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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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Period: 1980s
Style: Abstract
5745, for the Jewish Museum original signed/n abstract expressionist screenprint
Located in New York, NY
Nancy Graves 5745, for the Jewish Museum, 1984 Silkscreen on paper Signed, numbered 5/90 and dated in graphite pencil on the front; bears publishers' blind stamp front left corner 30 1/4 × 40 1/2 inches Unframed Commissioned by the Mr. and Mrs. Albert A. List Graphic Fund for The Jewish Museum, New York Signed, numbered and dated in graphite pencil on the front; bears publishers' blind stamp front left corner. Commissioned by the Mr. and Mrs. Albert A. List New Year's Graphic Fund for The Jewish Museum, New York. During the 1980s, various artists were commissioned to create a print celebrating the Jewish New Year. This is the silkscreen renowned sculptor Nancy Graves created to celebrate the year 5745 of the Jewish Calendar, beginning in September 1984 (Rosh Hashanah). This work was published in a limited edition of 90. The number 90 has special significance in Jewish gamatria (numerology) for several reasons, including the fact that it equals five times life - or Chai. The number for Chai, meaning "Life " s 18, and 18 x 5 = 90. This is a magical number in Judaism. All of the works were published in editions that were multiples of 18, or the Life. In her lifetime, Nancy Graves did not receive the renown or acknowledgement that her ex-husband and former Yale School of Art classmate Richard Serra did, but she is finally getting the recognition she richly deserves. Biography: Nancy Graves (1939 – 1995) is an American artist of international renown. A prolific cross-disciplinary artist, Graves developed a sustained body of sculptures, paintings, drawings, watercolors, and prints. She also produced five avant-garde films and created innovative set designs. Born in Pittsfield Massachusetts, Graves graduated from Vassar College in 1961. She then earned an MFA in painting at Yale University in 1964, where her classmates included Robert Mangold, Rackstraw Downes, Brice Marden, Chuck Close, as well as Richard Serra with whom she was married from 1964 to 1970. Five years after graduating, her career was launched in 1969 when she was the youngest artist — and only the fifth woman — to be selected for a solo presentation at the Whitney Museum of Art. Graves’ work was subsequently featured in hundreds of museum and gallery exhibitions worldwide, including several solo museum exhibitions. She was awarded commissions for large-scale site-specific sculptures and her work is in the permanent collections of major art museums. A frequent lecturer and guest artist, her work was widely documented during her lifetime. In 1991 she married veterinarian Dr. Avery Smith. Graves travelled extensively and was fully engaged with the cultural and intellectual issues of her times. Her brilliant career and life were cut short by her untimely death from cancer at age 54. From a point of view that she described as “objective,” Graves transformed scientific sources, such as maps and diagrams, into artworks by re-producing their complex visual information in detailed paintings and drawings. Investigating the intersections between art and scientific disciplines, Graves created compelling, formally rigorous, yet ultimately expressive works of art that examine concepts of repetition, variation, verisimilitude, and the presentation and perception of visual information. Based in SoHo, New York, Graves gained prominence in the late 1960s as a post-Minimalist artist for innovative camel, fossil, totem, and bone sculptures that were hand formed and assembled from unusual materials such as fur, burlap, canvas, plaster, latex, wax, steel, fiberglass and wood. Made in reaction to Pop and Minimalism, these works reference archaeological sites, anthropology, and natural science displays. Suspended from the ceiling or clustered directly on the floor, these early sculptures also engage with Conceptualist ideas of display. For her Whitney Museum presentation Graves exhibited three seemingly realistic sculptures of camels in an installation that evoked taxidermy specimens and questioned issues of verisimilitude in art and science, particularly in light of their hand patched and painted fur surfaces. The exhibition elicited wide spread critical responses and established her artistic significance. After intensely engaging with sculpture in the early 1970s, Graves returned to painting. Her detailed pointillist canvasses re-produced — in paint — images culled from documentary nature photographs, NASA satellite recordings, and Lunar maps, commingling scientific exactitude with abstraction. Resuming sculpture in the late 1970s, Graves was among the first contemporary artists to experiment with bronze casting. She re-invigorated the traditional lost wax technique by assembling cast found objects into unique improbably balanced sculptures, with bright polychrome surfaces and distinctive patinas. Throughout the 1980s Graves became widely recognized for her increasingly large and graceful open-form sculpture commissions. At the same time, she also expanded her drawing, painting, and printmaking practice and made large gestural watercolors. Then, in the late 1980s she created wall-mounted works that combined her explorations of sculpture, painting, form and color. In these large-scale pieces, she mounted high relief polychrome sculptural elements to the surfaces and edges of painted shaped canvases so that patterned shadows were cast onto the paintings and surrounding wall. By the 1990s Graves was casting in glass, resin, paper, aluminum, and bronze, combining these varied materials and colors into daring sculptures with moving parts. As she proceeded in all the media she mastered, Graves increasingly re interpreted and transmuted forms sourced from her own earlier artwork — rather than from outside research — creating elaborate compositions that form a layered a-temporal archaeology of her own visual production. Nancy Graves’ pioneering art...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Graphite, Screen

