Skip to main content

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.

to
9,801
32,528
21,016
19,476
15,992
27,540
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
46
74
19,573
96,829
4
12
35
71
113
442
1,721
4,885
4,344
4,827
38
63,780
56,630
28,257
14,629
9,491
6,640
5,847
4,158
3,129
2,527
2,357
2,134
607
44,494
42,400
19,474
39,581
21,396
13,116
12,549
11,238
10,651
10,639
8,451
7,347
5,924
5,657
4,856
4,664
4,514
4,319
3,813
3,751
3,522
2,830
2,734
39,763
29,042
23,649
21,387
20,336
2,749
1,149
975
930
847
17,526
33,438
66,059
40,774
Style: Contemporary
Place to linger Panorama, minimalist winter landscape - color limited photo
Place to linger Panorama, minimalist winter landscape - color limited photo

Place to linger Panorama, minimalist winter landscape - color limited photo

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

© Gerald Berghammer - Color panorama photography. Foggy landscape with two large frozen trees and a park bench underneath the trees, on a grassy field. Archival pigment ink print as...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

I Used to Dream - Original Figurative Vibrant Mixed Media Painting on Canvas
I Used to Dream - Original Figurative Vibrant Mixed Media Painting on Canvas

I Used to Dream - Original Figurative Vibrant Mixed Media Painting on Canvas

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Rooted in introspection and emotional nuance, Xenia Gray’s figurative mixed media works capture the quiet tension between solitude and connection. Her paintings often depict the huma...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Oil, Acrylic

After Botero Bull Bronze Sculpture, Contemporary, 20th Century, Ed. 50 beautiful
After Botero Bull Bronze Sculpture, Contemporary, 20th Century, Ed. 50 beautiful

After Botero Bull Bronze Sculpture, Contemporary, 20th Century, Ed. 50 beautiful

By Fernando Botero

Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México

After Fernando Botero – Bull Bronze Sculpture Edition of 50 This beautifully executed bronze sculpture is an After Fernando Botero work, created in faithful homage to the artist’s...

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Don't Let Them Burst Your Bubble: Purple 1 XL - sculpture, blown glass and metal
Don't Let Them Burst Your Bubble: Purple 1 XL - sculpture, blown glass and metal

Don't Let Them Burst Your Bubble: Purple 1 XL - sculpture, blown glass and metal

By Cheryl Wilson Smith

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary purple glass tabletop sculpture is by Cheryl Wilson Smith. Cheryl Wilson Smith is known for her uniquely beautiful glass work—its form, colour and texture are ofte...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Glass

Oniric Seascape, Soft Tonrd, Large Coastal Diptych, Mixed Media on Paper
Oniric Seascape, Soft Tonrd, Large Coastal Diptych, Mixed Media on Paper

Oniric Seascape, Soft Tonrd, Large Coastal Diptych, Mixed Media on Paper

Located in Barcelona, ES

Oniric Seascape is a beautiful mixed-media diptych that reimagines the ocean as an abstract cartography of color, texture, and movement. The artist blends collage, paint, and mark-m...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor, Monoprint

Breed Street Shul, by Frank Romero
Breed Street Shul, by Frank Romero

Breed Street Shul, by Frank Romero

By Frank Romero

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Signed and titled by the artist from the edition of 69. This print feature a small a small Jewish Shul in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles where Romero grew up, Romero was fea...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Poppin' Graff - Abstract Colorful Textural 'Love You' Graffiti Mixed Media Art
Poppin' Graff - Abstract Colorful Textural 'Love You' Graffiti Mixed Media Art

Poppin' Graff - Abstract Colorful Textural 'Love You' Graffiti Mixed Media Art

By Amber Goldhammer

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles artist Amber Goldhammer paints dramatic abstract compositions in acrylic on canvas featuring energetic brushstrokes. Goldhammer uses her contemporary paintings to express...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Latex, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic

Blue Umbrellas Exhibition Poster, Offset Print, Contemporary, 1995
Blue Umbrellas Exhibition Poster, Offset Print, Contemporary, 1995

Blue Umbrellas Exhibition Poster, Offset Print, Contemporary, 1995

By Javacheff Christo

Located in Brooklyn, NY

This rare exhibition poster, titled "Blue Umbrellas," commemorates the remarkable installation created by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in October 1991. The project featured 960 yellow u...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Offset

Untitled Oil
Untitled Oil

Untitled Oil

By Steve Seltzer

Located in Bozeman, MT

Steve Seltzer’s connection to the world of art, especially historical western subject matter began at an early age. He grew up in a home filled with original pieces of art. These wor...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fish Market Mercato di Rialto, long exposure cityscape, Venice - color photo
Fish Market Mercato di Rialto, long exposure cityscape, Venice - color photo

Fish Market Mercato di Rialto, long exposure cityscape, Venice - color photo

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Gerald Berghammer - Color cityscape photography. Gondolas docked along a canal in Venice, Italy, with historic buildings and the fish market in the back. Archival pigment ink print ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Gondolas and San Giorgio Maggiore Church - cityscape - Venice - limited edition
Gondolas and San Giorgio Maggiore Church - cityscape - Venice - limited edition

Gondolas and San Giorgio Maggiore Church - cityscape - