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.
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Stainless Steel
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil Pastel, Monotype
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic, Handmade Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Epoxy Resin
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Gold
2010s Abstract Art
Metal
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Canvas, Mixed Media
1970s Abstract Art
Permanent Marker, Lithograph, Offset
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Pastel, Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Metal, Gold Leaf
1990s Abstract Art
Oil, Gouache
2010s Abstract Art
Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Metal, Steel
2010s Abstract Art
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Art
Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Digital, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Color, Archival Pigment
1970s Abstract Art
Oil, Graphite
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Color
1930s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Lithograph, Offset
20th Century Abstract Art
Oil
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
Artist Comments
Reflections on the water in Monet's pond at Giverny. Onelio spent some time there taking in the splendor of the setting. "Each view of the place was a paintin...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
1980s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Abstract Art
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic Polymer, Ink, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Art
Screen
1970s Abstract Art
Offset
1970s Abstract Art
Ink
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Dorothy Gaziano builds layers of orange and cream over deep blues and black using oil paint and cold wax. The interplay of light and dark draws the viewer in,...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic
1990s Abstract Art
Screen, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Thread
2010s Abstract Art
Paper, Inkjet
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Resin