Patricia Zippin "Temescal 3" 1980s Abstract Painting Academie Julian Paris
Located in Arp, TX
Patricia Zippin Temescal 3 1980s Mixed Media 30.5"x 22.5", unframed Signed in paint on bottom right and signed and titled on reverse in pencil Patricia Jayne Zippin (1930-2015) She ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Encaustic, Acrylic, Pencil

Untitled- Offset and Lithograph after Willem De Kooning - 1985
Located in Roma, IT
Untitled is an offset and lithograph print realized on Fabriano Paper after a drawing by Willem De Kooning 1950. The print suite was realized in 1985 in a limited edition of 2500, a...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Across the Water - calm, expressive, abstracted waterscape, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
In this serene painting by one of Canada’s leading landscape artists, Pat Service deconstructs the elements of a view across a lake in summer. The form is abstracted, and the colours...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Gemini mixed media on canvas painting Abstract Expressionism
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
TECHNICAL SHEET Title: Gemini Artist: Svetla Georgieva Technique: Mixed media (oil and material) on canvas Dimensions: 21.6 x 18.1 in Framing: Unframed Year: 1989 Style: Abstract Ex...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

John Chamberlain, Signed Western Union cable re: sculpture show at Leo Castelli
Located in New York, NY
John Chamberlain Hand Signed Letter re: Leo Castelli Exhibition, 1982 Typewriter on paper (hand signed) 6 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches Hand-signed by artist, Signed in purple felt tip marker Hand signed telegraph/letter refers to Chamberlain's exhibition at the legendary Leo Castell Gallery. A piece of history! John Chamberlain Biography John Chamberlain (1927 – 2011) was a quintessentially American artist, channeling the innovative power of the postwar years into a relentlessly inventive practice spanning six decades. He first achieved renown for sculptures made in the late 1950s through 1960s from automobile parts—these were path-breaking works that effectively transformed the gestural energy of Abstract Expressionist painting into three dimensions. Ranging in scale from miniature to monumental, Chamberlain’s compositions of twisted, crushed, and forged metal also bridged the divide between Process Art and Minimalism, drawing tenets of both into a new kinship. These singular works established him as one of the first American artists to determine color as a natural component of abstract sculpture. From the late 1960s until the end of his life, Chamberlain harnessed the expressive potential of an astonishing array of materials, which varied from Plexiglas, resin, and paint, to foam, aluminum foil, and paper bags. After spending three years in the United States Navy during World War II, Chamberlain enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago and Black Mountain College, where he developed the critical underpinnings of his work. Chamberlain lived and worked in many parts of the United States, moving between New York City, Long Island, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Connecticut, and Sarasota, before finally settling on Shelter Island. In many ways, each location provoked a distinct material sensibility, often defined by the availability of that material or the limitations of physical space. In New York City, Chamberlain pulled scrap metal and twelve-inch acoustic tiles from the ceiling of his studio apartment. He chose urethane in Los Angeles in 1965 (a material he had been considering for many years), and film in Mexico in 1968. He eventually returned to metal in 1972, and, in Sarasota, he expanded the scale of his works to make his iconic Gondolas (1981 – 1982). The movement of the artist and the subsequent evolution of the work is indicative not only of a kind of American restlessness but also of Chamberlain’s own personal evolution: he sometimes described his use of automobile materials as sculptural self-portraits, infused with balance and rhythm characteristic of the artist himself. Chamberlain refused to separate color from his practice, saying, ‘I never thought of sculpture without color. Do you see anything around that has no color? Do you live in a world with no color?’. He both honored and assigned value to color in his practice—in his early sculptures color was not added, but composed from the preexisting palette of his chosen automobile parts. Chamberlain later began adding color to metal in 1974, dripping and spraying—and sometimes sandblasting—paint and lacquer onto his metal components prior to their integration. With his polyurethane foam works, color was a variable of light: ultraviolet rays or sunlight turned the material from white to amber. It was this profound visual effect that brought the artist’s personal Abstract Expressionist hand into industrial three-dimensional sculpture. Chamberlain moved seamlessly through scale and volume, creating material explorations in monumental, heavy-gauge painted aluminum foil in the 1970s, and later in the 1980s and 1990s, miniatures in colorful aluminum foil and chromium painted steel. Central to Chamberlain’s works is the notion that sculpture denotes a great deal of weight and physicality, disrupting whatever space it occupies. In the Barges series (1971 – 1983) he made immense foam couches, inviting spectators to lounge upon the cushioned landscape. At the end of his career, Chamberlain shifted his practice outdoors, and through a series of determined experiments, finally created brilliant, candy-colored sculptures in twisted aluminum foil. In 2012, four of these sculptures were shown outside the Seagram Building in New York, accompanied by playful titles such as ‘PINEAPPLESURPRISE’ (2010) and ‘MERMAIDSMISCHIEF’ (2009). These final works exemplify Chamberlain’s lifelong dedication to change—of his materials, of his practice, and, consequently, of American Art. Chamberlain has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including two major Retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York NY in 2012 and 1971; ‘John Chamberlain, Squeezed and Tied. Foam and Paper Sculptures 1969-70,’ Dan Flavin Art Institute, Dia Center for the Arts, Bridgehampton NY (2007); ‘John Chamberlain. Foam Sculptures 1966–1981, Photographs 1989–2004,’ Chinati Foundation, Marfa TX (2005); ‘John Chamberlain. Current Work and Fond Memories, Sculptures and Photographs 1967–1995,’ Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Traveling Exhibition) (1996); and ‘John Chamberlain. Sculpture, 1954–1985,’ Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles CA (1986). Chamberlain’s sculptures are part of permanent exhibitions at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa TX and at Dia:Beacon in upstate New York. In 1964, Chamberlain represented the United States in the American Pavilion at the 32nd International Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. He received many awards during his life, including a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit (2010); the Distinction in Sculpture Honor from the Sculpture Center, New York (1999); the Gold Medal from The National Arts Club Award, New York (1997); the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture by the International Sculpture Center, Washington D.C. (1993); and the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, New York NY (1993). -Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Leo Castelli Leo Castelli was born in 1907 in Trieste, a city on the Adriatic sea, which, at the time, was the main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Leo’s father, Ernest Kraus, was the regional director for Austria-Hungary’s largest bank, the Kreditandstalt; his mother, Bianca Castelli, was the daughter of a Triesten coffee merchant. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the Kraus family relocated to Vienna where Leo continued his education. A particularly memorable moment for Leo during this period of his life was the funeral of Emperor Francis Joseph which he witnessed in November of 1916. Leo and his family returned to Trieste when the war ended in 1918. With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Trieste embraced its new Italian identity. Motivated by this shift Ernest decided to adopt his wife's more Italian-sounding maiden name, Castelli, which his children also assumed. In many ways the Castelli’s return Trieste after the war marked an optimistic new beginning for the family. Ernest was made director of the Banca Commerciale Italiana, which had replaced the Kreditandstalt as the top bank in Trieste. This elevated position allowed Ernest and Bianca to cultivate a cosmopolitan life-style. Together they hosted frequent parties which brought them in contact with a spectrum of political, financial, and cultural luminaries. Growing up in such an environment fostered in Leo and his two siblings, Silvia and Giorgio, a strong appreciation of high culture. During this time Leo developed a passion for Modern literature and perfected his fluency in German, French, Italian, and English. After earning his law degree at the University of Milan in 1932, Leo began his adult life as an insurance agent in Bucharest. Although Leo found the job unfulfilling and tedious, the people he met in Bucharest made up for this deficiency. Among the most significant of Leo’s acquaintances during this time was the eminent businessman, Mihail Shapira. Leo eventually became friendly with the rest of the Shapira family and in 1933 he married Mihail's youngest daughter, Ileana. In 1934 Leo and Ileana moved to Paris where, thanks to his step-father’s influence, Leo was able to get a job in the Paris branch of the Banca d'Italia. In the same year, Leo met the interior designer René Drouin, who became his close friend. In the spring of 1938, while walking through the Place Vendôme, Leo and René came across a storefront for rent between the Ritz hotel and a Schiaparelli boutique. The space immediately impressed them as an ideal location for an art gallery, a plan which became reality the following spring in 1939. The Drouin Gallery opened with an exhibition featuring painting and furniture by Surrealist artists including Léonor Fini, Augene Berman, Meret Oppenheim, Max Ernst, and Salvador Dali. Despite the success of this initial exhibition, the gallery proved short-lived. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 marking the start of World War II and consequently the temporary end of the Drouin gallery. René was called to serve in the French army, while Leo, Ileana, and their three-year-old daughter Nina moved to the relative safety of Cannes, where Ileana’s family owned a summer house. As the war escalated, it became evident that Europe was no longer safe for the Castelli family—Leo and Ileana were both Jewish. In March of 1941, Leo, Ileana and Nina fled to New York bringing with them Nina’s nurse Frances and their dog, Noodle. After a year of moving around the city, the family took up permanent residence at 4 East 77 Street in a townhouse Mihail had bought. Nine months after his arrival in New York, in December of 1943, Leo volunteered for the US army, expediting his naturalization as a US citizen. Owing to his facility with languages, Leo was assigned to serve in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corp, a position which he held for two years, until February 1946. While on military leave in 1945 Leo visited Paris and stopped by Place Vendôme gallery where René had once more set up business selling work by European avant-garde artists such as Jean Dubuffet and Jean Fautrier. The meeting not only rekindled René and Leo’s friendship but also the latter’s interest in art dealing, a pursuit which Leo began to view as more than a mere hobby but as a potential career. After reconnecting, the two friends decided to go back into partnership with Leo acting as the New York representative for the Drouin Gallery. Working in this capacity, Leo began to form relationships with some of the New York art world’s most influential figures, including Peggy Guggenhiem, Sydney Janis, Willem De Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. By the late 40s Leo’s ties with René Drouin had begun to slacken, while his alliance with the dealer Sydney Janis became closer. Janis opened his New York gallery in 1948 and in 1950 invited Leo to curate an exhibition of contemporary French and American artists. The show drew a significant connection between the venerable tradition of European Modernism and the emerging artists of the New York School. Not long after this, in 1951, Leo was asked by these same New York School artists to organize the groundbreaking Ninth Street Show. This exhibition was instrumental in establishing Abstract Expressionism as the preeminent art movement of the post-war era. Leo founded his own gallery in 1957, transforming the living room on the fourth floor of the 77th Street townhouse into an exhibition space. Perhaps the most critical moment of Leo’s career occurred later that year, when he first visited the studios of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. In 1958 Leo gave Johns and Rauschenberg solo shows, in January and March respectively. For Johns, this was the first solo show of his career. These exhibitions received wide critical acclaim, solidifying Leo’s reputation not only as a dealer but as the arbiter of a new and important art movement. Over the course of the 1960s Leo played a formative role in launching the careers of many of the most significant artists of the twentieth century including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenberg, Cy Twombly, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra, Joseph Kosuth and Lawrence Weiner. Through his support of these artists Leo likewise helped cultivate and define the movements of Pop, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Post-Minimalism. As business expanded over the course of the 60s and artistic trends shifted in favor of larger artworks, Leo realized that his townhouse gallery was not sufficient to meet these new demands. Indicative of the trend toward maximal art...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Ink, Lithograph, Offset

Two Dogs Pass, Large Four Part Abstract Painting by Donald Sultan 1988
Located in Long Island City, NY
A monumental unique painting in four 48 x 48 inch panels by Donald Sultan. Artist: Donald Sultan, American (1951 - ) Title: Two Dog Pass Year: January 12th, 1988 Medium: Tar and L...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Latex, Wood, Tar

VEDRA IBIZA No.2 Large Abstract Expressionist Color Field Acrylic Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
size is without frame. This is being sold without frame. Bright, vivid, large Abstract Expressionist color field painting. Similar in manner t the colorful abstract works of Paul Jen...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper

Abstract Color Field Gradient Lithograph Eric Orr Poligrafia Barcelona LA Artist
Located in Surfside, FL
Eric Orr, (American 1939-1998) In Barcelona, 1989, Color lithograph, hand signed in pencil and numbered from edition of 75 sheet 30 x 22", Published by Poligrafia Eric Orr (1939–1...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

Boats Near Shore - Abstracted Seascape
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstracted seascape of three boats near the shore with broad, painterly strokes of blue, turquoise, and neutrals by Robert Canete (American, b. 1948). Signed lower right. Image: 16"H...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

"Cliff's Formation" - Modernist Geometric Abstracted Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous abstracted geometric landscape titled, "Cliff's Formation" by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999), 1984. Unframed. Signed and dated lower right "Loran '84" and titled "Cliff's ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Red Sky, Minimalist Abstract Screenprint by John Stritch
Located in Long Island City, NY
John Stritch was an American artist best known for his abstract and sculptural work. "Red Sky" features an abstracted and simplified red landscape. This screen...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right 24 x 20 inches 25 x 21 inches, framed Richard Andres was born in B...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Frank Stella Hand Signed 93/100 Whitney Museum Lithograph Abstract Expressionist
Located in New York, NY
Frank Stella Large Limited Edition Hand Signed Whitney Museum Print, 1985 Offset Lithograph Hand signed, dated and numbered 93 from the edition of 100, lower left front 75 7/10 × 52 ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Carabela Yellow Abstract Sculpture
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Carabela sculpture, signed and dated, edition 20/60 with certificate. Edgar Negret was born in 1920-2012 Colombia. He studied at the School of Fine Arts ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Metal

Grey Open
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American artists that radically defined abstraction and establish...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Etching

Large Abstract Expressionist Color Monotype, Oil Painting Tom Lieber
Located in Surfside, FL
Tom Alan Lieber, (American, born 1949), GTW #11 -7, 1986, Oil and mixed media on paper, 30.25 x 44 inches, Hand signed and dated lower right Provenance: Garner Tullis Workshop, ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil, Monotype

To Celebrate Childhood - Entally, Yellow Light
Located in Greenwich, CT
An entrancing work about the artists childhood trip to Entally, India! A master abstractionist having spent years in Mexico with famous artists such as Rufino Tamayo - this artist had a way of presenting feelings through color and revertive brushwork. Here his childhood memory is colored in yellow - a color which speaks of his warm and rich experience which remained etched in a vivid way in his mind even in later years. He had a technique of sponging over and over dabs of paint and thru sponging could create rhythmic dots that pulsate and make his canvases glow and feel alive. He did a series of work called "To Celebrate a Childhood" and this one has a curious draw to it. It is complimented by a high quality silvered leaf frame that allows the yellow to function and glow. It measures 27 x 35 inches inside the frame and is signed with the artists cache on the back along with the estates inventory #. This work as one can see from our in-situ photo - enlivens a room and brings a positivity and welcoming aspect to a room. Would be great too with wood tones or just about any interior as yellow is a color to punctuate with yet there is a lot of detail within this canvas that draws a viewer in to take a closer look! Its provenance is estate of the artist to Messums Gallery in London. To Celebrate A Childhood-Entally, 1985 another of Michael Forster...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Colorful Acrylic Modern Primitive Portrait by Edward Lewis
Located in Pasadena, CA
Born in Rollis, Minnesota, the Colorist Edward R. Lewis enjoyed a long career as a painter, prolific in watercolor, oil, and acrylic. He also dedicated his life to teaching the arts and spent the majority of his artistic career as an art professor holding positions at Sioux Falls College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and at Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri) in Warrensburg, Missouri. His vibrant canvases often ask the viewer to make a quantum leap...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

RED PRISM
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Vasa Mihich is a renowned Los Angeles-based artist known for his sleek, colorful and captivating acrylic sculptures. He is a Senior Professor of Design at the University of Californi...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic Polymer

