Abstract Art
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.
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2010s Abstract Art
Gesso, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
2010s Abstract Art
Bronze
1980s Abstract Art
Color, Lithograph
1980s Abstract Art
Engraving
1980s Abstract Art
Color, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
1980s Abstract Art
Lithograph, Offset
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Linen, India Ink, Oil, Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Paper, Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
Artist Comments
A multi-layered mixed media abstract unfolds in teal, black, and red. In creating the piece, artist Linda Shaffer takes inspiration from her love of travel an...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Woodcut
1990s Abstract Art
Lithograph, Offset
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Bronze
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Illustration Board, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Paper, Oil Pastel, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Textile, Canvas
1980s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Lithograph
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
1960s Abstract Art
Screen
20th Century Abstract Art
Watercolor
1960s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Abstract Art
Screen
2010s Abstract Art
Gesso, Oil, Wood Panel, Muslin
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Lithograph
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Digital, Giclée
1960s Abstract Art
Drypoint, Etching
2010s Abstract Art
Linen, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Ink, Paper
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Epoxy Resin
1980s Abstract Art
Paper, Acrylic, Graphite
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Inkjet
Abstract art for sale on 1stDibs.
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