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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.

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Style: Abstract
Pink Cosmos Monotype Print, Abstract Art, 2023, Hand-Pulled by the Artist
Pink Cosmos Monotype Print, Abstract Art, 2023, Hand-Pulled by the Artist

Pink Cosmos Monotype Print, Abstract Art, 2023, Hand-Pulled by the Artist

By a.muse

Located in New york, NY

In the artist's abstract print series, Cosmos, 2023 by a.muse represents an imaginary cosmos - the universe as a place of longing, dreams, wonder, and ethereal beauty. A 13.75" x 11"...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Ink, Rag Paper, Monotype, Gouache

Birds-eye view at 10.18AM
Birds-eye view at 10.18AM

Birds-eye view at 10.18AM

Located in Zofingen, AG

This painting invites the viewer to rise above the noise of everyday life and see the world from a higher perspective. From above, the scene unfolds in serene contrast — the vast, te...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled 2 . From Ritmos abstractos (Abstract Rhythms) Series
Untitled 2 . From Ritmos abstractos (Abstract Rhythms) Series

Untitled 2 . From Ritmos abstractos (Abstract Rhythms) Series

Located in Miami Beach, FL

"Abstract Rhythms" invites us to explore the visual universe of the artist Juan Carlos Amador, who, through his unique perspective, translates the pulsations of space and the invisi...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic

Colorful Vermont
Colorful Vermont

Colorful Vermont

Located in Zofingen, AG

Colorful Vermont I created this vivid painting with a symphony of brushstrokes that dance on the canvas, weaving into a tapestry of color and energy. Each stroke is a whisper of emot...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A834 - Original Large Scale Minimalist Contemporary Teal Tone Abstract Painting
A834 - Original Large Scale Minimalist Contemporary Teal Tone Abstract Painting

A834 - Original Large Scale Minimalist Contemporary Teal Tone Abstract Painting

By Marco Schmidli

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Swiss-born artist Marco Schmidli creates large-scale minimalist paintings reminiscent of color field studies with a contemporary edge. Placing emphasis on process, he lets the medium...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Vintage American Cloudy Pastel-Colored Abstract Oil Painting
Vintage American Cloudy Pastel-Colored Abstract Oil Painting

Vintage American Cloudy Pastel-Colored Abstract Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Measuring: 24.5 by 32.5 inches overall and 24 x 32 painting alone. Framed in a wood molding. Excellent condition, read...

Category

20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Assembled Whole. 2
The Assembled Whole. 2

The Assembled Whole. 2

Located in Zofingen, AG

An abstract work from the series “The Assembled Whole.”, continuing the exploration of wholeness emerging from the connection of fragments. The composition is structured through the ...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Ocean's Jewels, Abstract Oil Painting
Ocean's Jewels, Abstract Oil Painting

Ocean's Jewels, Abstract Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A layer of emerald green rests atop a base of purple, pale blue, and white, creating a striking contrast of light and dark. Scratches and marks added while the ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Untitled #542 by Murray Duncan - Contemporary Mixed Media on Paper
Untitled #542 by Murray Duncan - Contemporary Mixed Media on Paper

Untitled #542 by Murray Duncan - Contemporary Mixed Media on Paper

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Untitled #542 by Murray Duncan Mixed media on paper Size: 32" x 40” Unframed, signed A bold mixed-media work with dynamic lines and textures. This captivating piece by Murray Dunc...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Glaze, Oil Pastel, Acrylic

Mosaic like - abstract painting, landscape painting
Mosaic like - abstract painting, landscape painting

Mosaic like - abstract painting, landscape painting

Located in New York, NY

The painting is in a special format - horizontal, wide, and elongated. This artwork was created using a technique reminiscent of pointillism; the painting evokes a colorful mosaic, w...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Ocean Waves #09" Mixed Media Painting

"Ocean Waves #09" Mixed Media Painting

Located in Denver, CO

Ana Hefco's (US based) "Ocean Waves #09" is an original, hand made mixed media painting that depicts an abstracted color field of blue, teal and beige, that is reminiscent of an aerial/satellite image of a coastal beach where the waves crash on shore. Artist Bio and Statement: Born and raised in Bucharest Romania, I am a self-taught dreamer and artist. To dream is my path and to paint is my dream. Lack of control is not my strong suit, but in the painting process things are different. The resin (also known as liquid glass) has a mind of its own and I learn to mindfully let go every time I paint. I allow those liquid color induced emotions I feel to drive me and take lead of my hands and at the end of the process, it’s just music and bliss. My inspiration is always nature's force, balance, perfection in purpose and beauty. It can be a place I travelled or sailed to or just a feeling floating on our boat docked in a Turkish marina or just on anchor nearby a Greek taverna on a remote tiny island in the Mediterranean or Aegean Sea. It can be this artist as a little girl reading...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Resin, Wood, Mixed Media

