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 35, sold unframed. This print is part of the ‘Berkeley:Suite’ series, which includes various layered combinations of McArthur Binion’s 1970s self-portrait, a snapshot of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Aquatint

Joost Schmidt-Bauhaus Exhibition-1995- Vintage
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Schmidt's 1923 poster for the Bauhaus Exhibition is celebrated for its innovative use of geometric forms and typographic elements, reflecting the school's avant-garde approach to des...
Category

Mid-20th Century Bauhaus Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset

Untitled #10, Minimalist lithograph on vellum transparency paper unsigned Framed
Located in New York, NY
Agnes Martin Untitled #10, 1990 Lithograph on vellum transparency paper Unsigned Limited Edition of 2500 Publisher: Nemela & Lenzen GmbH, Monchengladback & Stedelijk Museum, Amsterda...
Category

1990s Minimalist Abstract Prints

Materials

Vellum, Lithograph

Hand painted Artist's Proof #1 -Gladiolus Summer Bloom-British Awarded Artist
Located in London, GB
The sheer large size and artist hand-painted quality with vibrant colours bring impact to your space. This rare X-large artist's proof is 80% hand painted and highlighted with origin...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gesso, Oil, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Giclée

"Black Nude" Minimal Figurative Black and White Abstract Monotype Print
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white minimal monotype print of an abstracted female torso. The work is signed and titled by the artist in pencil along the front lower margin. Currently hung in a black fr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Monotype

Hand-Painted Large Artist Proof-Summer Night-British Awarded Artist-One Off
Located in London, GB
This is an unique one-off Artist's Proof , its outstanding hand-painted quality and its visual presence promises to bring huge impact to your space. The Large Artist's Proof “Summer ...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gesso, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Giclée

Original Op Art silkscreen poster, Homage to the Square: Galerie Melki, Paris
Located in New York, NY
Josef Albers original silkscreen poster, Homage to the Square: Galerie Melki, Paris, 1973 Offset lettering and silkscreen on heavy wove paper 33 × 22 inches Unframed, unsigned and un...
Category

1970s Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset, Screen

Kidio
Located in Paris, FR
Silksreen, 1969 Handsigned by the artist in pencil Edition : 120/250 Publisher : Fondation Vasarely, Château de Gordes Printer : Arcay, Paris Catalog : Benavides 165 72.00 cm. x 62....
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Silk

Hand-Painted Limited Edition #2-Lime Trees in Yellow-British Awarded Artist
Located in London, GB
This is a highly collatable ( only 10 made in exceptional giclée quality and with original hand-painted highlight by artist) in a very attractive price. Only ten Limited Edition, he...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gesso, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Giclée, Oil

Untitled, from Derriere le Miroir #173
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Alexander Calder Medium: Lithograph Title: Untitled from Derriere le Miroir #173 Portfolio: Derriere le Miroir #173 Year: 1968 Edition: Unnumbered Signed: Unsigned Sheet Size...
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Hand-Painted Large OneOff Artist Proof-Summer Night Bloom-British Awarded Artist
Located in London, GB
This stunning large One-Off Artist Proof is almost 80% handprinted by the artist Shizico Yi and its visual presence promises to bring huge impact to your space. The Proof is hand-pai...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gesso, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Giclée, Oil

Rear Window View, Purple Pastel Tones, Mauve Hue Abstract Diptych, Aurora Print
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...
Category

2010s Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print, Giclée, Archival Pigment

Joan Miró - MARAVILLAS CON VARIACIONES... Lithograph Contemporary Art Abstract
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Joan Miró - Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró XIX Date of creation: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Gvarro paper Edition: 1500 Size: 49,5 x 35,5 cm Observations: ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Calder, Sunburst, Braniff International Airways Flying Colors (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin d’Arches paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate, embossed with the official Braniff Flying Colors Collection seal, and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Not...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Miró, Papier collé, XXe Siècle (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, XXe Siècle, vol. n°6, 1956. Published and printed under the direct...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1970's Multicolor Psychedelic Figurative Abstract, Limited Edition Silkscreen
Located in Soquel, CA
Bright and colorful early 1970's limited edition screen print by J. Harrison, 1971. This intricately detailed abstract pattern undulates across the orange background with psychedelic...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Printer's Ink, Screen

Art 1981 Chicago Print (Signed and Numbered) 79/150
Located in Three Oaks, MI
This classic lithograph by renowned artist Robert Motherwell was created for the 1981 art Chicago show at Navy Pier. Motherwell was known for his bold forms and vibrant colors, makin...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

He Repeated the Letters of the Alphabet
Located in Missouri, MO
Sister Mary Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986) He Repeated the Letters of the Alphabet... Color Screenprint 22.5 x 38.75 inches Signed Lower Right Sister Mary Corita Kent, once the n...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Color, Screen

Matisse, Série E, var. 1 (Duthuit 9), Dessins, Thèmes et variations (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin pur fil paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Henri Matisse, Dessins, Thèmes et Variations, 19...
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Crossroads
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Alexander Calder Title: Crossroads (Carrefore) Medium: Lithograph in colors on Arches paper Date: 1971 Edition: 39/75 Sheet Size: 25 1/2" x 19 3/4" Signature: Hand signed and...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled, 1993-94, Vintage
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This is the original opening invitation card for Donald Judd: The Last Editions at Brooke Alexander Editions in 1994. The invitation takes the form of a postcard that opens up to rev...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset

Composition, World Federation of United Nations Associations, Alexander Calder
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph and original issue World Federation of United Nations Associations postage stamp on vélin paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate, as issued. Good condition. Notes: Publis...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

The Ballet Dancer - Pablo Picasso - lithograph, Framed
Located in London, GB
Pablo Picasso The Ballet Dancer, 1954 Lithograph on paper 32 x 24 cm - sheet 49.5 x 37 cm - Framed unknown edition size Printed signature Reference: Bloch 767 Frontispiece for the b...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Bopping at Birdland (Stomp Time) from the Jazz Series Signed Limited Edition
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Artist : Romare Bearden Title; Bopping at Birdland (stomp time) Year: 1979 Size: 33 ¼ x 24 inches Lithograph on Arches Paper Edition; Signed in pencil and marked 114/175 (Gelburd/Ros...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Eloge de L'air, no. 23
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This offset lithograph page from Derrière le Miroir No. 90-91 (1956) features a striking photograph of one of Eduardo Chillida’s outdoor sculptures in Saint-Paul de Vence, a location...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset

Rubin from Album Lapidaire - Op Art
Located in London, GB
Victor Vasarely (Hungarian/French, 1906-1997) Rubin, 1964 Screenprint in Colours from the Lapidaire portfolio signed in pencil lower right with blind stamp, numbered edition "41/15...
Category

1960s Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

H17-2 Civilisation Falling (from Civilisation)
Located in Bristol, GB
Giclée print on Cotton Smooth Rag Edition of 459 143 x 112 cm (56.3 x 44.1 in) Signed and numbered on the front Mint. Minor imperfections may appear due to the nature of the material...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Digital Pigment

Having a cigarette amongst Green and Blue-hand painted Large Canvas Edition #8
Located in London, GB
This special Limited canvas Edition ( #8 of 20 ) is made to the highest Museum archival quality , hand painted on Giclée printed Canvas Edition. It's hand painted finishing by the ar...
Category

2010s Impressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Archival Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars

Games of the XXIVth Olympiad Seoul 1988
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Poster created by Roy Lichtenstein for the 24th Olympics held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. Published by Lloyd Shin Gallery, Inc. Edition size unspecfied, some printed, none distrib...
Category

1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset

The Red Rooster
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1957 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 29/90 Publisher : Maeght (Paris) Printer : Mourlot (Paris) Catalog : [Mourlot 203, page 26] 38.00 cm. x 56.50 cm. 14...
Category

1950s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Tableau, Japanese, limited edition lithograph, black, white, red, signed, number
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Tableau, Japanese, limited edition lithograph, black, white, red, signed, number Shinoda's works have been collected by public galleries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum and Metropolitan Museum (all in New York City), the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the British Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Singapore Art Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. New York Times Obituary, March 3, 2021 by Margalit Fox, Alex Traub contributed reporting. Toko Shinoda, one of the foremost Japanese artists of the 20th century, whose work married the ancient serenity of calligraphy with the modernist urgency of Abstract Expressionism, died on Monday at a hospital in Tokyo. She was 107. Her death was announced by her gallerist in the United States. A painter and printmaker, Ms. Shinoda attained international renown at midcentury and remained sought after by major museums and galleries worldwide for more than five decades. Her work has been exhibited at, among other places, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the British Museum; and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Private collectors include the Japanese imperial family. Writing about a 1998 exhibition of Ms. Shinoda’s work at a London gallery, the British newspaper The Independent called it “elegant, minimal and very, very composed,” adding, “Her roots as a calligrapher are clear, as are her connections with American art of the 1950s, but she is quite obviously a major artist in her own right.” As a painter, Ms. Shinoda worked primarily in sumi ink, a solid form of ink, made from soot pressed into sticks, that has been used in Asia for centuries. Rubbed on a wet stone to release their pigment, the sticks yield a subtle ink that, because it is quickly imbibed by paper, is strikingly ephemeral. The sumi artist must make each brush stroke with all due deliberation, as the nature of the medium precludes the possibility of reworking even a single line. “The color of the ink which is produced by this method is a very delicate one,” Ms. Shinoda told The Business Times of Singapore in 2014. “It is thus necessary to finish one’s work very quickly. So the composition must be determined in my mind before I pick up the brush. Then, as they say, the painting just falls off the brush.” Ms. Shinoda painted almost entirely in gradations of black, with occasional sepias and filmy blues. The ink sticks she used had been made for the great sumi artists of the past, some as long as 500 years ago. Her line — fluid, elegant, impeccably placed — owed much to calligraphy. She had been rigorously trained in that discipline from the time she was a child, but she had begun to push against its confines when she was still very young. Deeply influenced by American Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, whose work she encountered when she lived in New York in the late 1950s, Ms. Shinoda shunned representation. “If I have a definite idea, why paint it?,” she asked in an interview with United Press International in 1980. “It’s already understood and accepted. A stand of bamboo is more beautiful than a painting could be. Mount Fuji is more striking than any possible imitation.” Spare and quietly powerful, making abundant use of white space, Ms. Shinoda’s paintings are done on traditional Chinese and Japanese papers, or on backgrounds of gold, silver or platinum leaf. Often asymmetrical, they can overlay a stark geometric shape with the barest calligraphic strokes. The combined effect appears to catch and hold something evanescent — “as elusive as the memory of a pleasant scent or the movement of wind,” as she said in a 1996 interview. Ms. Shinoda’s work also included lithographs; three-dimensional pieces of wood and other materials; and murals in public spaces, including a series made for the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo. The fifth of seven children of a prosperous family, Ms. Shinoda was born on March 28, 1913, in Dalian, in Manchuria, where her father, Raijiro, managed a tobacco plant. Her mother, Joko, was a homemaker. The family returned to Japan when she was a baby, settling in Gifu, midway between Kyoto and Tokyo. One of her father’s uncles, a sculptor and calligrapher, had been an official seal carver to the Meiji emperor. He conveyed his love of art and poetry to Toko’s father, who in turn passed it to Toko. “My upbringing was a very traditional one, with relatives living with my parents,” she said in the U.P.I. interview. “In a scholarly atmosphere, I grew up knowing I wanted to make these things, to be an artist.” She began studying calligraphy at 6, learning, hour by hour, impeccable mastery over line. But by the time she was a teenager, she had begun to seek an artistic outlet that she felt calligraphy, with its centuries-old conventions, could not afford. “I got tired of it and decided to try my own style,” Ms. Shinoda told Time magazine in 1983. “My father always scolded me for being naughty and departing from the traditional way, but I had to do it.” Moving to Tokyo as a young adult, Ms. Shinoda became celebrated throughout Japan as one of the country’s finest living calligraphers, at the time a signal honor for a woman. She had her first solo show in 1940, at a Tokyo gallery. During World