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Abstract Art

ABSTRACT STYLE

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.

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Style: Abstract
Color:  Yellow
"Exploration 2" Abstract Expressionist Modern Contemporary Green Mixed Media
Located in Wellesley, MA
Exploration 2, 2016, Mixed Media on Paper, 17 x 10.5 Inches (Image), 22 x 15 Inches (Paper). This painting on paper is unframed. Geometric abstraction of multi-textured ground and...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Abstract in Saffron and Jade
By Nancy Shafsky
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Shafsky' and painted circa 1960. A kinetic, mid-century oil abstract comprising a structurally inter-related field of jade and saffron contrasted against second...
Category

1960s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Geometric Abstract
Located in Buffalo, NY
A mid century modernist oil painting. No signature found. Circa 1960. Image size, 48"L x 32"H
Category

1950s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Blown Away 23" Abstract Expressionist Yellow Bright Colorful Mixed Media
Located in Wellesley, MA
Blown Away 23, 2010, Mixed Media on Paper, 17.5 x 14 Inches (Image), 29 x 22 Inches (Paper) Playful geometric abstraction of multi-layered shapes and swirling linear elements in shades of yellow green, yellow, black, red and white. This is one of 6 works in this series available which work well in conjunction with each other. Nancy Berlin was born in New York City. After graduating from Barnard College, Berlin received her MA in painting and printmaking from Hunter College. She has received grants for her drawings from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Berkshire Taconic Foundation. She has had residencies at the American Academy in Rome, at Centrum in Port Townsend...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Acrylic Painting on Canvas Titled: Frenzy in Yellow
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Vibrant mustard yellow painting with deep blue, green values flush with foreground. Mary Lou Siefker is 87 year old Broward County Artist that has been exhibiting her work since ...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

AWH 103 Original Textural Abstract Colorfield Modern Expressionism Oil Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bernhard Zimmer produces deeply layered, subtly textured abstract paintings that contain diametrically opposed elements—order and chaos, abstraction and representation, boldness and ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

Composition in Yellow
Located in Burlingame, CA
Composition in Yellow By a French American Frédéric Choisel. He inspired by the cities of France, New York and the Bay Area and creates elegant abstractions that tell a story of urba...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Dreamscapes 2, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This is cold wax painting on paper. Cold wax medium is made from beeswax, it is mixed with oil paints to paint. the paintng needs to be framed for display. Painting has gold accents....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Action and Reaction, Contemporary Abstract Painting
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This artwork was created through a process-driven approach, combining collaged fabrics and expressive paint strokes. The vibrant geometric forms, composed of textured oil paint, est...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Fabric, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

"Yellow Moon"
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Quim Bové is a Catalan artist known for his symbolic, abstract paintings executed through his dynamic brush strokes that are reflected across his collections. Much of Quim’s early in...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Resin, Wood Panel, Pigment

Fragments of Life #8
Located in New York, NY
Francisca Sutil is an established Chilean painter, who started painting on paper, and making her own paper. She later continued experimenting with the medium, and this is a prime exa...
Category

1990s Abstract Art

Materials

Pigment

Md Tokon - Untitled Yellow, Painting 2018
Located in Greenwich, CT
Collection: Silent Space Acrylic on canvas Md Tokon's style has reflected the art of American Abstract Expressionists. Md Tokon spent his early years in Jhenidah and Dhaka. The phys...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Oh Yellow
Located in NIAGARA PARK, NSW
This artwork is an emotional exploration of the colour yellow and the feelings it produces. Yellow can be such an emotional colour and many people overlook it, it is a positive colou...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic Polymer, Acrylic

Saffron yellow rectangular abstract oil painting on canvas
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Joan Vennum Other Atmospheres 4, 2015 Oil on canvas 29 x 24 inches 73.66 x 60.96 cm JV140d Joan Vennum (1930–2021) was a New York-based artist who created luminous, color-flooded pa...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Half Circles in Yellow
Located in New Orleans, LA
John Poché creates polished aluminum and stainless-steel kinetic sculptures. His works range in scale from small indoor tabletop works to large-scale outdoor sculptures triggered exc...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Metal

Carnival - Abstract Painting
Located in New York, NY
The painting is unframed, acrylic on canvas. About the Artwork: The Joy of the carnival. About the Artist: As a visual artist David has been painting and sculpting most of his life. He is also a Julliard trained violinist. David combines his love of music to create a bond between his two passions. His paintings and prints have been featured in many publications such as the New York Times and Art in America. 25 of his paintings are featured in the book “Beyond Faith.” David has had many one man show and group shows in Chelsea, Soho and in Westchester. His paintings of 9/11 “Fallen Angels” was acquired by The George Bush presidential Library. His painting has benefited The Julliard School, the American Cancer Society, The National Scholastic Chess Foundation and the Westchester Philharmonic. Surrealism, Mythical Oil Painting...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Peapod
Located in New Orleans, LA
Hackett’s paintings defy popular convention. They are not figurative, decorative, representative, or even completely abstract. While it is hard to tie them to any one style or movement, they manage to be a part of all of them. Hackett’s work is influenced by pattern, midcentury design, art of indigenous peoples, and the art and craft movement, combined with a loose examination of the natural world. She creates a visual environment that is both recognizable yet strangely mysterious. While steeped in art history and influenced by a range of artists from Miro to Arthur Dove, Charles Burchfield, Agnes Pelton, Florine Stettheimer Sonia Delaunay and Hilma af Klimt...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil, Archival Paper

Azaleas on Yellow
Located in Atlanta, GA
Archival pigment inks on Innova 315 gsm paper Edition of 100
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Red Dogwood 1
Located in Atlanta, GA
Archival pigment inks on Innova 315 gsm paper Edition of 100
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Yellow Within, 2006 - Acrylic and mixed media, British Abstraction - Sandra Blow
Located in London, GB
Yellow Within, 2006 - Work on Paper, British Abstraction - Sandra Blow Signed on reverse Acrylic and mixed media on canvas 24 x 24 inches Sandra Blow RA (1925-2006) pioneered Britis...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Green Sun Box
Located in New York, NY
The Greek American artist, Theodoros Stamos, was born in 1922 in New York City into a family of Greek immigrants. He was a member of The Irascibles gr...
Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Focus
Located in New York, NY
2020 Screenprint in colors, on Arches paper Sheet: 28 1/2 x 38 in. (72.4 x 96.5 cm) Edition of 55 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin Unframed, mint condition
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Screen

Focus
Located in New York, NY
2020 Screenprint in colors, on Arches paper Sheet: 28 1/2 x 38 in. (72.4 x 96.5 cm) Edition of 55 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin Unframed, mint condition
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Screen

"Trapeze Artists, " Acrylic on Canvas - Abstract Boxing painting
Located in Houston, TX
Bright, vivid, and highly saturated colors in combination with a furious treatment of the medium compel this work to stand out as an iconic blend of passion and poise. Born in Tokyo in 1932, Ushio Shinohara (nicknamed "Gyu-chan"), is a Japanese Neo-Dadaist artist who has lived and worked in the United States since 1969. He is well known for his boxing paintings, which are made by dipping a pair of custom made boxing gloves into paint and unleashing his fists onto swathes of un-stretched canvas. Ushio works in several mediums including painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture. In 1960 Ushio helped found the Neo-Dadaism Organizers. Their mission: deviate from any conventional form of art. Akin to European Dadaists, who’s art sought to reveal the customary and often repressive conventions of logical order and rationality, the Neo-Dadaism Organizers embodied a similar ethos. This can chiefly be seen in akushon, meaning “action”, which is the practice of emphasizing the human body as an artistic medium. For Ushio, this sensibility is encapsulated in what has become his personal trinity “be speedy, beautiful, and rhythmical.” Ushio's bright and frequently oversized work has exhibited at prestigious institutions internationally, including the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art; Centre Georges Pompidou; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Japan Society, New York; the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Busan; the Dallas Museum of Art and the Tate Modern, among others. His work was included in International Pop, a landmark exhibition at the Walker Art Center that chronicles the global emergence of Pop art from the 1950s through the early 1970. In addition to an extensive exhibition history, Ushio has also been a prolific performer — demonstrating the process of his boxing paintings live and in-person at various institutions. A selection of these performances include the National Museum of Art, Osaka; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Austria Museum of Applied Art, Vienna; Busan Art Museum, South Korea; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon; The State University of New York at Potsdam; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Dallas Museum of Art; and Carlton University, Ottawa. Ushio Shinohara "Trapeze Artists...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Timeline (Gold)
Located in New York, NY
2020 18-color screenprint on wove paper Sheet: 32 7/10 x 40 in. Edition of 55 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Focus
Located in New York, NY
2020 Screenprint in colors, on Arches paper Sheet size: 28 1/2 x 38 in. (72.4 x 96.5 cm) Edition of 55 + 15AP Signed, dated and numbered in pencil on lower margin
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Untitled
Located in New York, NY
2020 Pastel on paper S. 18 x 24 in. Signed and dated in pencil Unframed
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Archival Paper

Untitled
Located in New York, NY
2020 Pastel on paper S. 18 x 24 in. Signed and dated in pencil Unframed
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Archival Paper

Estoril Five I
Located in New York, NY
1982 Relief, woodcut on white TGL handmade, hand-colored paper Sheet: 66 3/4 x 51 1/2 in. Edition of 30 (aside from 10 artist's proofs) Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Woodcut

Cream 1
Located in New York, NY
LEAH DURNER Cream 1, 2011 Gouache on cream Fabriano Tiziano colored paper 39 x 27.5 inches
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Gouache, Archival Paper

Focus
Located in New York, NY
2020 Screenprint in 15 colors with 3 metallic inks on Arches paper 28 1/2 x 38 inches Edition of 55 + 15AP Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Yellow and Violet
Located in Dallas, TX
In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined painti...
Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Yellow Rat Man
Located in Rye, NY
Ford Crull explore the expressive power of personal and cultural symbols in a series of densely painted and vividly colored compositions. He uses identifiable images such as hearts, ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Wax Crayon, Oil

Abstract Expressionist Yellow Toned Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Yellow tonal abstract expressionist painting with a ladder-like object. The canvas is framed in a gold frame. The artist signed and dated the back of the canvas. Dimensions without ...
Category

1990s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

Yellow World
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Giallo
Located in New York, NY
This piece is delicately hand painted with a pen over cardboard. With his unique style and technique, Roberto transfers movement to his art works, making his individual lines connect...
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Ink, Acrylic, Cardboard

2011.63.60 x 72 inches
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Leestemaker, Luc Title: 2011.63.60 x 72 inches Medium: Mixed Media Unframed Dimensions: 60x72 inches Edition: Unique
Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Espacio de Sol - Original Yellow Acrylic and Graphite on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sergio Valenzuela “Valenz” is a contemporary Guatemalan artist who tells stories with everyday objects, primarily expressing them with graphite and acrylic on canvas. His medium to l...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Graphite

CYCLOPHORIA IV
Located in Kansas City, MO
Title: CYCLOPHORIA IV, ca. 1971 Medium: Serigraph Edition: xxx/200 Signed and numbered in graphite by the artist Size: Image: 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in. Overall: 31 3/4 x 31 3/4 in. COA provided Ivan Picelj was a contemporary Croatian painter, sculptor and graphic designer. Picelj developed a specific variation of geometric abstraction in Croatian painting...
Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Abstract art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Sumit Mehndiratta, Giorgio Lo Fermo, Francisco Nicolás, and Dadodu . Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Synthetic Resin Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract art, so small editions measuring 0.02 inches across are also available.

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