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Modern Sculptures

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
The Bride
The Bride

Janet ScudderThe Bride, early 20th century

$7,082

The Bride

By Janet Scudder

Located in PARIS, FR

The Bride by Janet Scudder (1869-1940) Bronze with dark brown patina signed "Janet Scudder" on the base cast by Alexis Rudier, fondeur Paris (foundry mark) France early 20th century height 28 cm Biography : Janet Scudder (1869-1940) was an American sculptor. Born Netta Deweze Frazee, but called Janet, her childhood was difficult. Her mother died at age 38 in 1874. Despite limited financial means, her father sent her to study drawing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. She also studied sculpture with Louis Rebisso. She taught in 1888 women wood...

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

John Glick Plum Street Pottery Glazed Bowl Reduction Fired
John Glick Plum Street Pottery Glazed Bowl Reduction Fired

John Glick 1John Glick Plum Street Pottery Glazed Bowl Reduction Fired, 1970s

$1,250

John Glick Plum Street Pottery Glazed Bowl Reduction Fired

By John Glick 1

Located in Detroit, MI

"Untitled" is a stoneware piece with the decorative layer of the rich toned glazes and markings that John was so well-known for. Each piece that John produced was unique. The lip on this piece is slightly scalloped and the shape is removed from the boring circular to mimic a gentle geometric design. He was seduced by the effects of the reduction kiln, which decreased the levels of oxygen during firing, inducing the flame to pull oxygen out of the clay and glazes changing the colors of the glazes depending on their iron and copper content. In this way he achieved the rich gradients of ochre and umber and variations in stippling and opacity. This piece is signed and stamped on the bottom. John was an American Abstract Expressionist ceramicist born in Detroit, MI. Though open to artistic experimentation, Glick was most influenced by the styles and aesthetics of Asian pottery—an inspiration that shows in his use of decorative patterns and glaze choices. He has said that he is attracted to simplicity, as well as complexity: my work continually reflects my re-examination that these two poles can coexist… or not, in a given series. Glick also took influences from master potters of Japan, notably Shoji Hamada and Kanjrio Kawai, blending their gestural embellishments of simple forms with attitudes of Abstract Expressionism. He was particularly drown to the work of Helen Frankenthaler whose soak-stain style resonated with Glick’s multi-layered glaze surfaces, which juxtaposed veils of atmospheric color with gestural marks and pattern. He spent countless hours developing and making his own tools in order to achieve previously unseen results in his work with clay and glaze. Glick’s “Plum Tree Pottery...

Category

1970s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Stoneware, Glaze

Pointe shoes. Bronze sculpture, 2008
Pointe shoes. Bronze sculpture, 2008

Alex RadionovPointe shoes. Bronze sculpture, 2008, 2008

$4,721

Pointe shoes. Bronze sculpture, 2008

By Alex Radionov

Located in Zofingen, AG

Pointe Shoes. This name came to me when I saw a ballerina before a performance. She was getting ready to go on stage and carefully checking the laces of her pointe shoes. After all, ...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Evening Paper, Modern sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi
Evening Paper, Modern sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi

Bruno LucchesiEvening Paper, Modern sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi, 1961

$7,500

Evening Paper, Modern sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi

By Bruno Lucchesi

Located in Long Island City, NY

A Modern figurative sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi of a man reading his even paper with fascination. Evening Paper Bruno Lucchesi, Italian (1926) Date: 1961 Bronze Sculpture, signed Si...

Category

1960s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

"THE MANTEL SERIES" John Glick Stoneware Objets d'Art Intimate Indoor/Outdoor
"THE MANTEL SERIES" John Glick Stoneware Objets d'Art Intimate Indoor/Outdoor

John Glick 1"THE MANTEL SERIES" John Glick Stoneware Objets d'Art Intimate Indoor/Outdoor, 1998