War II, when she forsook the city for the countryside near Mount Fuji, she earned her living as a calligrapher, but by the mid-1940s she had started experimenting with abstraction. In 1954 she began to achieve renown outside Japan with her inclusion in an exhibition of Japanese calligraphy at MoMA. In 1956, she traveled to New York. At the time, unmarried Japanese women could obtain only three-month visas for travel abroad, but through zealous renewals, Ms. Shinoda managed to remain for two years. She met many of the titans of Abstract Expressionism there, and she became captivated by their work. “When I was in New York in the ’50s, I was often included in activities with those artists, people like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Motherwell and so forth,” she said in a 1998 interview with The Business Times. “They were very generous people, and I was often invited to visit their studios, where we would share ideas and opinions on our work. It was a great experience being together with people who shared common feelings.” During this period, Ms. Shinoda’s work was sold in the United States by Betty Parsons, the New York dealer who represented Pollock, Rothko and many of their contemporaries. Returning to Japan, Ms. Shinoda began to fuse calligraphy and the Expressionist aesthetic in earnest. The result was, in the words of The Plain Dealer of Cleveland in 1997, “an art of elegant simplicity and high drama.” Among Ms. Shinoda’s many honors, she was depicted, in 2016, on a Japanese postage stamp. She is the only Japanese artist to be so honored during her lifetime. No immediate family members survive. When she was quite young and determined to pursue a life making art, Ms. Shinoda made the decision to forgo the path that seemed foreordained for women of her generation. “I never married and have no children,” she told The Japan Times in 2017. “And I suppose that it sounds strange to think that my paintings are in place of them — of course they are not the same thing at all. But I do say, when paintings that I have made years ago are brought back into my consciousness, it seems like an old friend, or even a part of me, has come back to see me.” Works of a Woman's Hand Toko Shinoda bases new abstractions on ancient calligraphy Down a winding side street in the Aoyama district, western Tokyo. into a chunky white apartment building, then up in an elevator small enough to make a handful of Western passengers friends or enemies for life. At the end of a hall on the fourth floor, to the right, stands a plain brown door. To be admitted is to go through the looking glass. Sayonara today. Hello (Konichiwa) yesterday and tomorrow. Toko Shinoda, 70, lives and works here. She can be, when she chooses, on e of Japans foremost calligraphers, master of an intricate manner of writing that traces its lines back some 3,000 years to ancient China. She is also an avant-garde artist of international renown, whose abstract paintings and lithographs rest in museums around the world. These diverse talents do not seem to belong in the same epoch. Yet they have somehow converged in this diminutive woman who appears in her tiny foyer, offering slippers and ritual bows of greeting. She looks like someone too proper to chip a teacup, never mind revolutionize an old and hallowed art form She wears a blue and white kimono of her own design. Its patterns, she explains, are from Edo, meaning the period of the Tokugawa shoguns, before her city was renamed Tokyo in 1868. Her black hair is pulled back from her face, which is virtually free of lines and wrinkles. except for the gold-rimmed spectacles perched low on her nose (this visionary is apparently nearsighted). Shinoda could have stepped directly from a 19th century Meji print. Her surroundings convey a similar sense of old aesthetics, a retreat in the midst of a modern, frenetic city. The noise of the heavy traffic on a nearby elevated highway sounds at this height like distant surf. delicate bamboo shades filter the daylight. The color arrangement is restful: low ceilings of exposed wood, off-white walls, pastel rugs of blue, green and gray. It all feels so quintessentially Japanese that Shinoda’s opening remarks come as a surprise. She points out (through a translator) that she was not born in Japan at all but in Darien, Manchuria. Her father had been posted there to manage a tobacco company under the aegis of the occupying Japanese forces, which seized the region from Russia in 1905. She says,”People born in foreign places are very free in their thinking, not restricted” But since her family went back to Japan in 1915, when she was two, she could hardly remember much about a liberated childhood? She answers,”I think that if my mother had remained in Japan, she would have been an ordinary Japanese housewife. Going to Manchuria, she was able to assert her own personality, and that left its mark on me.” Evidently so. She wears her obi low on the hips, masculine style. The Porcelain aloofness she displays in photographs shatters in person. Her speech is forceful, her expression animated and her laugh both throaty and infectious. The hand she brings to her mouth to cover her amusement (a traditional female gesture of modesty) does not stand a chance. Her father also made a strong impression on the fifth of his seven children:”He came from a very old family, and he was quite strict in some ways and quite liberal in others.” He owned one of the first three bicycles ever imported to Japan and tinkered