The King, abstract expressionist painting by Cleveland School artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 The King of Diamonds Accepts Challenges, 1982 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 47.5 x 47.5 in...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

ORIGINAL Mexican MIXED MEDIA Painting MUJER ROJO SENTADAS
Located in New York, NY
The Costa Rican artist Francisco Zuniga (1912-1998) took, for a short while, drawing lessons at the Art School of San Jos, before he worked from 1928 to 1934 in his father's business...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Pastel

A Pyramid
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) is an important contributor to the 20th century's most cerebral "isms" notably minimalism and conceptual art. Many of his works were created from elaborate a...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Large Abstract Expressionist Color Monotype Oil Painting Tom Lieber Mixed Media
Located in Surfside, FL
Tom Alan Lieber, (American, born 1949), GTW #11 -7, 1986, Oil and mixed media on paper, 30.25 x 44 inches, Hand signed and dated lower right Provenance: Garner Tullis Workshop, ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil, Monotype

Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Large Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted mid century abstract expressionist painting. Signed on the back. Framed. Great color and movement.
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Spring Field
Located in London, GB
Larry Poons Spring Field 1989 Acrylic on canvas 39.37 x 95.25 cms (15 1/2 x 37 1/2 ins) LP10155
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Acrylic

"Fiesta" 1982 Silkscreen
Located in Arp, TX
Roy Ahlgren "Fiesta" 1982 Silkscreen on Paper 26"x 18" site, 29.75" x 22.25" paper Signed and Dated in Pencil, Bottom Right Limited Edition 92/130 Roy Ahlgren (1927-2011) Algren wa...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Screen

Elegy Black Black, a beautiful lithography from Motherwell's elegy series
Located in London, GB
Robert Motherwell Elegy Black Black 1983 Lithograph in colors, on TGL handmade paper, Edition of 98< AP XI/XVI 38.1 x 95.9 cms (15 x 37 4/5 ins) extract from the catalogue raisonné...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

Terres Rouges
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed lower right, signed, dated, and titled verso. 59 x 62.75 in. 60.75 x 64.5 in. (framed) Custom framed in a matte white hardwood floater, with gilded metallic front. Roger Mühl was born on December 20, 1929 in Strausbourg, France, where he attended the National School of Decorative Arts. He spent most of his life living and working in Provence, while regularly exhibiting in London, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, and New York. Mühl is best known for his brightly colored, heavily textured landscape renderings of the south of France. His bucolic paintings...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

American Abstract Expressionist Artist Melissa Meyer Oil Painting Flaming Heart
Located in Surfside, FL
MELISSA MEYER (American, b. 1946), ''Bleeding Heart'', 1982, Oil and wax (encaustic) on canvas, Signed to canvas verso. Canvas 39-1/4''h, 31-3/4''w. Melissa Meyer (born May 4,...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Wax, Oil

" La pensée " unic prototype
Located in CANNES, FR
Jean Michel FOLON . Né en Belgique , Jean michel Folon suit des cours de design industriel dans les années 50. Il s'embarque des l'age de 21 ans pour la France à Bougival où il vit comme dessinateur de presse pour des magazines belges . c'est en démarchant des revues new-yorkaises qu'il connait son premier grand succès . dans les années 80 , il s'installe sur la Côte d'Azur , Il travaille comme affichiste pour des ONG comme l'unicef ou GREENPEACE .en 1990 , poussé par CESAR il se lance dans la sculpture . 4ème Epreuve d'essai " la Pensée...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Ceramic

Art 6 '75
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Antoni Tapies Title: Art 6 '75 Year: 1975 Medium: Lithograph Signed and numbered 114/150 bottom left with publisher's blindstamp In excellent condition. Dimensions: 35.25 x ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Sierra Country", Abstracted Landscape Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
Vibrant abstract landscape watercolor titled "Sierra Country" by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999), 1984. Titled, signed, and dated on verso. Presented in a painted metal frame, without glass. Image, 23"H x 31"L. Measures: 30"H x 37"W. Erle Loran was a modernist of urban and coastal views and geometric painting. Erle Loran was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art under the direction of Cameron Booth...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Pink Ice, Contemporary Cast Glass Sculpture by David Ruth
Located in Long Island City, NY
Pink Ice David Ruth, American Portfolio: Sea Passage Series Date: 1980 Cast Glass, Signed Edition of AP Size: 9 x 4 x 5 in. (22.86 x 10.16 x 12.7 cm)
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Glass

