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.
Abstract Wall Sculpture 'Untitled Wallpaper Abstraction #36'
Located in White Plains, NY
'Untitled Wallpaper Abstraction #36' 2024. Found wallpaper collage on wood form, 48 x 36 x 6 in. is a multicolor, abstract geometric sculpture featuring carefully cut pieces of found...
Archival Ink, Wood Panel
$2,060Sale Price|30% Off
Contemporary Abstract Sculpture, Organic Materials "Weaving Hope"
Located in Sofia, BG
This contemporary abstract sculpture made from organic materials is created from industrial hemp, a consciously chosen material that carries both aesthetic and ecological significanc...
Metal
1980 Italy Wood Abstract Kinetic Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is one of a kind piece, no other one exists, and it was realized in 1980 by the well known Italian artist Bruno Chersicla. This is a kinetic abstract sculpture, most ...
Wood
Encased by Isabel Ritter - Contemporary wood carved sculpture
Located in DE
Hand carved sculpture by artist Isabel Ritter. Beautiful encased female sculpture. Stunning on a plinth or a shelf. About the Gallery: Folly & Muse was established in 2015 in London...
Wood, Acrylic
Seymour Lipton - Maquette for Laureate (unique sculpture) Christie's/Marlborough
Located in New York, NY
Seymour Lipton Maquette for Laureate, ca. 1968-1969 Nickel silver on monel metal Unique 18 × 8 1/2 × 7 inches Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by the pre...
Metal, Silver
Timeless Orbit - Silver Contemporary Aluminum sculpture for Outdoors
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Very large Contemporary powder coated aluminum sculpture for inside or garden outdoor spaces. Beautiful spiral dancing and intertwining. This is a large scale outdoor or indoor scul...
Metal
$3,200Sale Price|20% Off
Art in motion n°4 by Gilbert Pauli - Concrete sculpture 64x96 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
"Art in motion" is a series that offers artworks working with matter; concrete, cement, plaster, mortar, and natural pigments. These works are intended to be exhibited in several way...
Concrete
$15,500
Abstract, Wall Sculpture, Indoor/Outdoor, Gold Finish, Breathe by Matt Devine
By Matt Devine
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
MATT DEVINE "Breathe In Breath Out" 44" x 26" x 7" Aluminum with Powder Coat (Indoor/Outdoor) Matt Devine is a self-taught sculptor working with steel, aluminum and bronze. Born and...
Metal
From the series- “Visions from a White Hole” (small)
By Brittany Gould
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"From the series- “Visions from a White Hole” (small)" is an original an original ceiling-hanging luminous sculptural work made of PVC and light element measuring approximately 11" x...
PVC, Acrylic Polymer, Lights
Lapis - 3D small contemporary blue abstract round mural sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Erin Vincent is a Toronto based-artist whose work draws on a variety of repetitive and labor intensive processes and materials. Things and common objects have always fascinated Vinc...
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper
$3,500
Abstract 3D wall sculpture "Wood Work" #1275, layered collage aesthetic w/ green
By Paul Cava
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an abstract 3D wall sculpture in wood, acrylic, rope, and ink. it is from artist Paul Cava's "Wood Work" series, which applies the collage aesthetic he has incorporated into ...
Wood, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Jute
White Path - 3D small contemporary abstract round mural sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Erin Vincent is a Toronto based-artist whose work draws on a variety of repetitive and labor intensive processes and materials. Things and common objects have always fascinated Vinc...
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper
"Hygge" 2024 acrylic and ink 26 x 20 x 1.25 in.
By Greg Chann
Located in New York, NY
Greg Chann Hygge, 2024 acrylic and ink 26 x 20 x 1.25 in. (cha033)
Plexiglass, Ink
$29,434
L'oiseau
Located in PARIS, FR
This elegant marble sculpture by Étienne Hajdu transforms stone into a fluid, abstract form that conveys both movement and serenity. Smooth, flowing contours and carefully designed n...
Marble
Bridge No. 3 4/50 - contemporary, abstract, polished, black granite sculpture
By Jeremy Guy
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Smooth, black marble flecked with copper and white is engineered into a thick loop that is stretched thin on one side in this tabletop sculpture. Poised on a flat metal base, the fla...
Granite
Green Feather Beads Mesa Sculpture - Abstract Powder Coated Steel
Located in Santa Fe, NM
It was the tumult of the sixties that compelled me to drop out of Swarthmore College, move “back to the land” and become an intuitive artist. I believed that if we were to survive a...
Steel
$1,059
THE SAME – Lunar Wall Relief with Celestial Views in Modeling Clay and Acrylic
By Vera Vizzi
Located in FISTERRA, ES
THE SAME is a mixed media wall sculpture by Vera Vizzi that renders the lunar surface as both stage and symbol. Modeled in clay and acrylic on a 30 cm Ø fir wood disc, the piece pres...
Enamel
$278
Forces of Nature 7 - Sculptural Abstract Minimalist Textural Artwork on Canvas
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Len Klikunas creates sculptural minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His original artwork is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between p...
Gesso, Mixed Media, Wood Panel
Mobile Movements by Kuno Vollet - Contemporary sculpture with moving parts
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
This beautiful, contemporary mobile sculpture is made from steel with different moving parts that reflect the light and throw shadows on to the wall and that turn and move with wind....
Stainless Steel
"Touches Me, Touches You", Abstract, Mixed Media Sculptural Wall Relief
By Joan Hall
Located in New York, NY
Touches Me, Touches You by Joan Hall Handmade paper, pulp painting, collagraph and relief printing, acrylic, glass pins Joan Hall creates large-scale works and sculptural installati...
Glass, Acrylic, Handmade Paper
Ceramic #2018
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery. Alice Federico was born in Selma, Alabama in 1945. She received a BA degree in history from Hollins University (1967), an MFA in ceramics from ...
Ceramic
Royal Red Orbit Contemporary Aluminum sculpture for Outdoors
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Very large Contemporary powder coated aluminum sculpture for inside or garden outdoor spaces. Beautiful spiral dancing and intertwining. This is a large scale outdoor or indoor scul...
Metal
1974 Ugo La Pietra Ad Arte Red Bronze Abstract Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork is a multiples limited not numbered specimens created by the Italian artist Ugo La Pietra, a well known Internationally artist. Ugo La Pietra was born in Bussi Sul Tir...
Bronze
High Schwerelos Gold by Kuno Vollet - Contemporary Golden bronze sculpture
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Artist: Kuno Vollet Title: High Schwerelos Gold Materials: Bronze sculpture with a dark patina on black granite base Size: 65cm height of upper sculpture, base: 18 x 18 cm x 8 cm ...
Granite, Bronze
1978 Italy Stainless Steel Abstract Sculpture by Carmelo Cappello
Located in Brescia, IT
This is an artwork created by the well known Italian artist Carmelo Cappello. It is a multiple, an Abstract Sculpture one of the identical 99 specimen edited in 1978. This piece is ...
Stainless Steel
$2,100
Pineapple Meander Mesa Abstract Sculpture, Powder Coated Steel, 2010+
Located in Santa Fe, NM
It was the tumult of the sixties that compelled me to drop out of Swarthmore College, move “back to the land” and become an intuitive artist. I believed that if we were to survive a...
Steel
$278
Forces of Nature 5 - Sculptural Abstract Minimalist Textural Artwork on Canvas
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Len Klikunas creates sculptural minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His original artwork is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between p...
Gesso, Mixed Media, Wood Panel
28K Gold Organic - 3D gold color contemporary abstract mural sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Erin Vincent is a Toronto based-artist whose work draws on a variety of repetitive and labor intensive processes and materials. Things and common objects have always fascinated Vinc...
Foam, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Architectural Wood Head Sculpture Anthropotecture Carved Figurative Artwork
By Jose Perozo
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Architectural wood head sculpture combining figurative portraiture, carved architecture and anthropotectural concepts exploring the body as a place...
Wood
Marbles for Pleiades 10 Abstract Ceramic Sculpture, Unframed, 2010+
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Hand Built and glazed ceramic. Safe for outdoors. My interest in clay as an artistic medium began in 1984. Like most beginners in the medium, I focused on creating wheel thrown ve...
Ceramic
PHILOSOPHICAL STONE
By Astian Rey
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Astian Rey "PHILOSOPHICAL STONE"
Wood, Acrylic
$2,762Sale Price|35% Off
"Evolution, Bison" (2019) By Julia Mulligan, Original Ceramic Sculpture
Located in Denver, CO
"Evolution, Bison" (2019) by Julia Mulligan is an original, handmade ceramic and gold leaf sculpture on a wooden base that depicts a bison with gold horns. My childhood, from about...
Gold Leaf
$1,520Sale Price|20% Off
Untitled Abstract Steel Sculpture, Circa 2000-2009, 8.25 in Tall
By Ben McLeod
Located in Vancouver, CA
Ben McLeod (b. 1948, Aberdeen, Scotland) is a preeminent Canadian sculptor whose over five-decade practice is characterized by a profoundly self-propelled trajectory and the cultivat...
Steel
letsgoawayforawhile - playful, blue, abstract, elongated, ceramic wall sculpture
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This intriguing large blue clay piece by Canadian artist Steven Heinemann bridges the divide between sculpture and ceramics. The teardrop-shaped vessel appears deflated and gently cu...
Ceramic
Contemporary Reclining Female Sculpture
Located in Boulder, CO
Inspired by the timeless tradition of classical reclining figures, this contemporary bronze sculpture reinterprets the female form through a distinctly modern and minimalist lens. Pa...
Bronze
High Schwerelos by Kuno Vollet - Tall Contemporary Black bronze sculpture
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Artist: Kuno Vollet Title: High Schwerelos Materials: Bronze sculpture with a dark patina on black granite base Size: 90 cm height, base, 6 x 17 x 14 cm Edition of 15
Granite, Bronze
$3,475
Untitled
Located in New York, NY
This sophisticated sculpture was realized from lymed French oak circa 1950. The perimeter of the piece consists of a mosaic of rectilinear blocks, while the interior rectangular pane...
Oak
Coalesced Series Number Four
Located in Dallas, TX
This sculpture is edition 2/20
Bronze
1978 One on the other one by G.Roland Abstract Sculpture Polished Aluminum
By G. Roland
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork is composed by two single cubes simply juxtaposed, as the original artist project present in our Gallery Archive. One of a kind piece and it is signet by the Author.
Metal
"Summer Bliss" Abstract Painting
Located in Westport, CT
Infused with the luminosity of sunlit grasses and the cool calm of a summer breeze, Summer Bliss is a bold, tactile exploration of color and motion by contemporary abstract artist Te...
Canvas, Acrylic
$10,000
Landscape Transformed, Contemporary Abstract Tapestry, Textile Wall Sculpture
By Adela Akers
Located in Wilton, CT
Adela Akers (b. 1933, Santiago de Compostela, Spain) is a Spanish-born textile and fiber artist. She is Professor Emeritus (1972 to 1995) at the Tyler Scho...
Metal, Foil
Sage Wisp Mesa Abstract Sculpture in Powder Coated Steel, 2010+
Located in Santa Fe, NM
It was the tumult of the sixties that compelled me to drop out of Swarthmore College, move “back to the land” and become an intuitive artist. I believed that if we were to survive a...
Steel
"Slinky" (maquette), Abstract, Bronze Metal Sculpture, Tabletop Size
Located in New York, NY
"Slinky" (maquette) Abstract, Tabletop Size, Metal Sculpture by Kevin Barrett Bronze Kevin Barrett is noted for creating unique, rhythmic, abstract indoor and outdoor sculpture and ...
Metal, Bronze
"Halo", Gestural, Ceramic, Yellow, Cream, Sepia, Grey, Pink, Sculpture
Located in Franklin, MA
Sara Fine-Wilsons ”Halo” is a gestural 15 x 12 x 9 inch ceramic sculpture in pale yellow and cream with accents of warm sepia, grey and quiet tinges of pink. In this graceful and evo...
Ceramic, Clay
Reclining Female Nude / - Original body landscape -
Located in Berlin, DE
Karl Josef Dierkes (1924 Dalhausen - 2008 ibid.), Reclining Female Nude, circa 1960. Bronze 26.5 cm (length), x 11 cm (height) x 7 cm (depth), signed “K.[arl] J.[osef] Dierkes” on th...
Bronze
Untitled 03 - Black, Mixed Media, 21st Century, Contemporary, Abstract
Located in Baden-Baden, DE
Untitled 03, 2016 Mixed media on metal sheet Signed on reverse 70,8 H × 39,4 W x 12,6 D in 180 H × 100 W x 32 D cm Berszán’s black silicon structures arise through a process of etch...
Metal
$1,118
Moon Relief with Yellow Measure Tape Abstract Surreal Mixed-Media Wall Sculpture
By Vera Vizzi
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Foam clay, acrylic and enamel on fir wood circular relief that combines lunar bas-relief with a measured, stitched yellow band; a mixed-media wall sculpture engaging lunar topography...
Enamel
Umbra series 15, Abstract Sculpture
By Rodrigo Zuliani Hauck Zampol
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Fear and insecurity came uninvited to keep the artist company. Suddenly it became necessary to release the sensations that surrounded him day and night. At times the artist felt as i...
Brass
"Emerging Force" Original Painted Steel Sculpture by: Ralph Wickstrom
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Emerging Force" is a painted steel sculpture by Ralph Wickstrom created in 2000. From the front view, this sculpture appears to be simply a concave lens held up by a thin steel rod....
Steel
Family Gathering (Garden Size) 4/8
By Kevin Box
Located in Napa, CA
“It took two years of tireless experimentation for me to develop the process of casting paper into bronze, another seven years to perfect, and it continues to evolve today.” - Kevin ...
Bronze, Stainless Steel
Without Name, Mid-Century Abstract Woven Tapestry, Textile Wall Sculpture
By Jan Hladik
Located in Wilton, CT
Without Name, Mid-Century Abstract Woven Tapestry, Textile Wall Sculpture, Hand dyed wool, 52" x 38" (1973) by Czech textile artist, Jan Jladik...
Fabric, Textile, Tapestry, Wool, Dye
Algas 45-IV. From the series Mareas. Cyanotype photograhs Mounted
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...
Archival Pigment, Plexiglass
Elevate No. 3 Abstract Geometric Sculpture in Brass and Wood
By Huy Lam
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This work titled "Elevate No. 3" is an original artwork by Huy Lam made of burnt wood and brass inlay. The piece measures 8" x 20" x 3.5". Please note: The plant and the pot pictur...
Brass
Ragisména series Brown, Abstract Sculpture
By Rodrigo Zuliani Hauck Zampol
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The Ragisména series, which in Greek means cracked, has its materiality manifested through the desire to recreate and make feelings, memories and mythology tangible in the physical w...
Canvas, Plaster, Acrylic
Up and Away
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A magnificent tall abstract example of Seymour Meyer's sculptural forms. This silvered bronze sculpture is signed by the artist and is titled "Up and Away" on the nameplate. It is se...
Bronze
$1,500
Medaglia 25 Anni Tecno Limited Edition bronze medallion plaque famous sculptor
Located in New York, NY
ARNALDO POMODORO Medaglia 25 Anni Tecno (Two Sided Bronze Medallion), 1979 Bronze (incised signature) 2 1/2 × 2 × 7/10 inches Edition 196/1600 Unframed This beautiful two sided limit...
Bronze
$5,500
All That Jazz XXI / ceramic wall sculpture - cream, white, neutral 36 x 36 in
Located in Burlingame, CA
Minimal Abstract Ceramic 36 x 36 inch wall sculpture in glossy and matte white ceramic tiles that are mounted to a white wood panel. A neutral work showcasing an "X" in matte white s...
Ceramic, Wood, Paint
"Angel" Unique, Organic, Abstract Metal Sculpture in Stainless Steel
Located in New York, NY
"Angel" by Kevin Barrett Unique stainless steel, metal, abstract, outdoor sculpture Kevin Barrett is noted for creating unique, rhythmic, abstract indoor and outdoor sculpture and w...
Metal, Steel, Stainless Steel
$58,000
Tempest
By Gino Miles
Located in Boca Raton, FL
overall dimension 96 x 28 x 28 inches sculpture measures 80 x 28 x 28 inches and base is 16 x 16 x 16 inches
Bronze
"Double Diddle Phlebotomy Movement #2" drawing and layered paper sculpture
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Original multicolored hand-cut paper and ink on illustration board layered paper sculpture by Charles Clary measuring 16"h x 21"w. This piece ships in the pictured black frame. Cha...
Paper, Ink, Illustration Board