$6,500

"THE MANTEL SERIES" John Glick Stoneware Objets d'Art Intimate Indoor/Outdoor

By John Glick 1

Located in Detroit, MI

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY John Glick is well-known for his beautifully rendered functional pieces of art. His decorative pieces, especially his large pots, are breathtakingly powerful objects. Glick's creative genius, however, is most exquisitely shown in this unique grouping of objets d'art. The Wall Hanging has a lovely classical scroll shelf. The objets on the shelf include an apple and pear - both fruits frequently rendered by artists from the Dutch Masters to Cezanne because of their perfectly balanced shape and rich colors. In addition is a small Greek or Roman styled dish used as an oil lamp. The other three objets are mysterious twisted tube-like organic shapes. John Glick, at one of his richest, creative bests. The objets are of various sizes, movable and can be displayed as desired. The size given is the overall size of both pieces and the objets d'art. "The works in John Glick’s “Mantel Series” are still life tableaux comprised of ordinary, yet intriguing objects that imply a history of people interacting with objects and each other over time. Imagine a lettr or poem from a loved one, once read, tucked among other fabourite things for safekeeping. Or a salty treasure carried in a dampened pocket and later deposited on a cottage shelf to dry, crackle and change. In essence, the mantels hold suggestive collections in which most people can find a part of themselves a link to a personal memory and a connection to a lost moment in time. His body of work, The Mantel Series, was partially inspired by a memory of a salt box that hung near his grandmother’s kitchen wood stove. For Glick, the unassuming little box, with its pleasing enigmatic shape and wooden lid, conjured pleasant boyhood memories, nostalgia for home and hearth, and vivid awareness of history. Upon his wall-based mantels, the artist placed a well-honed repertoire of distinct objects, all deftly crafted of clay, that become characters in his unspoken drama, each form playing off the others in the ensemble.” Plum Tree Pottery...

Category

1990s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Glaze

Luigi Broggini Catalogued Italian Bronze Sculpture
Luigi Broggini Catalogued Italian Bronze Sculpture

Luigi BrogginiLuigi Broggini Catalogued Italian Bronze Sculpture, 1940

$7,082

Luigi Broggini Catalogued Italian Bronze Sculpture

By Luigi Broggini

Located in Roma, IT

Important bronze sculpture by Luigi Broggini “Dancer” Datable to the from the early 1940s. It is part of the series of Dancers created by the sculptor Broggini in the 1930s. The wo...

Category

1940s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Acrobats, 2010

Jean-Louis CORBYThe Acrobats, 2010, 2010

$84,500

The Acrobats, 2010

Located in Atlanta, GA

Jean-Louis Corby was born in 1951 and was predominantly influenced creatively by the 1970s. The 1970s were a period of consolidation and growth in the arts, most often characterised ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Pleasure. Cast bronze sculpture. figurative
Pleasure. Cast bronze sculpture. figurative

Alex RadionovPleasure. Cast bronze sculpture. figurative, 1991

$9,443

Pleasure. Cast bronze sculpture. figurative

By Alex Radionov

Located in Zofingen, AG

bronze sculpture, femaile body, cast bronze, unique "Pleasure". Very sensual and creative sculpture. The author admires the beauty of the female body. Her movement - smooth, gracefu...

Category

1990s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Sydney Kumalo Bronze Minimalist African Modernist Sculpture Figural Female Nude
Sydney Kumalo Bronze Minimalist African Modernist Sculpture Figural Female Nude

Sydney KumaloSydney Kumalo Bronze Minimalist African Modernist Sculpture Figural Female Nude, 20th.c

