In 1967, artist Sol LeWitt wrote that in “Conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” He was giving a name to an art movement that had emerged in the 1960s in which artists were less focused on their medium being something traditionally “artistic” and instead engaged in using any object, movement, form, action or place to express an idea.
LeWitt’s work was featured alongside an assemblage of notes, drawings and outlines by other artists in “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” a groundbreaking show at New York City’s School of Visual Arts curated by Mel Bochner, another leading exponent of Conceptualism. Building on radical 20th-century statements, like Fountain (1917) by French artist Marcel Duchamp, Conceptual artists around Europe and North and South America were not interested in the commercial art scene and rather directly challenged its systems and values.
Stretching into the 1970s, this movement has also been called Post-Object art and Dematerialized art. Conceptual art reflected a larger era of social and political upheaval. Pieces associated with the style range from Roelof Louw’s Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) (1967) — a work of installation art that sees fresh oranges stacked into a pyramid from which visitors are allowed to take one orange away — to On Kawara’s “Today” series, which saw the Japanese artist carefully painting a date in white acrylic on canvases consisting of a single color from 1966 to his death in 2014. Artists such as Ed Ruscha, who created the Twentysix Gasoline Stations book — a collection of photos of gas stations that is widely said to be the first modern artists’ book — made photography a major platform for Conceptual art, as did Bruce Nauman, who burned one of Ruscha's books and then photographed it for his own.
Conceptual art’s legacy of questioning artistic authorship, ownership and how to work with complex ideas of space and time had a significant influence on the decades of culture that followed, and it continues to inform art today.
The collection of Conceptual photography, paintings and sculptures on 1stDibs includes artworks by John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth and others.
Not If But When
By Alex Gingrow
Located in New York, NY
graphite, flashe, ink and gesso on paper, 22"x30" signed by the artist The text in this painting reads like a mantra: Not If But When, in grades of red, pink and blue on a washed gre...
Gesso, Ink, Graphite
VI: Utter Blindness
Located in London, GB
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was created by combining fragments o...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Mujer en sofá
Located in Barcelona, CT
the painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Engraving
Still Pretty Though
By Alex Gingrow
Located in New York, NY
graphite, flashe, ink and gesso on paper, 22"x30" signed by the artist The text in this painting reads: still pretty though, painted in stark capital letters faded into the backgroun...
Gesso, Ink, Graphite
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Ink, Mixed Media
$12,200
Andy & Rob
Located in New York, NY
Mixed Media on wood featuring the famed Andy Warhol. Photographed by Joester. Images on sides as well. Not framed. About the Artist: Steve Joester is a British-born Rock & ...
Canvas, Photographic Film, Mixed Media
$10,000Sale Price|20% Off
The Whip - Social Realism
Located in Miami, FL
Work is marked on reverse "Rhythm" and "The Whip." on verso - We are not sure the exact meaning of this work. Gropper was a social realist and a radical of his time and a commenta...
Masonite, Oil
The Terminator - Original Lego Work of Art
Located in New York, NY
Figurative, portrait art - The Terminator - Arnold Schwarzenegger. Made completely of legos. About the Artist: Joseph Kraham is an "engineering art...
Mixed Media
$3,950
"Dual Chamber Confinement Study" watercolor ink, text based conceptual painting
Located in New York, NY
Titled: For All Intents and Purposes Dual Chamber Confinement Study Plot Plan No. 10615, presenting framed in a natural wood shadowbox frame. This is a finely rendered pen and ink ...
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
A Cut Above
Located in New York, NY
Mixed Media. Female centric. Featuring Madonna. About the Artist: Cabell Molina is a contemporary artist transplanted from California to the east. Where Cabell has proved hers...
Mixed Media
Traveling Landscape (Sunseeker)
Located in New York, NY
This sculptural installation incorporates running water and and interior light which activates the scene of a streambed along a grassy knoll. Kathleen Vance is an environmental artist who creates projects that connect people to local aspects of nature that are overlooked or under appreciated. With the series “Traveling Landscapes” Vance creates miniature landscapes with running streams and rivers inside vintage suitcases and trunks...
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Pose
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Acrylic
Untitled
By Lluis Barba
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Ink
Esculturas- Noviembre - Diciembre 1974
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Lithograph
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Oil
$6,500
Vietnam War Protests Central Park - Nuclear War, Civil Rights, Agent Orange
Located in Miami, FL
In 1971, Central Park was a hub for Vietnam War Protests. In this work, Mitchell Funk captures a packed protest scene with emphasis on the graphic nature of the banners and flags. Th...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Golden Gate Bride with Sailboats
Located in Miami, FL
Cover Nikon World, Spring 2005, Published in Popular Photography Magazine 2000, Times Square Billboard 2001 Signed , dated lower right, Edition 2 ...
Photographic Film
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
the painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Ink
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Oil
Heart Factory
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Joyce Wieland (1931-1998) is one of the most accomplished and versatile Canadian artists. She achieved a level of commercial and critical success in her lifetime that was exceptional...
Ink, Watercolor
Untitled
By Lluis Barba
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
$10,000
Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions - Mad Magazine -Table for How Many Restaurant
Located in Miami, FL
"Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" is one of Al Jaffee's signature series. This work was a double-page work that appeared on pages 60 - 61 in Mad Magazine in 1968. Although this w...
Ink, Gouache, Illustration Board, Pen
$538
"Chromatic Explosion n. 3" by Corrado Ferrante, original, mixed media on paper
Located in Milano, MI
"Chromatic Explosion n. 3" - Dynamic Abstract Composition by Corrado Ferrante A captivating burst of energy radiates from this vibrant abstract work by Italian artist Corrado Ferran...
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
$960Sale Price|20% Off
Limpopo, 2021
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Style: Contemporary, Modern, Conceptual Small study for the series “Rare Earth"
Metal
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Lithograph
Humanoids
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Oil
$1,076
Nets
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with work and authenticity certificate
Metal
Untitled
By Lluis Barba
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Ink
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Etching
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Engraving
They grey square
Located in Barcelona, CT
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Mixed Media
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
the painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Ink, Mixed Media
Spiderman - Lego Original
Located in New York, NY
Spiderman. Made completely of legos. About the Artist: Joseph Kraham is an "engineering artist". He combines thousands of Lego pieces, acrylic lac...
Mixed Media
We Now Have All The Data
By Stephen Hall
Located in New York, NY
Conceptual piece. Commentary on life. Humorous but impactful. Acrylic on canvas. About the artist: Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Stephen Hall moved to New York in 1978 and began...
Canvas, Acrylic
Canyon Whisper - Other sizes available
Located in New York, NY
Abstract Nature shot. In a canyon. Black and white. About the artist: Mital Patel is an internationally recognized nature and wildlife photographer who focuses on capturing bea...
Archival Pigment
Art Against AIDS
By General Idea
Located in Toronto, Ontario
In 1967, General Idea was founded in Toronto by AA Bronson (b. 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). Over the course of 25 years, they made a significant cont...
Screen
Untitled, MT Inv. No 11-1-120 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 11-1-120 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 17,9 x 13 cm (7 x 5 1/8 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, pract...
Silver Gelatin
Biblioteca del Duca D'Aumale Terrasini
Located in New York, NY
The photographer is based in Florence, and is fascinated how his architectural subject matter allows him to control the composition of his image. For many years he has photographed ...
C Print
Muscle Man and Female Admirer at the Beach - Staged Photography
By Robert Funk
Located in Miami, FL
A ripped muscleman strikes the pose with an admiring female bystander who holds an oversized pair of prank sunglasses. In reality, the muscleman is a 5-inch cut-out, and the girl is ...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Hockey Stick Blades
By Greg Curnoe
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Greg Curnoe (1936-1992) was a highly revered artist, bookmaker and competitive cyclist. He was based in London, Ontario but beloved across the country. He would represent Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1976. Unwavering in his allegiance to the Canadian/local art scene, Curnoe led the London Regionalism movement alongside fellow artists such as Jack Chambers, Tony Urquhart...
Rubber, Ink
Untitled, MT Inv. No 7-8-73 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 7-8-73 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 29,3 x 19,7 cm (11 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, practically reinventing photography from scratch, reconstitutes pictorialism along with it, and not as a distortion of the medium but as something like its essence. What counts for him is not only the image - just one moment in the photographic process - but also the chemical activity of the materials, which is never entirely stable or complete, and the delimitation of the results via cropping and framing. Marginal and exceptionally voyeuristic, in his methods Tichý could be described as an “art brut photographer” yet he is also marked by classical influences. Though his images are produced with poor-quality equipment and carelessly shot, they offer an idiosyncratic and almost hallucinatory vision of a fantastical, eroticised reality. With his endless return to the same subject and the volume and regularity of his production, Tichý’s work draws many parallels to certain practices of conceptual art during the same period. – Art, Black and White...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled, MT Inv. No 7-6-88 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 7-6-88 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 17 x 10,3 cm (6 3/4 x 4 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, practic...
Silver Gelatin
$1,850
"Untitled 3.18" Photography 24' x 16' inch Edition of 15 by García De Marina
Located in Culver City, CA
"Untitled 3.18" Photography 24' x 16' inch Edition of 15 by García De Marina Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA issued by the artist García de Marina was born in Gij...
