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.
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Latex
2010s Abstract Art
Digital, Giclée
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Soft transitions of tonal color create a cloud-like form in this modern abstract painting. Yellow and black provide contrast in the background, while a bold red...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil, Oil Pastel
1980s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Cotton Canvas
1980s Abstract Art
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Woodcut
2010s Abstract Art
Textile
1980s Abstract Art
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Stainless Steel
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Paint, Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Art
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Enamel
2010s Abstract Art
Plaster, Wax, Acrylic, Panel, Pigment
Artist Comments
"This longhorn was located at a ranch in Southern Colorado," shares artist Heather Foster. "I am always amazed by longhorns because I expect them to be clumsy...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic
Artist Comments
I have used grade one Braille as a form for recognizing what is unknowable and unseeable, until we feel it. As a way of connecting sight with feeling, intertwining the two. This piece is meant to be touched, explored, felt. Made in honor of Gerda Klein, after reading her autobiography of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor. In Braille it reads and then there was one, from whom came many. Found, reclaimed and resurrected- an abstract wood relief ;painting; in an assortment of soft and hard woods puzzled together within a salvaged antique window...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Ink
1970s Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Linocut
2010s Abstract Art
Pigment
1990s Abstract Art
Oil, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar paints a panoramic view of Mt. Diablo, a sight visible from her home. She paints a rendition of the mountain with much detail of the surrounding foothills. "I confess I have used my artistic license to have a little fun with the scene," admits Catherine. The title gives the viewer a hint about the creative aspect integrated into the stunning impression.
About the Artist
Impressionist Catherine McCargar expresses her deep admiration of nature through landscape paintings of Northern California...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Watercolor
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1980s Abstract Art
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Granite, Bronze
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Color
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Monotype
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Wood, Plywood, Acrylic, Board
1970s Abstract Art
Oil, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Stainless Steel
2010s Abstract Art
Wood
2010s Abstract Art
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Epoxy Resin, Foam Board
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Ceramic, Wood
2010s Abstract Art
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Digital, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil