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.
Find original abstract paintings, sculptures, prints and other art on 1stDibs.
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Graphite, Paper
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
"Union Station is one of the most beautiful historic buildings in Los Angeles," says artist Suren Nersisyan. "This white building with harmonic proportions, p...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Graphite
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Panel, Wood Panel, Paper
1980s Abstract Art
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Blue Timbre is part of Karen Hansen's atmospheric Etherea series. She describes the work as having lost and found edges. "Its endless shades of blue appear and ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Color, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil Crayon, Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Linen, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Wood, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Polymer
Artist Comments
A soft autumn day along the river's edge. Vahe painted this impressionist scene at the edge of abstraction, depicting the fore-, middle- and background in blo...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Gouache, Archival Paper
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Color, Archival Pigment
Artist Comments
"This work is of a figure standing tall and brave with gentle light dancing upon their back," explains artist Gena Brodie Robbins. "I placed lovely colors and s...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1990s Abstract Art
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Gouache
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Resin, Panel, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Art
Screen
2010s Abstract Art
Color, Giclée
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
I painted this from a photo I took at Stafford Lake on a cloudy, rainy day. As I worked on it, it started to feel like a night scene to me and I thought it would be fun to add the moon and its reflection. I like how it provides a counter point in this monochromatic design.
About the Artist
Pastel artist Patricia Prendergast creates impressionist artworks that depict the rivers and landscapes near her home in Sacramento, California. With each nature vignette, she captures the sense of larger natural rhythms through quick mark-making, mauve undertones, and a tranquil and serene haziness. Her work recalls the paintings from the Hudson River School such as Thomas Cole and Asher Brown Durand. Before working on her pastels at home in her studio, she spends hours studying nature on walks along the river near her home. Since becoming an artist, she says “everything is more vivid - the beauty of light and shadow in the trees, the subtlety of the color of clouds, the sparkle and reflections in water.” Her work as been exhibited in solo shows around California. She is represented by UGallery.
Moon over...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil Pastel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Thread, Acrylic, Graphite, Canvas
Artist Comments
Part of Naoko's signature series, Who Are These Angels. A diaphanous angel stands quietly in a deep blue landscape. The tonal quality of the painting accentua...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Ink
Artist Comments
A conceptual, playful composition charting the brief and dramatic moment of an eclipse over the landscape. Part of John's newest ...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Color, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment, Photo...
Artist Comments
Artist Scott Dykema created this painting while staying in the mountains in New Mexico. "The work started as an abstraction," explains Scott. "The skull was added over the abstract painting, and I chose the skull of an impala. The original title was "The Most Tame Impala...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Artist James Hartman says this tranquil landscape was inspired by a stay at these cabins at the edge of Clear Lake in northern California. While there, he compl...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Resin, Paper, Panel, Pigment
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digital...
2010s Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Monotype
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