Digital Pigment
Untitled, MT Inv. No 2-059 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 2-059 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 19,6 x 12,5 cm (7 3/4 x 4 7/8 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, practically reinventing photography from scratch, reconstitutes pictorialism along with it, and not as a distortion of the medium but as something like its essence. What counts for him is not only the image - just one moment in the photographic process - but also the chemical activity of the materials, which is never entirely stable or complete, and the delimitation of the results via cropping and framing. Marginal and exceptionally voyeuristic, in his methods Tichý could be described as an “art brut photographer” yet he is also marked by classical influences. Though his images are produced with poor-quality equipment and carelessly shot, they offer an idiosyncratic and almost hallucinatory vision of a fantastical, eroticised reality. With his endless return to the same subject and the volume and regularity of his production, Tichý’s work draws many parallels to certain practices of conceptual art during the same period. – Art, Black and White...
Silver Gelatin
RIC: Random Internet Cat #9
Located in New York, NY
Random Internet Cats Robotically-fabricated drawings on paper, these series formally deal with mediation from screen image to ‘drawing’ while using a computer-controlled pen plotte...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
Untitled, MT Inv. No 3-8-236 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 3-8-236 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 16,8 x 11,8 cm (6 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, practically reinventing photography from scratch, reconstitutes pictorialism along with it, and not as a distortion of the medium but as something like its essence. What counts for him is not only the image - just one moment in the photographic process - but also the chemical activity of the materials, which is never entirely stable or complete, and the delimitation of the results via cropping and framing. Marginal and exceptionally voyeuristic, in his methods Tichý could be described as an “art brut photographer” yet he is also marked by classical influences. Though his images are produced with poor-quality equipment and carelessly shot, they offer an idiosyncratic and almost hallucinatory vision of a fantastical, eroticised reality. With his endless return to the same subject and the volume and regularity of his production, Tichý’s work draws many parallels to certain practices of conceptual art during the same period. – Art, Black and White...
Silver Gelatin
Ligne droites – Dispersions
By Bernar Venet
Located in Paris, FR
The artist's first and only tapestry, this woven work undeniably represents a major break in his practice, marking his desire to explore new territories. It is not a matter of retran...
Textile
Untitled, MT Inv. No 10-1-167 – Miroslav Tichy, Woman, Czech, Photography
Located in Zurich, CH
Miroslav Tichý (*1926, Czech Republic) Untitled, MT Inv. No 10-1-167 Unknown, ca. 1970-1990 Silver Gelatin Print Sheet 17,7 x 17,8 cm (7 x 7 in.) Unique Print only Tichý, practically reinventing photography from scratch, reconstitutes pictorialism along with it, and not as a distortion of the medium but as something like its essence. What counts for him is not only the image - just one moment in the photographic process - but also the chemical activity of the materials, which is never entirely stable or complete, and the delimitation of the results via cropping and framing. Marginal and exceptionally voyeuristic, in his methods Tichý could be described as an “art brut photographer” yet he is also marked by classical influences. Though his images are produced with poor-quality equipment and carelessly shot, they offer an idiosyncratic and almost hallucinatory vision of a fantastical, eroticised reality. With his endless return to the same subject and the volume and regularity of his production, Tichý’s work draws many parallels to certain practices of conceptual art during the same period. – Art, Black and White...
Silver Gelatin
"Alphabet Colors, " Crayon, Colored Pencil, Ink on Canvas by Tom Shelton
By Tom Shelton
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Alphabet Colors" is an original mixed media drawing on canvas by Tom Shelton. The artist used crayon, colored pencil, and ink. The artist says: “Looking at cursive writing teachin...
Canvas, Crayon, Ink, Color Pencil
$85,000
Monet Cane
By General Idea
Located in Toronto, Ontario
General Idea was formed in 1967 in Toronto and over the next nearly 30 years, the trio made a remarkable contribution to post-modern art. With their subversive approach and intere...
Mixed Media
$2,350
"Untitled 1.23" Photography 24' x 35' inch Edition of 10 by García De Marina
Located in Culver City, CA
"Untitled 1.23" Photography 24' x 35' inch Edition of 10 by García De Marina García de Marina was born in Gijón (Spain) in 1975. He emerged thru a deep transformation in 2010. A dor...
Digital Pigment
Stargazing - Lego Art - Original - C-3PO From Star Wars movie.
Located in New York, NY
Stargazing - Lego Art - Original - C-3PO- From Star Wars Movie. Made completely of legos. About the Artist: Joseph Kraham is an "engineering artist...
Mixed Media
Empty Words, Sculpture
Located in Brooklyn, NY
JORGE WELLESELEY, Empty Words, 2009 Rusted steel, concrete Sculpture 17.5 x 18 x 12 in Jorge Wellesley (Havana, 1979) Cuban-born artist based in Guttenberg, New Jersey. He received...
Concrete, Steel
Cool Ducks
By Jim Molloy
Located in New York, NY
2 cool ducks floating. Fun. About the Artist: Jim Molloy is a studio and plein air painter. "I like to try to find and capture the beauty and simplicity of the world around u...
Canvas, Oil