Interior, large, colorful figural abstract red, orange, blue acrylic of couple
Interior, large, colorful figural abstract red, orange, blue acrylic of couple

Interior, large, colorful figural abstract red, orange, blue acrylic of couple

By Richard Andres

Located in Beachwood, OH

Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Interior, 1976 acrylic on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 50 x 59.5 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller...

Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

"Viridis, " Limited Edition Giclee Print, 30" x 60"
"Viridis, " Limited Edition Giclee Print, 30" x 60"

"Viridis, " Limited Edition Giclee Print, 30" x 60"

By Elwood Howell

Located in Westport, CT

This abstract landscape limited edition print by Elwood Howell features a cool, green and pale blue palette. The artist's signature high horizon line forms a very slight valley at th...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Digital, Giclée

A young girl's dream

A young girl's dream

By Niki de Saint Phalle

Located in Paris, FR

Lithograph, 1972 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 187/300 Publisher : Galerie Putman Printer : Clot, Bramsen & Georges (Paris) Catalog : Chenivesse n°9 Arches Paper W...

Category

1970s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

Aura - Chrome metallic glazed ceramic sculpture
Aura - Chrome metallic glazed ceramic sculpture

Aura - Chrome metallic glazed ceramic sculpture

Located in East Quogue, NY

Hand-pitched chrome metallic glazed ceramic sculpture vessel by Jessamyn Go. White Stoneware, Bronze Metallic Glaze, 8" x 7 x 3.5 inches Jessamyn Go's work is deeply rooted in the ...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Ceramic, Stoneware, Glaze

Light Blue and Brown Chine Colle Watercolor with Found Object Collage
Light Blue and Brown Chine Colle Watercolor with Found Object Collage

Light Blue and Brown Chine Colle Watercolor with Found Object Collage

By Michael Pauker

Located in Soquel, CA

Beautiful abstract expressionist collage by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b.1957). Composed of two contrasting sections of light blue and brown, this piece has layers of ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Found Objects

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Original Oil Painting
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Original Oil Painting

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Original Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 25 by 19 inches overall. Handsomely fr...

Category

1960s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Vibrant Modernist Abstraction by Claire Burch
Vibrant Modernist Abstraction by Claire Burch

Vibrant Modernist Abstraction by Claire Burch

Located in New York, NY

Claire Burch (American, 1925-2009) Untitled, 20th century Oil on canvas 24 x 30 in. Framed: 31 2/3 x 37 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. Signed lower right: Claire Burch After attending grade school in Brooklyn, Burch completed a commercial art course at Washington Irving High School in Manhattan and received her B.A. in English from NYU. In the suburbs of Great Neck, New York, she first began writing poetry and articles which were published in Life magazine, The New Republic, Mademoiselle, McCall's, Saturday Review, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and numerous literary quarterlies and anthologies.[1] Burch also developed a career as a psychiatric writer, publishing two books on the subject: Careers in Psychiatry and Stranger in the Family. In the early 1970s Burch became a playwright and painter. Her play Ten Cents a Dance was optioned to be directed by José Quintero, the famous O'Neill interpreter. Burch wrote a total of seven plays and several folk operas, but eventually moved on to filmmaking and video anthropology—she was an early adapter of video as a medium. In 1978, Burch moved to California with her longtime companion Mark Weiman, publisher and owner of Berkeley's Regent Press. She had endured a series of illnesses and wanted to escape the harsh climate of Manhattan. Burch gained insight and inspiration from insanity and the often unexpected behavior associated with it. She would often videotape homeless people in People's Park and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, which were collected in her film People's Park in Berkeley: Then and Now. The film documented the dispute between homeless activists and the University of California from the riots of 1969 through 1996 by interviewing park "regulars," and profiling the events surrounding the deaths of park supporters James Rector and Rosebud Denovo.[2] She also produced documentaries on noted cultural figures such as James Baldwin (whom she knew as a teenager), Timothy Leary and Country Joe McDonald. Also of note was Oracle Rising, a film about the legendary psychedelic newspaper The SF Oracle published in the Haight-Ashbury district during the Summer of Love. Her last completed film was Elegy for the Naked Guy...

Category

20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Gold Spot Vines#1, Original Painting, Abstract art
Gold Spot Vines#1, Original Painting, Abstract art

Gold Spot Vines#1, Original Painting, Abstract art

Located in Deddington, GB

This one has super amounts of texture with many gold rings around my spot flowers in relief Pings of grey and blue and burgundy and green Additional information: Acrylic paint, Gold...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

The Assembled Whole. 3
The Assembled Whole. 3

The Assembled Whole. 3

Located in Zofingen, AG

This painting is done in an abstract style on canvas using various textures and geometric shapes. The composition features predominantly gray and lilac tones with touches of beige, c...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Forces of Nature 21 - Textural Abstract Thick Paint Layered Artwork on Canvas
Forces of Nature 21 - Textural Abstract Thick Paint Layered Artwork on Canvas

Forces of Nature 21 - Textural Abstract Thick Paint Layered Artwork on Canvas

By Len Klikunas

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Len Klikunas paints minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. The Blocks series is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and scu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media

Composition, Basket Series, Dale Chihuly
Composition, Basket Series, Dale Chihuly

Composition, Basket Series, Dale Chihuly

By Dale Chihuly

Located in Fairfield, CT

Artist: Dale Chihuly (1941) Title: Composition, Basket Series Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Arches Aquarelle paper Size: 42 x 30 inches Inscription: Signed and dated by the artist No...

Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

One Way or Another
One Way or Another

One Way or Another

Located in Brooklyn, NY

This black and white abstract acrylic painting is inspired by the mid-century masters like Franz Kline. Framed in a beautiful wood frame, wired and ready to hang, 17 in. wide x 21 in...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

Arroyo Grove, c. 1940s
Arroyo Grove, c. 1940s

Arroyo Grove, c. 1940s

By Samuel Hyde Harris

Located in Pasadena, CA

Consigned to American Legacy Fine Arts by H&N Fine Art as part of the Katherine A. Norris Legacy Collection, Newport Beach, California; Bonham’s California, April 11, 2005, lot 205, sold for $7,000; Estate of Sam Harris Signed "Sam Hyde Harris...

Category

1940s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil, Panel, Masonite

Children fishing in a Creek (PA Impressionist landscape painting)
Children fishing in a Creek (PA Impressionist landscape painting)

Children fishing in a Creek (PA Impressionist landscape painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Roy Nuse (1885-1975) Children Fishing by a Creek, 1923 Oil on panel measuring 12 x 16 inches. Overall measurement with frame 17.5 x 21.5 inches. Signed and dated with monogram low...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Monochrome Large Orange Abstract Painting on Canvas Gabriela Meunie
Monochrome Large Orange Abstract Painting on Canvas Gabriela Meunie

Monochrome Large Orange Abstract Painting on Canvas Gabriela Meunie

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

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Nick Thomm - GHOSTS (BLUE)

Nick Thomm - GHOSTS (BLUE)

Located in FITZROY, VIC

Nick Thomm 'GHOSTS' (Blue) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 199 Hand Signed and Numbered #113 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW. Wo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Giclée, Archival Pigment

Ray of Light 1
Ray of Light 1

Ray of Light 1

By Amy Van Winkle

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Encaustic on panel. It's simple; I create art because it makes me happy. I try not to overthink the process of what I’m painting and let my intuition be my guide. I love laying do...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art

Materials

Encaustic

Abstract 2297
Abstract 2297

Alex SenchenkoAbstract 2297, 2022

$2,094Sale Price|20% Off

Abstract 2297

Located in Zofingen, AG

This high quality acrylic painting is done on gallery wrapped canvas, with no need for framing, as the edges are painted. You will receive it "ready to hang", with a hook on the back...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

Capulin Volcano
Capulin Volcano

Capulin Volcano

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Lynn Sanders is an artist excited by beauty: architecture, foliage, landscapes, seascapes, interiors. She finds palettes and shapes in her environment and propels them into her work,...

Category

2010s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic Polymer, Ink, Acrylic

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.