$4,500

Sydney Kumalo Bronze Minimalist African Modernist Sculpture Figural Female Nude

Located in Surfside, FL

Sydney Kumalo. Features a bronze stylized female figural form sculpture fixed to a marble plinth and wood base. Bears signature on base. Measures 9 1/2" x 4 1/4". There is no edition number on the piece. Sydney Kumalo (1935 - 1988) was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, on 13 April 1935. His was one of the families who had to move out of the "white" city to the South Western Townships, or Soweto. Raised in Diepkloof and educated at Madibane High School, he took with him from old Sophiatown the curious and diverse heritage of its heyday. Art classes in the Catholic school, "Sof' town" blues and jazz, the vibrant street culture and growing defiance of its population of various races who were gradually forced out into separate race-group areas. So it was that these various aspects of his early life created for Kumalo a cultural mix of a Zulu family related to the traditional royal house; city schooling, nascent township music and lingo; growing urbanised political defiance and the deep-rooted Zulu pride and respect for the legends and ancient stories of a tribal people. This mix of old and new cultures was reinforced when he began his studies at the Polly Street Art Centre in 1953 where he became a member of Cecil Skotnes group of serious artists who were encouraged to acquire professional skills. Skotnes introduced a basic training programme with modelling as a component, which marked the introduction of sculpting (in brick-clay) at Polly Street. Kumalo was Skotnes’ assistant at Polly Street from 1957 to 1964, and having recognised his great talent as a sculptor, Skotnes encouraged him to become a professional artist. After Kumalo’s very successful assistance with a commission to decorate the St Peter Claver church at Seeisoville near Kroonstad, with painting designs, sculpture and relief panels in 1957, Skotnes arranged for Kumalo to continue his art training by working in Edoardo Villa ’s studio from 1958 to 1960. Working with Villa, he received professional guidance and began to familiarize himself with the technical aspects of sculpting and bronze casting. In 1960 he became an instructor at the Polly Street Art Centre. Kumalo started exhibiting his work with some of the leading commercial Johannesburg galleries in 1958, and had his first solo exhibition with the Egon Guenther Gallery in 1962. He was a leader of the generation who managed to leave behind the forms of African curios, reject the European-held paternalism which encouraged notions of "naive" and "tribal" African art, and yet still hold fast to the core of the old legends and spiritual values of his people. He introduced these subjects into his bronze sculptures and pastel drawings, evolving his own expressive, contemporary African "style". Together with Skotnes, Villa, Cecily Sash and Giuseppe Cattaneo, Kumalo became part of the Amadlozi group in 1963. This was a group of artists promoted by the African art collector and gallery director Egon Guenther, and characterised by their exploration of an African idiom in their art. Elza Miles writes that Cecil Skotnes’ friendship with Egon Guenther had a seminal influence on the aspirant artists of Polly Street: “Guenther broadened their experience by introducing them to German Expressionism as well as the sculptural traditions of West and Central Africa. He familiarised them with the work of Ernst Barlach, Käthe Kollwitz, Gustav Seitz, Willi Baumeister and Rudolf Sharf.” It is therefore not surprising that some of Kumalo’s sculptures show an affinity with Barlach’s powerful expressionist works. Guenther organised for the Amadlozi group to hold exhibitions around Italy, in Rome, Venice, Milan and Florence, in both 1963 and 1964. Kumalo’s career took off in the mid 1960s, with his regular participation in exhibitions in Johannesburg, London, New York and Europe. He also represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale in 1966, and in 1967 participated in the São Paulo Biennale. EJ De Jager (1992) describes Kumalo’s sculpture as retaining much of the “canon and formal aesthetic qualities of classical African sculpture. His work contains the same monumentality and simplicity of form.” His main medium for modelling was terra cotta, which was then cast in bronze, always paying careful attention to the finish of both the model as well as the final cast. He began casting the pieces he modelled in clay or plaster into bronze at the Renzo Vignali Artistic Foundry in Pretoria North. He worked throughout his life with its owners, the Gamberini family, and enjoyed learning the technical aspects of the casting process, refining his surfaces according to what he learned would produce the best results in metal. De Jager further writes that Kumalo’s distinctive texturing of the bronze or terra cotta is reminiscent of traditional carving techniques of various African cultures. “In many respects Kumalo thus innovated a genuine contemporary or modern indigenous South African sculpture”. Kumalo came to admire the works of the Cubists, and of British sculptors Henry Moore and Lynn Chadwick. He became noted for adapting shapes from them into his own figures. The success of his use of the then current monumental simplicity and purely aesthetic abstractions of natural forms has been emulated by many South African sculptors since the 1970s. He was in many ways the doyen of South African Black art. As such he was an important influence especially on younger African sculptors, by whom he is greatly revered. Through his teaching at Polly Street and at the Jubilee Centre, as well as through his personal example of integrity, dedication and ability, he inspired and guided students who in their own right became outstanding artists, for example, Ezrom Legae, Leonard Matsoso and Louis Maqhubela From 1969 onward, he allied himself with Linda Givon, founder of The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, where he exhibited regularly until his death in December 1988. Working with Givon also perpetuated his associations with his many friends of strong principles. Skotnes, Villa, Legae and later such peers from the Polly Street era as Leonard Matsoso, Durant Sihlali and David Koloane have all exhibited at The Goodman Gallery. Kumalo, Legae, and later Fikile (Magadlela) and Dumile (Feni) were among the leading exponents of a new Afrocentric art...

Category

20th Century Modern Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Loreley

David CARLTONLoreley

$5,720

Loreley

By David CARLTON

Located in Atlanta, GA

In life, every time you do or make something you have the opportunity to make something creative and original. Take something, add to it and pass it on; that’s the creative process. The world around us is an infinite source of inspiration. My art is influenced by a combination of the styles of the Symbolist, the Surrealist, and the contemporary Realist and is the result of a compulsive motivation to make things. After several years serving in the U.S. Navy and several fits and starts with college, David graduated from Georgia State University in 1977 with a BFA concentration in sculpture. Since then he has continued to produce art in a variety of mediums including sculpture, painting, furniture, ceramics and drawing. Craftsmanship is a motivational force in all his work. Group shows David has participated in include: GA ARTISTS juried exhibit, Abernathy Arts Center May 201 1 National Juried Show, SAAG Blue Ridge GA. 201 1 , 2015 National Juried Show, SAAG Blue Ridge GA. 2010 Honorable Mention award “Simply Drawn”, Juried show Roswell Arts Center, 2010 STARBRUST; Sandy Springs, GA Best of Show, 2009 Blue Moon Brewing Co. art project, 1st place, 2008 S. Cobb Arts Alliance National Art Exhibition 2008 National Juried Exhibit, Rome Art Coterie 2008 “Arts Guild” Louisville GA 2007, 2008 “Best in Show” Taylor Kinzel Gallery 2007 “Body of Art” Taylor Kinzel Gallery 2006 “ROAR” Roswell GA 2005 “The Bowl-Inside & Out” Spruill Center for the Arts, 2002 D’ Vas at the Roosevelt, 1990 “On Display- Faces”, at the Southern Bell Center, 1986 DeKalb Mardi Gras for the Arts, Juried Show, 1986, 1988 “Expressions in Wood” Rizzoli Gallery & Omni International, 1983 Lagrange National, Juried show, 1977, 1979 In 2001 David incorporated his art business under the name Chippewa Falls Studio and he continues to work on commissions for murals, trompe l...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig Van Beethoven

Alan DERRICKLudwig Van Beethoven

$2,600

Ludwig Van Beethoven

By Alan DERRICK

Located in Atlanta, GA

With each feather, Alan Derrick has moved his art form into new expressions. He continues to experiment with each stage of the process, producing surprisi...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Butterfly. Cast bronze female body sculpture, unique
Butterfly. Cast bronze female body sculpture, unique

Alex RadionovButterfly. Cast bronze female body sculpture, unique, 2000

$9,443

Butterfly. Cast bronze female body sculpture, unique

By Alex Radionov

Located in Zofingen, AG

Cast bronze, collectible, unique, female body This girl is like a butterfly, her beauty undeniable, her movements elusive. Her soul is fragile, and her thoughts flutter around her li...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Contortionniste au Masque Minnie

Mauro CordaContortionniste au Masque Minnie

$11,520

Contortionniste au Masque Minnie

By Mauro Corda

Located in Atlanta, GA

Mauro Corda’s figurative sculptures maintain a reverence for classical and modernist traditions, while also expressing the artist’s voice. Though born in France, the artist hails fro...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Modern sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern sculptures 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 sculptures created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Scott Troxel, Pablo Picasso, Richard Orlinski, and Stefan Traloc. Frequently made by artists working with Metal, and Bronze and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Modern sculptures, so small editions measuring 0.4 inches across are also available. Prices for sculptures 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 $65 and tops out at $580,000, while the average work sells for $3,733.

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