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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
Heavenly, Virtuous and Miracle

Heavenly, Virtuous and Miracle

By Cristina Mittermeier

Located in Chicago, IL

"Heavenly, Virtuous and Miracle" Hawaii, 2013 Available sizes: 20 x 30 in / Edition of 6 - $9,500 32 x 48 in / Edition of 6 - $13,500 40 x 60 in / Edition of 6 - $15,500 50 x 75 in ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

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

California Cowgirl by Anouk Krantz 2022

California Cowgirl by Anouk Krantz 2022

By Anouk Krantz

Located in Chicago, IL

California Cowgirl (B&W) 2022 ARCHIVAL PIGMENT PRINT Unframed Sizes: 30 x 45 in (76.2 x 114.3 cm) - Edition of 15 + 2 AP (Artist Proofs) SILVER GELATIN PRINT Unframed Size: 11.3 x ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Silver Gelatin

"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

Havana No 4, Yellow - bold, bright, colorful, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas
Havana No 4, Yellow - bold, bright, colorful, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas

Havana No 4, Yellow - bold, bright, colorful, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas

By David Sorensen

Located in Bloomfield, ON

A vibrant culture is captured in colour and dynamic form in this lively abstract painting by David Sorensen. After visiting Cuba in 1999, the Canadian artist created a series of paintings. The light, the bright colours and the rich atmosphere of life in Havana inspired Sorensen’s colour palette—a brilliant square of yellow in the center, surrounded by graphic shapes in red, orange, lime green, blue and black. Lines of blue and black create a grid-like pattern that runs both horizontally and vertically across the canvas. “Through the medium of his art, a bridge is built between inner sensation and outer world experience, illusion and reality, what we cannot see and what we see, life and afterlife.” John K. Grande, Montreal poet and writer Born in Vancouver Sorensen (1937-2011) studied at UBC and the Vancouver School of Art. His teachers were renowned—Arthur Erikson...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Loyang Still Life

Loyang Still Life

By Mary Vernon

Located in Dallas, TX

"In the world of still life and landscape, conceptual events meet one another – the structural meets the narrative, the small stands in the space of the large, and color has a chance...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

I am fleeting #12. From I am fleeting Series
I am fleeting #12. From I am fleeting Series

I am fleeting #12. From I am fleeting Series

By Javier Rey

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Is a project that debates through the photographic image, the importance that humans have assigned to ourselves, and proposes a reconciliation with the reality of our own insignifica...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Color, Archival Pigment

Medaglia d’Oro, Horse head and eye - Stallion Portrait unframed Print on Paper
Medaglia d’Oro, Horse head and eye - Stallion Portrait unframed Print on Paper

Medaglia d’Oro, Horse head and eye - Stallion Portrait unframed Print on Paper

Located in London, GB

Medaglia d'Oro (foaled April 11, 1999) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won several major stakes races including the 2002 Travers Stakes and the 2003 Whitney Handicap. He al...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Color, Archival Paper, Archival In...

Hypomnema #2 Wall sculpture.
Hypomnema #2 Wall sculpture.

Hypomnema #2 Wall sculpture.

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

XoX Vitruvian Kiddo - sculpture, resin and paint
XoX Vitruvian Kiddo - sculpture, resin and paint

XoX Vitruvian Kiddo - sculpture, resin and paint

By Viktor Mitic

Located in Bloomfield, ON

"This indoor figurative pop art table top sculpture is made from resin. Playful, colourful and imaginative, Viktor Mitic’s latest series of unique sculptures appear to merge pop art...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Kissing Ass
Kissing Ass

Kissing Ass

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Kissing Ass is a lithograph on paper, 6.75 x 9 inches image size. From the edition of 395, numbered 243/275 (there were also 100 Roman and 20 AP), framed in a contemporary, silver-to...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

From the Earth: Red Seeds - luscious pomegranate red glass, still life sculpture
From the Earth: Red Seeds - luscious pomegranate red glass, still life sculpture

From the Earth: Red Seeds - luscious pomegranate red glass, still life sculpture

By Catherine Vamvakas Lay

Located in Bloomfield, ON

Clustered and sensuous oblong forms in translucent red glass have a smooth polished surface like the fruit that surrounds pomegranate seeds. A single seed sits next to the cluster. T...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Glass, Blown Glass

Evangeline - expressive, textured, female, figurative, paper Mache sculpture
Evangeline - expressive, textured, female, figurative, paper Mache sculpture

Evangeline - expressive, textured, female, figurative, paper Mache sculpture

By Paul Duval

Located in Bloomfield, ON

Paul Duval’s engaging sculpted figures capture an emotional moment in time. One in a series of table-top pieces, the Quebec artist uses paper mache, wire and steel to create unique characters expressed through their colour, posture, and gesture. This figure of a woman, clothed in a long royal blue...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Wire

"Charades"
"Charades"

"Charades"

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

10th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Poster - 1979
10th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Poster - 1979

10th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Poster - 1979

Located in New Orleans, LA

10th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Poster, 1979 by John Martinez Fifth in the series by John Martinez. The grand marshal returns for the Jazz Festival's 10th anniversary; as does the "cut paper" technique first seen in the 1977 poster...

Category

1970s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Solar Series #2: Bridge at Auver - blue, red, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas
Solar Series #2: Bridge at Auver - blue, red, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas

Solar Series #2: Bridge at Auver - blue, red, abstract, modernist, oil on canvas

By David Sorensen

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This colorful abstract painting was created by the Canadian artist David Sorensen. One of Canada’s finest contemporary artists, David Sorensen actually began his art career as a sculptor, a natural path from his education as an architect. When he began painting, Sorensen was fascinated by the interaction of light with its environment and was drawn to the work of color field painters as early as the 1950s. In his own work, he embraced abstraction as a form and in this series the concept of a central square from which lines of varying widths—both vertical and horizontal emanate. The color palette is bold and rich—cranberry red, deep blue, sienna, brown, and white. The brushstrokes are expressive and lend a natural movement to the painting. Sorensen admired and was influenced by the work of American abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline. Auver is in France; famous as a place where Vincent Van Gogh...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Beneath the Surface: Dissolve, by Art Werger
Beneath the Surface: Dissolve, by Art Werger

Beneath the Surface: Dissolve, by Art Werger

By Art Werger

Located in Palm Springs, CA

in Beneath the Surface: Dissolve, Werger captures a fleeting, immersive moment of swimmers beneath the rippling surface of a swimming pool. Echoing the iconic swimming pool paintings...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Five Window Chevy Pickup, by Frank Romero
Five Window Chevy Pickup, by Frank Romero

Five Window Chevy Pickup, by Frank Romero

By Frank Romero

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Cars are a central theme in a lot of Chicano art, and Frank Romero has made several famous images on the theme. This a unique stencil painting made on handmade paper (from Bhutan). There are 20 prints in the edition, with hand-painting on each. Throughout his 40 year career as an artist, Frank Romero has been a dedicated member of the Los Angeles arts community. As a member of the 1970s Chicano art collective, Los Four, Romero and fellow artists Carlos Almaraz...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paint, Stencil

Sean, glass bunny
Sean, glass bunny

Sean, glass bunny

By Hunt Slonem

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Hunt Slonem included in 200+ museums worldwide Unique hand blown glass sculpture Signature and date etched on base

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Blown Glass

A Case for Cushions - contemporary, floral still life, acrylic and oil on canvas
A Case for Cushions - contemporary, floral still life, acrylic and oil on canvas

A Case for Cushions - contemporary, floral still life, acrylic and oil on canvas

By Pat Service

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This delightful, colorful painting of a floral still life illustrates Pat Service’s superb use of color, pattern, texture and form. In the 1990’s, the Canadian artist highly regard...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Pot Heads (Humans)
Pot Heads (Humans)

Pot Heads (Humans)

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Pot Heads (Humans) is a lithograph on paper, 9 x 9 inches image size, and initialed 'BD' lower right. From the edition of 395, numbered 205/275 (there were ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

By Jasper Johns

Located in New York, NY

Jasper Johns Untitled 2010 Intaglio on Revere Standard White 19 x 21 1/2 inches 48 x 55 cm Edition of 50 Signed, dated, and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Available from Matthew Marks Gallery...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Intaglio, Etching

Silver Linings No. 3 - contemporary, handcrafted, ceramic sculpture
Silver Linings No. 3 - contemporary, handcrafted, ceramic sculpture

Silver Linings No. 3 - contemporary, handcrafted, ceramic sculpture

By Loren Kaplan

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary ceramic black vase is by Loren Kaplan. A gifted ceramicist, Loren Kaplan’s strikingly elegant work is highly regarded by international collectors. Kaplan’s porcelain artwork is informed by her homeland, South Africa—its people, land and cultural traditions. This black stone vase...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Ceramic

Ulysses at Home - 21st Century, Figurative Painting, Yellow, Bow, Warrior, Arrow
Ulysses at Home - 21st Century, Figurative Painting, Yellow, Bow, Warrior, Arrow

Ulysses at Home - 21st Century, Figurative Painting, Yellow, Bow, Warrior, Arrow

By Alexandru Rădvan

Located in Baden-Baden, DE

Ulysses at Home, 2011 Acrylic Paint on Canvas, (Signed, front left corner) 94.48 H x 86.61 W in. 240 H x 220 W cm The artwork "Ulysses at Home" was part of the solo show “Epic”. Thi...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Coastal Fog
Coastal Fog

Coastal Fog

By Stephen McMillan

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Trees in fog. A band of fog off of the Pacific, pouring its way through the forest in Fiscalini Ranch, Cambria. Born in Berkeley, California, on December 21, 1949, he was raised in ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Supermodels in Vogue, Watercolor Fashion Painting
Supermodels in Vogue, Watercolor Fashion Painting

Supermodels in Vogue, Watercolor Fashion Painting

By Manuel Santelices

Located in Miami Beach, FL

The artist has covered New York collections for over 16 years and has interviewed, as a journalist, several fashion designers and personalities for different publications. He loves t...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Driving Range - Sports Photography Golf Course Driving Range Pitch and Putt

Driving Range - Sports Photography Golf Course Driving Range Pitch and Putt

By Chris Frazer Smith

Located in Brighton, GB

Driving Range is a dynamic C-Type Matte Print by Contemporary photographer Chris Frazer Smith. It is available in this size in an Edition of 25, and is sold unframed. In a departur...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

C Print, Photographic Paper, Color, Digital

Positano Bath (Amalfi Coast)
Positano Bath (Amalfi Coast)

Positano Bath (Amalfi Coast)

By Thomas McKnight

Located in Greenwich, CT

Positano Bath from the Amalfi Coast collection is a serigraph on paper with an image size 16 x 18 inches, signed 'McKnight' lower right and numbered lower left. Framed in a contempor...

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Screen

Rethinking It All
Rethinking It All

Rethinking It All

By Deborah Ballard

Located in Dallas, TX

This sculpture is cast and manipulated stone, fiberglass, iron, and casters. Deborah Ballard is best known for conceiving of figures and groupings of figures who relate to one anoth...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Cast Stone, Iron

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

Frank Sinatra Heading Home - Estate Stamped
Frank Sinatra Heading Home - Estate Stamped

Frank Sinatra Heading Home - Estate Stamped

Located in Chicago, IL

Heading Home – Frank Sinatra circa 1953 getting into his Cadillac. Hollywood, CA. Giclee 300gsm smooth archival rag paper and archival ink Each fine print is numbered and embossed ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

Coif
Coif

Coif

By Hendrik Kerstens

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Coif - available is three formats - 20x24” - 30x40” and 50x60”

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

La Guadalupe
La Guadalupe

La Guadalupe

By Jose Bedia

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

José Bedia (Havana, Cuba, 1959) Lives and works in Miami, FL José Bedia is the most solid representative of post-1959 revolution Cuban art. He was part of the now mythical group s...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Acrylic

Decorated Traditions, Brazil

Decorated Traditions, Brazil

By Cristina Mittermeier

Located in Chicago, IL

"Decorated Traditions" Brazil, 2006 30 x 20 in / Edition of 6 - $4,500 Also available: 48 x 32 in / Edition of 6 - $7,500 60 x 40 in / Edition of 6 - $10,500 75 x 50 in / Edition of 6 - $15,500 Prices listed do not include framing. Please contact gallery for framed pricing. One of the first photos I ever took was this portrait of a Kayapo warrior that I snapped with a borrowed, old Nikon Camera...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Any Port In a Storm II
Any Port In a Storm II

Any Port In a Storm II

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Any Port in a Storm II is a lithograph on paper, 9.25 x 9 inches image size. From the edition of 395, numbered LIII/C (there were also 275 Arabic and 20 AP), framed in a contemporary...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

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.