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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
All I Think About Is You, flowers, wildflowers, landscape, Joan Mitchell, pink
All I Think About Is You, flowers, wildflowers, landscape, Joan Mitchell, pink

All I Think About Is You, flowers, wildflowers, landscape, Joan Mitchell, pink

Located in Jönköping, SE

This painting is from my series titled "The Untethered Soul." This series delves into the transformative power of nature, capturing the essence of what one feels rather than sees. In...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil Crayon, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil

20th Century French Expressionist Blue Track In Bright Forest Tree Landscape
20th Century French Expressionist Blue Track In Bright Forest Tree Landscape

20th Century French Expressionist Blue Track In Bright Forest Tree Landscape

By Akos Biro

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Blue Track by Akos Biro (Hungarian 1911-2002) pastel painting on artist paper, unframed painting: 9 x 12 inches provenance: the artists estate, France Superb original...

Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Pastel

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in San Diego, CA

Abstract bronze sculpture by artist Clyde Ball on cast concrete base. Circa 1970's, signed on base. The patina on this piece is dark, with hints of ...

Category

20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Concrete, Bronze

"Blue Moon" Mixed Media Painting
"Blue Moon" Mixed Media Painting

"Blue Moon" Mixed Media Painting

By Patrick Burns

Located in Chicago, IL

This mixed-media painting by contemporary artist Patrick Burns is a departure from his "Concrete Gardens" flower paintings, yet continues his use of heavy texture and reverberating, ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Concrete

TERRITORIO. Mixed media Abstract painting on Canvas
TERRITORIO. Mixed media Abstract painting on Canvas

TERRITORIO. Mixed media Abstract painting on Canvas

By Alec Franco

Located in Miami Beach, FL

" The work resists framing in concepts, it overflows the contours and borders of the rational. It is through the presence of color, combined with an abstraction at times with express...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Abstract
Abstract

Abstract

Located in Genève, GE

Work on cardboard

Category

20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

Victor (Male Portrait Pool Painting)
Victor (Male Portrait Pool Painting)

Victor (Male Portrait Pool Painting)

By Patrick Terenchin

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Patrick Terenchin (b.1970). Victor, 2025 Oil, acrylic, color pencil on wood panel. Panel measuring 20 x 20 inches inches. Signed, titled, dated on verso. The portrait is from...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

FortWorth, Painting, Oil on Canvas
FortWorth, Painting, Oil on Canvas

FortWorth, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By MARIUSZ MAKULA

Located in Yardley, PA

Original oil on canvas on wooden stretchers, signed on the front. Certificate of authenticity included. :: Painting :: Abstract Expressionism :: This piece comes with an official cer...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Abstract 2457
Abstract 2457

Alex SenchenkoAbstract 2457, 2024

$1,647Sale Price|20% Off

Abstract 2457

By Alex Senchenko

Located in Zofingen, AG

In creating this artwork, I delved into the essence of nature's transformative beauty, merging abstract and impressionistic techniques with energetic strokes of acrylic. This piece s...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

Active Transport

Active Transport

By Franco DeFrancesca

Located in Montreal, Quebec

Resin coated and mounted to layers of plywood, these digital/mixed media ‘picture objects’ represent interpretations of contemporary visual culture charmed by minimalism, modernism...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment

Large Abstract and Collage Painting on Canvas by Dan Teis
Large Abstract and Collage Painting on Canvas by Dan Teis

Large Abstract and Collage Painting on Canvas by Dan Teis

By Dan Teis

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: Dan Teis, American (1925 - 2002) Title: Abstract in Pastels Year: 1979 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 54 x 60 in. (137.16 x 152.4 cm) Frame Size: 55 x 61.5 inches

Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Red Lava Abstract Collagraph
Red Lava Abstract Collagraph

Red Lava Abstract Collagraph

By Winifred Heron

Located in Soquel, CA

Bold collagraph print by Aptos artist Winifred Heron (Italian-American, 1922-2015). The black ink has an iridescent quality. Signed in the lower right corner by the artist and number...

Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Composition pour Eric, Orig Lithograph, Signed, Annotated "Eric Hand" & Dated

Composition pour Eric, Orig Lithograph, Signed, Annotated "Eric Hand" & Dated

By Paul Jenkins

Located in New York, NY

Paul Jenkins (July 12, 1923 – June 9, 2012) The paintings of Paul Jenkins have come to represent the spirit, vitality, and invention of post World War II American abstraction. Employing an unorthodox approach to paint application, Jenkins is as much identified with the process of controlled paint-pouring and canvas manipulation as with the gem-like veils of transparent and translucent color which have characterized his work since the late 1950s. Certificate of Provenance: Each individual work of art carefully curated by Mourlot Editions...

Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

“Dune Watch”
“Dune Watch”

“Dune Watch”

By Syd Solomon

Located in Southampton, NY

Here for your consideration is a very well executed early abstract painting by the well known American artist, Syd Solomon. Oil paint on birch ply panel. Signed middle bottom. Signed, titled and dated 1966 verso. The painting was done in East Hampton, New York where Syd Solomon spent his summers. Condition is excellent. Overall framed measurements are 26 by 31.5 inches. Provenance: A Sarasota, Florida collector. Syd Solomon was born near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1917. He began painting in high school in Wilkes-Barre, where he was also a star football player. After high school, he worked in advertising and took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the war effort and was assigned to the First Camouflage Battalion, the 924th Engineer Aviation Regiment of the US Army. He used his artistic skills to create camouflage instruction manuals utilized throughout the Army. He married Ann Francine Cohen in late 1941. Soon thereafter, in early 1942, the couple moved to Fort Ord in California where he was sent to camouflage the coast to protect it from possible aerial bombings. Sent overseas in 1943, Solomon did aerial reconnaissance over Holland. Solomon was sent to Normandy early in the invasion where his camouflage designs provided protective concealment for the transport of supplies for men who had broken through the enemy line. Solomon was considered one of the best camoufleurs in the Army, receiving among other commendations, five bronze stars. Solomon often remarked that his camouflage experience during World War II influenced his ideas about abstract art. At the end of the War, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Because Solomon suffered frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, he could not live in cold climates, so he and Annie chose to settle in Sarasota, Florida, after the War. Sarasota was home to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and soon Solomon became friends with Arthur Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr., the museum’s first Director. In the late 1940s, Solomon experimented with new synthetic media, the precursors to acrylic paints provided to him by chemist Guy Pascal, who was developing them. Victor D’Amico, the first Director of Education for the Museum of Modern Art, recognized Solomon as the first artist to use acrylic paint. His early experimentation with this medium as well as other media put him at the forefront of technical innovations in his generation. He was also one of the first artists to use aerosol sprays and combined them with resists, an innovation influenced by his camouflage experience. Solomon’s work began to be acknowledged nationally in 1952. He was included in American Watercolors, Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. From 1952–1962, Solomon’s work was discovered by the cognoscenti of the art world, including the Museum of Modern Art Curators, Dorothy C. Miller and Peter Selz, and the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Director, John I. H. Baur. He had his first solo show in New York at the Associated American Artists Gallery in 1955 with “Chick” Austin, Jr. writing the essay for the exhibition. In the summer of 1955, the Solomons visited East Hampton, New York, for the first time at the invitation of fellow artist David Budd...

Category

1960s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Black chic. Abstraction
Black chic. Abstraction

Black chic. Abstraction

By Svetlana Saratova

Located in Zofingen, AG

This painting on a square canvas measuring 40x40 cm is a unique piece of art. It is executed in black tones using various textures such as putty and clay. Some areas of the painting ...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

"Blue Canopy" bright 3d impressionistic painting with flowers on linen canvas
"Blue Canopy" bright 3d impressionistic painting with flowers on linen canvas

"Blue Canopy" bright 3d impressionistic painting with flowers on linen canvas

By Anastassia Skopp 1

Located in Zofingen, AG

“Look at the flowers. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.” — Osho Blue Canopy unfolds like a flowering sky, where delicate branches drift across a luminous blue ground....

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic

Cubist Still Life with Bottles, Abstract Oil on Canvas, 1980s
Cubist Still Life with Bottles, Abstract Oil on Canvas, 1980s

Cubist Still Life with Bottles, Abstract Oil on Canvas, 1980s

Located in London, GB

'Cubist Still Life with Bottles' — Florentine School, oil on canvas mounted on board, (circa 1980s–90s). A table scene of bottles, glassware, fruit, and folded forms is fractured int...

Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Board

Textural Minimalist Abstract Wall Relief in Handmade Paper, Plaster and Natural
Textural Minimalist Abstract Wall Relief in Handmade Paper, Plaster and Natural

Textural Minimalist Abstract Wall Relief in Handmade Paper, Plaster and Natural

By Silvia De Marchi

Located in Barcelona, Barcelona

At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Gesso, Ink, Handmade Paper, Bamboo Paper

Contemporary Minimalist Abstract Painting in Earth Tones by Emma Labattaglia
Contemporary Minimalist Abstract Painting in Earth Tones by Emma Labattaglia

Contemporary Minimalist Abstract Painting in Earth Tones by Emma Labattaglia

By Emma Labattaglia

Located in Barcelona, Barcelona

At Escat Gallery, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection includes a Certificate of Authe...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil, Linen, Charcoal

Bed Rotting I - Expressive Abstract Colorful Figurative Cubist Portrait Painting
Bed Rotting I - Expressive Abstract Colorful Figurative Cubist Portrait Painting

Bed Rotting I - Expressive Abstract Colorful Figurative Cubist Portrait Painting

By Valerie Etitinwo

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Valerie Etitinwo's unique approach to abstract figurative painting celebrates the unconventional beauty found in imperfection and awkwardness. The Nigerian-Swiss artist uses bold col...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Harmony of Resistance
Harmony of Resistance

Harmony of Resistance

Located in Zofingen, AG

Harmony of Resistance Series: "Between States" The painting "Harmony of Resistance" invites the viewer into a space where the boundaries between the static and the fluid become almos...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

White Path - 3D small contemporary abstract round mural sculpture
White Path - 3D small contemporary abstract round mural sculpture

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...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper

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.