NOLAND (Hand Signed), rare Chevron color field print, acquired from the artist
Located in New York, NY
Kenneth Noland NOLAND (Hand Signed), 1986 High Quality Continuous Tone (No Dots) Lithographic Poster on thick paper. Hand signed and dated by Kenneth Noland on the front. Published by R. H. Love Galleries, Inc, Distributed by Jannes Art Publishing, Chicago, USA, Designed by Bobbye Cochran and Associates, Printed by Black Box Collotype, Continious-Tone Printers, Chicago, USA Vintage frame included Uniquely signed. True collectible when hand signed. This exquisite collectors' item - an original collotype-continuous tone Kenneth Noland was published in 1987 by the R. Love Gallery, Chicago. It depicts one of Noland's classic Chevron paintings...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Spanish Artist signed limited edition original art print numbered lithograph n24
Located in Miami, FL
Antoni Tapies (Spain, 1923-2012) 'Improvisations en blanc i negre V', 1987 lithograph on paper Velin Arches 250 g. 41.4 x 29.7 in. (105 x 75.2 cm.) Edition of 60 Unframed ID: TAP1162...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

French Extra-Large Dark Blue And Red Abstract Dramatic Contemporary Painting
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
Extra-large dramatic painting from 1985 by Francois Boissiere (1956 - )
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil

Joan Kahn Rome Vibrant Bold Color Abstract Expressionist Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
Oil paint on heavy tar paper. Hand signed and dated verso. Joan Kahn (USA 1953-) grew up in New York City; Princeton, New Jersey; and Vermont; in an environment that patronized the arts. At home her father, a professor, and mother, a state economist and homemaker, collected nineteenth and twentieth century drawings and prints, Middle eastern rugs, and ceramics, pewter, and old tools. Her grandfather, Max Westfield, was an academically trained portrait painter and her great uncle was a well-known gallery owner and art dealer in pre-World War II Germany. One of the influential experiences of Joan’s youth was visiting her grandfather in his studio in Tennessee where the family had first immigrated. Growing up near New York, and spending a year in Paris during high school, provided formative visits to museums and galleries. Joan was academically talented in grade and high school, but after her father’s death during her first years at university she found herself concentrating on studio and history of art. It was a subject above others absorbed and concentrated her focus. Influential in Joan’s development and later work are the historic movements of the Bauhaus and Modernist design and architecture, geometric art and design of diverse cultures, Color Field Painting. Many artists have had a impact on her work, such as Paul Klee, Piet Mondrian, Sonia Delaunay, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Antoni Tapies, David Smith, John McLaughlin, Tony Smith, Louise Nevelson, Robert Mangold, Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, Valerie Jaudon, Jasper Johns, James Turrell, Robert Irwin, Vija Celmins, Caio Fonseca, Peter Halley, Ed Moses, Juan Usle, and Nancy Haynes...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil

Lettres
Located in Paris, FR
Engraving, 1989 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered II/XXVI Printer : Atelier pasnic (Paris) 75.00 cm. x 56.00 cm. 29.53 in. x 22.05 in. (paper) Moulin Laroque paper Ce...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Engraving

Werkubersicht/Work-Overview F
Located in New York, NY
Leon Polk Smith (1906 -1996) holds a unique place in a long tradition of American geometric abstract painting. Born near Chikasha, a Native American territory later annexed by the U....
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Image D’Un Ete, 1981 Signed Lithograph Artist Proof
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Guillaume Corneille Image D'Un Ete 1981 Print, Signed Lithograph on wove paper 25.5 x 19.5 " inches Signed in pencil and dated and marked AP 16/25 (artist proof) Hinges attached from...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

'Abstract in Coral and Jade', Chouinard Institute, LACMA, MGM studios, Osaka
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Inman' for Robert Inman (American, 1927–2016) and dated, beneath the mat, 1981. Matted dimensions: 20 x 30 inches. Robert Inman first...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Gouache, Illustration Board

