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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
Black Rocks and a Few Stones, Spain, Limited Edition Black and White Photograph
Black Rocks and a Few Stones, Spain, Limited Edition Black and White Photograph

Black Rocks and a Few Stones, Spain, Limited Edition Black and White Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 21089 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

VINCENT, Flowers, Photography, Color, abstract, still life

VINCENT, Flowers, Photography, Color, abstract, still life

Located in München, BY

Edition of 3 Comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity Josef Fischnaller is one of the most compelling contemporary photographers working in the field of staged photography. ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Lieutenant (#1899)

Lieutenant (#1899)

By Jack Balas

Located in New York, NY

Signed, titled, and dated, verso India ink and watercolor on paper This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Black Line, Sylt, Germany, Minimalist Limited Edition Black-and-White Photograph
Black Line, Sylt, Germany, Minimalist Limited Edition Black-and-White Photograph

Black Line, Sylt, Germany, Minimalist Limited Edition Black-and-White Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 9 // Gallery ID: 11239 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Lonely Tree on the White Path – Austria – Limited Edition Colour Photograph
Lonely Tree on the White Path – Austria – Limited Edition Colour Photograph

Lonely Tree on the White Path – Austria – Limited Edition Colour Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 21397 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Trees on Rocky Island, Stormy Weather, monochrome photograph, limited edition
Trees on Rocky Island, Stormy Weather, monochrome photograph, limited edition

Trees on Rocky Island, Stormy Weather, monochrome photograph, limited edition

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 21284 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Cobbold’s Point – Limited Edition Black-and-White Seascape Photograph, England
Cobbold’s Point – Limited Edition Black-and-White Seascape Photograph, England

Cobbold’s Point – Limited Edition Black-and-White Seascape Photograph, England

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 21382 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

CuntyBiotics
CuntyBiotics

CuntyBiotics

By Emma Gibbons

Located in Nottingham, GB

CUNTYBIOTICS - RAPID RELIEF FROM BEING A MASSIVE TWAT Signed original, medicine bottle filled with signature handmade resin and glitter pills. Framed in a white box frame with muse...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Glass, Resin, Epoxy Resin

The Gates (p), from the Project for Central Park, Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The Gates (p), from the Project for Central Park, Christo and Jeanne-Claude

By Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Located in New York, NY

This offset lithograph in colors from the Project for Central Park, New York City, was created in 2004. One of 300 prints hand-signed by the artist in pencil, from the unnumbered edi...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Izzy with her Ball, Dog Art, Affordable Art, Contemporary Animal Art Print
Izzy with her Ball, Dog Art, Affordable Art, Contemporary Animal Art Print

Izzy with her Ball, Dog Art, Affordable Art, Contemporary Animal Art Print

Located in Deddington, GB

Izzy, a charming characterful terrier stands alert, holding her ball in her mouth. Colour etching hand made and printed by the artist. Helen Fay's art for sale online and in our gall...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Drypoint, Etching

"Becky Doesn't Get It"
"Becky Doesn't Get It"

"Becky Doesn't Get It"

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 End of Day - Watercolor of Boats in Water with Dock
The End of Day - Watercolor of Boats in Water with Dock

The End of Day - Watercolor of Boats in Water with Dock

Located in Morgan Hill, CA

"The End of Day" is a watercolor by award-winning L.A. artist and architect Thomas W. Schaller. The watercolor painting depicts a man in a red coat and his loyal dog standing at the edge of a dock and looking out across the lake at distant cottages. Two boats are tied to the dock and the man and his companion seem to be relaxing and enjoying the soothing sounds of the gentle waters and the comforting shade of the over-arching tree. For more works by Thomas Schaller...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Watercolor

"Surrounded By Fuzzy Friends", Human Figure, Bedroom, Stuffed animals, games
"Surrounded By Fuzzy Friends", Human Figure, Bedroom, Stuffed animals, games

"Surrounded By Fuzzy Friends", Human Figure, Bedroom, Stuffed animals, games

Located in Philadelphia, PA

"Surrounded By Fuzzy Friends" is a piece by Akira Gordon made from acrylic and oil on canvas. This piece measures 48"h x 60"w unframed. Akira hopes to give black people images that they can relate to in some way without making an overt political statement; instead, showing figures in leisure, doing the mundane and the ordinary. She finds the most authentic way to do this is through self-portraiture and referencing her experiences. She uses herself as a reference for her paintings because she believes examining your own life is important. Her artworks delve into the complex emotions associated with her struggle to transition into adulthood while clinging to the familiarity of "childish" things. It's an introspective journey, an attempt to reconcile the inevitability of growing up with the desire to preserve the youthful spirit that continues to reside within her. Akira Gordon, a Philadelphia-born painter and recent graduate of the University of the Arts, is a captivating artist driven by a passion for contemporary art and self-portraiture. Inspired by Kerry James Marshall and Sasha Gordon...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Sick Boy