with it constantly He also decided that his little daughter would undergo rigorous training in a procrustean antiquity. “I was forced to study from age six on to learn calligraphy,” Shinoda says, The young girl dutifully memorized and copied the accepted models. In one sense, her father had pushed her in a promising direction, one of the few professional fields in Japan open to females. Included among the ancient terms that had evolved around calligraphy was onnade, or woman's writing. Heresy lay ahead. By the time she was 15, she had already been through nine years of intensive discipline, “I got tired of it and decided to try my own style. My father always scolded me for being naughty and departing from the traditional way, but I had to do it.” She produces a brush and a piece of paper to demonstrate the nature of her rebellion. “This is kawa, the accepted calligraphic character for river,” she says, deftly sketching three short vertical strokes. “But I wanted to use more than three lines to show the force of the river.” Her brush flows across the white page, leaving a recognizable river behind, also flowing.” The simple kawa in the traditional language was not enough for me. I wanted to find a new symbol to express the word river.” Her conviction grew that ink could convey the ineffable, the feeling, "as she says, of wind blowing softly.” Another demonstration. She goes to the sliding wooden door of an anteroom and disappears in back of it; the only trace of her is a triangular swatch of the right sleeve of her kimono, which she has arranged for that purpose. A realization dawns. The task of this artist is to paint that three sided pattern so that the invisible woman attached to it will be manifest to all viewers. Gen, painted especially for TIME, shows Shinoda’s theory in practice. She calls the work “my conception of Japan in visual terms.” A dark swath at the left, punctuated by red, stands for history. In the center sits a Chinese character gen, which means in the present or actuality. A blank pattern at the right suggests an unknown future. Once out of school, Shinoda struck off on a path significantly at odds with her culture. She recognized marriage for what it could mean to her career (“a restriction”) and decided against it. There was a living to be earned by doing traditional calligraphy:she used her free time to paint her variations. In 1940 a Tokyo gallery exhibited her work. (Fourteen years would pass before she got a second show.)War came, and bad times for nearly everyone, including the aspiring artist , who retreated to a rural area near Mount Fuji and traded her kimonos for eggs. In 1954 Shinoda’s work was included in a group exhibit at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art. Two years later, she overcame bureaucratic obstacles to visit the U.S.. Unmarried Japanese women are allowed visas for only three months, patiently applying for two-month extensions, one at a time, Shinoda managed to travel the country for two years. She pulls out a scrapbook from this period. Leafing through it, she suddenly raises a hand and touches her cheek:”How young I looked!” An inspection is called for. The woman in the grainy, yellowing newspaper photograph could easily be the on e sitting in this room. Told this, she nods and smiles. No translation necessary. Her sojourn in the U.S. proved to be crucial in the recognition and development of Shinoda’s art. Celebrities such as actor Charles Laughton and John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet bought her paintings and spread the good word. She also saw the works of the abstract expressionists, then the rage of the New York City art world, and realized that these Western artists, coming out of an utterly different tradition, were struggling toward the same goal that had obsessed her. Once she was back home, her work slowly made her famous. Although Shinoda has used many materials (fabric, stainless steel, ceramics, cement), brush and ink remain her principal means of expression. She had said, “As long as I am devoted to the creation of new forms, I can draw even with muddy water.” Fortunately, she does not have to. She points with evident pride to her ink stone, a velvety black slab of rock, with an indented basin, that is roughly a foot across and two feet long. It is more than 300 years old. Every working morning, Shinoda pours about a third of a pint of water into it, then selects an ink stick from her extensive collection, some dating back to China’s Ming dynasty. Pressing stick against stone, she begins rubbing. Slowly, the dried ink dissolves in the water and becomes ready for the brush. So two batches of sumi (India ink) are exactly alike; something old, something new. She uses color sparingly. Her clear preference is black and all its gradations. “In some paintings, sumi expresses blue better than blue.” It is time to go downstairs to the living quarters. A niece, divorced and her daughter,10,stay here with Shinoda; the artist who felt forced to renounce family and domesticity at the outset of her career seems welcome to it now. Sake is offered, poured into small cedar boxes and happily accepted. Hold carefully. Drink from a corner. Ambrosial. And just right for the surroundings and the hostess. A conservative renegade; a liberal traditionalist; a woman steeped in the male-dominated conventions that she consistently opposed. Her trail blazing accomplishments are analogous to Picasso’s. When she says goodbye, she bows. --by Paul Gray...
Category