Abstract Composition T1, 1982 - gouache-mixed media, 73x102 cm, framed
Located in Nice, FR
Gouache on paper and technic mixed, signed lower left.
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Abstract Composition, Gouache and Watercolor by Stan Brodsky
By Stan Brodsky
Located in Long Island City, NY
Abstract Composition Stan Brodsky American (1925–2019) Gouache and Watercolor on Paper Size: 17 x 14.5 in. (43.18 x 36.83 cm) Frame Size: 23 x 20.25 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Richard Anusziewicz Annual Edition. Limited Ed. Op Art silkscreen on masonite
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Annual Edition, 1987-1988 Limited edition silkscreen on masonite Signed and dated by the artist lower right in pencil Frame Included (floated within a box frame)...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Masonite, Screen

Textured Mixed Media Abstract Landscape
By Annis Allen
Located in Soquel, CA
Textured abstract landscape achieved through layered materials by Annis Allen (American, 1922-2018). Signed by the artist, lower left: "Annis Allen." Presented in a dark mauve paint...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Foil, Gold

Abstract Skyscrapers, Aquatint Etching by Martha Diamond
By Martha Diamond
Located in Long Island City, NY
Martha Diamond (1944-2023) was a Contemporary American painter best known for cityscape abstractions in sweeping, gestural brush strokes. Skyscrapers is...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Aquatint

Toscane II, Abstract Painting by Jeanick Buoys
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Jeanick Bouys, French (1950 - ) Title: Toscane II Year: 1988 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed verso Size: 52 x 42 inches
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ardoise
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1981 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 29/75 50.00 cm. x 64.70 cm. 19.69 in. x 25.47 in. (paper) 29.50 cm. x 39.50 cm. 11.61 in. x 15.55 in. (image) LCD4393
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

I Am Here In The World 1981 Signed Limited Edition Screen Print
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Sharon Sutton I Am Here In The World - 1981 Print - Silkscreen print on Somerset Paper paper size 29.5'' x 29.5'' inches Edition: Signed, titled and numbered in pencil 190/200 Sha...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Chicago International Art Exposition, Abstract Expressionist Poster, Sam Francis
Located in Long Island City, NY
Sam Francis, American (1923 - 1994) - Chicago International Art Exposition, Year: 1989, Medium: Poster, Size: 56.5 x 36.5 in. (143.51 x 92.71 cm), Printer: Black Box Collotype ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Offset

Vintage American School Signed Nude Abstract Interior Scene Framed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American school modernist interior nude painting. Watercolor and gouache and pastel on paper. Signed. Framed. Image size, 13L x 19H.
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Wyoming Gold Diggings, Large Scale Modern Abstract Geometric Landscape #3
Located in Soquel, CA
Wyoming Gold Diggings, Large Scale Modern Abstract Geometric Landscape #3 Beautiful abstracted geometric landscape by Erle Loran (American, 1905-1999) of the Wyoming "Gold Diggins"....
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars

Ass Glasses
Located in New York, NY
Bob Pardo, American, " Ass Glasses" Artist Proof 6/35, Abstract Screen Print. Serigraph, 28 x 25, Late 20th Century, 1980 Colors: Blue, Orange, Yellow, Purple, Black, Red
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Screen

Workers
Located in Riga, LV
Aleksandr Rodin (1922-2001) Painter Born in a family of farmers. Wife Rasma Lace - art scholar. Studied at the Stalingrad School of Art, Saratov Art School, graduated from the Depar...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Oil, Cardboard, Canvas

Overture Sur L'Ete 1981 Signed Limited Edition Lithograph
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Guillaume Corneille Summer 1981 Overture Sur L'Ete Print, Signed Lithograph on wove paper 25.5 x 20 " inches Signed in pencil and dated and marked AP 16/25 ( Artist Proof ) As a ...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Under the Mountain" - Modern Abstract Lithograph
Located in Soquel, CA
"Under the Mountain" - Modern Abstract Lithograph Bold abstract lithograph by Fran Ciscus (American, 20th Century). Signed "Fran Ciscus". The colors in this piece have a slight irid...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

California Abstract Expressionist Linocut Lithograph Sepia Print Edition of 6
Located in Surfside, FL
Untitled, 1983, lithograph printed in sepia ink, Hand signed and dated lower right, numbered in pencil with the artist's chop mark lower left, inscribed by artist. From a series o...
Category

1980s Abstract Art

Materials

Lithograph, Linocut

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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