Sick Boy

By Julie Blackmon

Located in Sante Fe, NM

Domestic Vacations: The Dutch proverb "a Jan Steen household" originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous f...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

One Night in Paris
One Night in Paris

One Night in Paris

By Daria Okhrimenko

Located in Zofingen, AG

There are nights that don’t need a plan. A rooftop, the Paris skyline glowing in the distance, and an unusual little group that somehow looks perfectly dressed for the occasion. Pear...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Breath Between Worlds: Contemporary Acrylic on Canvas, Framed
Breath Between Worlds: Contemporary Acrylic on Canvas, Framed

Breath Between Worlds: Contemporary Acrylic on Canvas, Framed

By Tim Owen

Located in Santa Fe, NM

acrylic, mixed media My paintings explore the themes of light, atmosphere, and the emotional impact of nature. The bold, expressive brushstrokes and saturated hues in my work aim to...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

1970's Alexander Calder lithographic cover (Derrière le miroir)
1970's Alexander Calder lithographic cover (Derrière le miroir)

1970's Alexander Calder lithographic cover (Derrière le miroir)

By Alexander Calder

Located in NEW YORK, NY

Alexander Calder Lithographic cover from Derrière le miroir: Lithographic cover; 1976. 11 x 15 inches (folding open to 15x22 inches). Scattered surface and age related wear; in otherwise good overall vintage condition. Unsigned from an edition of unknown. Published by: Galerie Maeght, Paris, c. 1976. Unsigned from an edition of unknown. Looks fantastic framed. Derrière le miroir: In October 1945 the French art dealer Aimé Maeght opens his art gallery at 13 Rue de Téhéran in Paris. His beginning coincides with the end of Second World War and the return of a number of exiled artists back to France. The publication was created in October 1946 (n°1) and published without interruption until 1982 (n°253). Its original articles and illustrations (mainly original color lithographs by the gallery artists) who were famous at the time. The lithographic publication covered only the artists exhibited by Maeght gallery either through personal or group exhibitions. Among them were, Pierre Alechinsky, Francis Bacon, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Eduardo Chillida, Alberto Giacometti, Vassily Kandinsky, Ellsworth Kelly, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Saul Steinberg and Antoni Tapies. Related Categories: Mid century modern. Alexander Calder prints. Calder orange. Calder red...

Category

1970s Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Maybe One Day
Maybe One Day

Maybe One Day

By Thomas Swanston

Located in Atlanta, GA

This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting. Please note that given the characteristics of the silver and gold leafing the work will photogr...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Already Ascendant - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Africa
Already Ascendant - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Africa

Already Ascendant - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Portrait, Africa

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Already Ascendant reflects the fragile edge between hesitation and potential. It is a meditation on opportunity, choice, and the fleeting nature of decisive moments. Rich textures an...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Respite

Respite

By Gwen Wong

Located in Atlanta, GA

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Wine Press House in the Wheat Field, Limited Edition Color Landscape Photograph
Wine Press House in the Wheat Field, Limited Edition Color Landscape Photograph

Wine Press House in the Wheat Field, Limited Edition Color Landscape Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 8 // Gallery ID: 21090 Fine art prints are produced to order on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Each print is stamped on the...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Untitled - Highly Detailed Paper Sculpture of Angel

Untitled - Highly Detailed Paper Sculpture of Angel

By Ivan Markovic

Located in Chicago, IL

Ivan Markovic transports viewers into a world of technicolor with this collection of works inspired by Bernini's angels. Markovic's life in Rome brought him to walk across the Ponte ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Wire

Black and Bold - 21st Century. Contemporary, Figurative Modern, Africa

Black and Bold - 21st Century. Contemporary, Figurative Modern, Africa

By Aba Linus

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Katsumi Hayakawa Geometric Painting, Dated 1999
Katsumi Hayakawa Geometric Painting, Dated 1999

Katsumi Hayakawa Geometric Painting, Dated 1999

By Katsumi Hayakawa

Located in New York, NY

Katsumi Hayakawa (Japanese, b. 1970) Spherical Moss, 1999 Oil, galkyd and modeling paste on canvas 64 x 84 x 1 3/4 in. Signed verso and stamped with artist insignia Silverstein Gallery label verso NOTE: Discoloration at right side from dust, can easily be wiped off In his paintings and cut-paper sculptures, Katsumi Hayakawa evokes the city and urban planning. He builds meticulously constructed objects with cubes and squares, suggesting skyscrapers and city grids, while the interaction of line and color coalesce with the cubes to create complex and vibrant rhythms. Hayakawa expands modernist explorations into the grid, in particular evoking Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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.