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Contemporary Art

CONTEMPORARY STYLE

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Contemporary
Recognized Seller Listings
"Gluttony"

"Gluttony"

By Tim Rees

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

Timothy Rees was fascinated with drawing throughout his youth and after high school pursued a degree in animation. The pull to painting portraits and figures was strong, however, le...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Rainclouds Over Park"
"Rainclouds Over Park"

"Rainclouds Over Park"

By Max Hammond

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

From the time he was four years old, Max Hammond was destined to paint, as he began on the walls of his home, a budding muralist. As he ran along the edges of the salt marshes of the...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Corpheum XVII - contemporary, geometric abstract, Corten steel outdoor sculpture
Corpheum XVII - contemporary, geometric abstract, Corten steel outdoor sculpture

Corpheum XVII - contemporary, geometric abstract, Corten steel outdoor sculpture

By Claude Millette

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary, geometric abstract, Corten steel outdoor sculpture is by Quebec artist Claude Millette. Millette has been creating compelling sculptures for more than four decades...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Steel

Effervescence V - small, geometric, abstract, powder coated steel sculpture
Effervescence V - small, geometric, abstract, powder coated steel sculpture

Effervescence V - small, geometric, abstract, powder coated steel sculpture

By Claude Millette

Located in Bloomfield, ON

At once contemporary and minimalist, Claude Millette’s dynamic tabletop sculptures exude energy. This piece, one of a series, recalls the form of tumbling dice—individual cubes are stacked at precarious angles, one on top of the other. The bright, glossy red finish enlivens and accentuates the modern form. The Quebec artist...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Steel

"Patti Cake"
"Patti Cake"

"Patti Cake"

By Michael Carson

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, whose artwork can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the Unite...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The Next Wave, by John Van Hamersveld
The Next Wave, by John Van Hamersveld

The Next Wave, by John Van Hamersveld

By John Van Hamersveld

Located in Palm Springs, CA

The Next Wave relates to The Endless Summer by John Van Hamersveld, an illustration of a cresting wave in the bright colors synonymous with his work. In 1963, Van Hamersveld was hire...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Sweet Pea II

Sweet Pea II

By Robert Kushner

Located in Lyons, CO

Color lithograph with metallic leaf, Edition 30 Kushner's use of rich color harmonies and bold, fluid drawing, mark his belief in the importance of beauty in our lives. Kushner ha...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Dealing with Death
Dealing with Death

Dealing with Death

By Miles Cleveland Goodwin

Located in Dallas, TX

Working in his open-air studio, Miles Cleveland Goodwin is deeply in touch with the rural landscape. Goodwin’s ruminative portrayals, full of earthy metaphor and soulful intuition, e...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Panel, Wood

Hypomnema #5 Wall sculpture.
Hypomnema #5 Wall sculpture.

Hypomnema #5 Wall sculpture.

By Iván Castiblanco

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Hypomnema. A term that is composed of the ancient Greek preposition Hypo-Mneme and literally means “commemorative memory.” It is the meeting of several layers in an object, the memor...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Textile, Mixed Media

Arrest of the Palateros, by Chicano artist Frank Romero
Arrest of the Palateros, by Chicano artist Frank Romero

Arrest of the Palateros, by Chicano artist Frank Romero

By Frank Romero

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Arrest of the Palateros is one of Frank Romero’s most compelling social-commentary images, depicting the arrest of palateros—ice-cream vendors—in Echo Park for operating without perm...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Untitled. From The Durero Series
Untitled. From The Durero Series

Untitled. From The Durero Series

By Ana Seggiaro

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Ana Seggiaro's training as an engraver awakened her fascination for the works of Durero and Piranesi. This leads her both to recover the language of engraving itself through other me...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Fabric, Textile

Medicine Drawings
Medicine Drawings

Medicine Drawings

By John Cage

Located in Houston, TX

John Cage Medicine Drawings , 1991 Handmade paper with various medicinal herbs (set of twelve) 14 x 12 in (35.6 x 30.5 cm) each

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Handmade Paper

Going In, Looking Up
Going In, Looking Up

Going In, Looking Up

By Bob Stuth-Wade

Located in Dallas, TX

Eleanor Jones Harvey, Chief Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, writes about Bob Stuth-Wade: “Over the course of his career, Bob Stuth-Wade has examined his responses to...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Allegro Con Brio - contemporary, figurative, acrylic and thread sculpture
Allegro Con Brio - contemporary, figurative, acrylic and thread sculpture

Allegro Con Brio - contemporary, figurative, acrylic and thread sculpture

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This large contemporary clear acrylic sculpture of a piano was inspired by the artist’s love of music. This beautiful and magical piece of modern art is the unique vision of an award-winning author and music lover. Years ago, Ruth Kassinger noticed how sunlight streaming through her living room windows bounced off white walls, through a glass coffee table, and splashed rainbows around the room. When her eyes drifted to the black baby grand piano in the room, she had an epiphany. The idea for a full-scale, transparent piano sculpture filled with colors was born. To create the piano, she worked with a talented team of acrylic glass artisans who created the piano’s body and its keyboard. Using laser technology, thousands of holes were drilled both by computer and by hand to ensure that all of the threads are perfectly parallel. Then, using small acrylic boxes as models, Kassinger spent a year testing various threads to determine spacing and color combinations until they expressed her vision of music. “It takes me months to thread a piano. I use embroidery needles that I manipulate with long-handled surgical forceps. The highly polished, clear acrylic form allows light to flow through the sculpture, illuminating the thousands of multi-hued nylon and French silk threads. The threads change color as you move around the piano and, thanks to an optical phenomenon called moiré, they appear to move as if being played.” Kassinger is best known for her books about science, history, and gardening. As a science writer, she has studied and written about the concepts of transparency and color. As a music lover, Kassinger’s personal experience of listening to music is heightened by a form of synaesthesia where she actually sees colors when she hears music. And, having grown up in a family of craftsmen (her parents had a custom furniture business and she later designed several pieces for her own home), she has the skills to undertake her first sculptural piece: a ‘glass’ piano...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Thread, Acrylic Polymer

Easy Rider

Easy Rider

By William Wegman

Located in New York, NY

2009, pigment print photograph, 14 x 11 inches, Edition of 12 signed and numbered by the artist on the reverse William Wegman is a renowned photographer famous for his unique and ar...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Pigment

La Majorelle Gardens. From the Interiors series
La Majorelle Gardens. From the Interiors series

La Majorelle Gardens. From the Interiors series

By Manuel Santelices

Located in Miami Beach, FL

A new series inspired by architecture, décor and stylish personalities of the world of interior design. The worlds of fashion, society and pop culture are captured in the illustrati...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Climber

Climber

By Don Ed Hardy

Located in Lyons, CO

Color lithograph, Edition 30 Don Ed Hardy is a painter, printmaker and tattoo artist. Fascinated by tattoos since childhood, Hardy has become a master...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Lost View: Dawn

Lost View: Dawn

By Yvonne Jacquette

Located in Lyons, CO

Color lithograph, Edition 45. Yvonne Jacquette depicts our urban world from a vantage point high above us. From her perch, she brings order and context to the crazy world we have made. Neon signs, strings of cars on dark highways, bright lit windows viewed from the top of a skyscraper or from an airplane window...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Smoking Jacket"
"Smoking Jacket"

"Smoking Jacket"

By Michael Carson

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

Mike Carson is a Minneapolis painter, and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, whose artwork can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the Unite...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"Internalize"

"Internalize"

By Tim Rees

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

Timothy Rees was fascinated with drawing throughout his youth and after high school pursued a degree in animation. The pull to painting portraits and figures was strong, however, le...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Points of Departure: Mary's Turn, by Peter Milton
Points of Departure: Mary's Turn, by Peter Milton

Points of Departure: Mary's Turn, by Peter Milton

By Peter Milton

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Peter Milton’s Mary’s Turn reimagines a scene where Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas engage in a game of billiards, reflecting their real-life friendship and rivalry. Cassatt leans forwa...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Engraving, Etching

Houses and Church on the French Countryside (quaint village scene)
Houses and Church on the French Countryside (quaint village scene)

Houses and Church on the French Countryside (quaint village scene)

Located in New Orleans, LA

A rare color lithograph by late French artist, Éliane Thiollier. Edition of 275, certificate of authentication is provided. Minor acid staining from the old mat. Éliane Thiollier s...

Category

1950s Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Eros and Psyche
Eros and Psyche

Eros and Psyche

By Barnaby Fitzgerald

Located in Dallas, TX

A professor of painting at Southern Methodist University since 1984, Barnaby Fitzgerald spent his childhood in Italy where he earned a printmaking degree in Urbino. He received a BFA...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Small Boat

Small Boat

By David A. Dreyer

Located in Dallas, TX

David A. Dreyer was born in Dallas in 1958, and earned his BFA and MFA at Southern Methodist University. He was a recipient of the Moss/Chumley Award from the Meadows Museum and has ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Graphite, Linen, Oil, Panel

The Painted Flag - painting, acrylic on canvas
The Painted Flag - painting, acrylic on canvas

The Painted Flag - painting, acrylic on canvas

By Charles Pachter

Located in Bloomfield, ON

One of Canada’s leading contemporary artists, Charles Pachter is renowned for his iconic pop art images that often celebrate our national pride. The clean, graphic lines of the Canad...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Moon Rising 1-4, Set of 4 Framed Prints, Softground Etching, Limited Edition
Moon Rising 1-4, Set of 4 Framed Prints, Softground Etching, Limited Edition

Moon Rising 1-4, Set of 4 Framed Prints, Softground Etching, Limited Edition

By Joan Winter

Located in Denton, TX

4 prints: Moon Rising 1, Moon Rising 2, Moon Rising 3, Moon Rising 4 Softground etching with chine colle Image size: 6.75 x 6 in. Paper size: 13.5 x 10 in. Frame size: 15.5 x 12.25 i...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Other Medium

Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper
Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

Located in Bloomfield, ON

John Scott’s contemporary graphic paintings are reminiscent of street art. Art critics admired the provocative, bold artwork of John Scott, whose imagery is informed by his working-...

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5 and Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5, Gellert Bath House
Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5 and Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5, Gellert Bath House

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5 and Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5, Gellert Bath House

By Michael James O’Brien

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Photographer Michael James O'Brien documented with beautiful and unique images the final part of Matthew Barney's lyric opera cycle about a tragic love story set in romantic Budapest...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

October Colors, by Stephen McMillan
October Colors, by Stephen McMillan

October Colors, by Stephen McMillan

By Stephen McMillan

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Aquatint Dimensions: 12 x 9 inches (image) Signature: Signed Date finished: 2018 Edition: of 100 Fall colors on Chuckanut Drive, south of Bellingham, WA Born in Berkeley, ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Contemporary art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary 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 Stefanie Schneider, Tyler Shields, Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde, and Richard Heeps. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Paper and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Contemporary art, so small editions measuring 0.02 inches across are also available.