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.
1990s Abstract Art
Etching, Aquatint
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil Pastel, House Paint, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Art
Bronze
2010s Abstract Art
Bronze
1990s Abstract Art
Handmade Paper, Aquatint, Intaglio, Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Cotton, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
20th Century Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Cotton, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
1970s Abstract Art
Paper
1980s Abstract Art
Lithograph
20th Century Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Panel
20th Century Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
20th Century Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
2010s Abstract Art
Copper
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic, Glaze
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Glitter, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic, Glaze
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Wax, Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Wool
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Etching
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Thread, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic
2010s Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Acrylic
1970s Abstract Art
Board, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Gouache, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media, Board
2010s Abstract Art
Stainless Steel
2010s Abstract Art
Oil
1980s Abstract Art
Pastel
2010s Abstract Art
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Photographic Paper
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Art
Offset
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Ceramic
2010s Abstract Art
Digital, Giclée
2010s Abstract Art
Sandstone
2010s Abstract Art
Sandstone
2010s Abstract Art
Sandstone
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Canvas
Abstract art for sale on 1stDibs.
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