1990s Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled Double Page Illustration for DLM
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Double Page Illustration for DLM Color lithograph, 1968 Unsigned as issued in DLM Published in Derriere le Miroir (Behind the Mirror), calle...
Category

1960s American Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Rupprecht Geiger, Green on Orange, 1969, Screenprint, Abstract Art, Signed Print
Located in Hamburg, DE
Rupprecht Geiger (German, 1908-2009) Orange on Yellow (from "Colour in the Round"), 1969 Medium: Silkscreen in colours, on thin cardboard Dimensions: 28 × 26 in (71 × 66 cm) Edition ...
Category

20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

DR-a /// Josef Albers Large Abstract Geometric Orange Bauhaus Color Field Theory
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Josef Albers (German-American, 1888-1976) Title: "DR-a" Series: DR (Denise René) *Monogram signed and dated by Albers in pencil lower right Year: 1968 Medium: Original Screen...
Category

1960s Abstract Geometric Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen, Board

Gerhard Richter - Seestück (bewölkt), 1969
Located in London, GB
Gerhard Richter Seestück (bewölkt), 1969-2023 Hybrid print in five colours on 260g Rives handmade paper 70 x 70 cm unsigned edition of 500 Accompanied by the publisher's certificate...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Digital, Screen

Bowers (Lauben) - P1, F24, I2, Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Josef Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
From the portfolio “Formulation: Articulation” created by Josef Albers in 1972. This monumental series consists of 127 original silkscreens that are a definitive survey of the artist...
Category

1970s Abstract Geometric Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Miró, Composition (Mourlot 872-881; Cramer 164), El tapís de Tarragona (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin Sarrió paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Tapís De Tarragona, il·lustracions, Joan Miró, 1972. Published by Sala Ga...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Hand-Gilded-Constant Gardener-Artist Proof-Rare X-Large-British Awarded Artist
Located in London, GB
This is an unique one-off Artist Proof, in a rare Extra-Large square format. A special Proof that only 3 have been made with hand gilded Gold Leaf. The outstanding hand-painted qua...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Gold Leaf

Flamenco : Spanish Dancer - Original lithograph (Mourlot 1972)
Located in Paris, IDF
Sonia DELAUNAY Flamenco : Spanish Dancer, 1972 Original lithograph (Printed in Mourlot workshop) Unsigned On heavy paper 31 x 24 cm (c. 12 x 10 inch) Edited by San Lazzaro in 1972 ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

USA : McGovern for McGovernment - Original Screen Print HANDSIGNED
Located in Paris, IDF
Alexander CALDER USA : McGovern for McGovernment, 1972 Original screenprint Handsigned in pencil Justified EA (artist proof) On BFK Rives Vellum 88 x 60 cm (c. 35 x 24 in) Authentic...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Kandinsky, Composition, Derrière le miroir (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From Derrière le miroir, N° 60-61, 1953. Published by A...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Composition in Black and Blue - Lithograph and stencil, 1956
Located in Paris, IDF
Pierre SOULAGES Composition in Black and Blue, 1956 Lithograph and stencil (Jacomet workshop) Unsigned On wove paper 31 x 24 cm (c. 12.2 x 9.4 inches) Edited by San Lazaro in 1956 ...
Category

1950s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

Bring Abstract Prints into Your Home Today

Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.

Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.

During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.

Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.

Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.

The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.

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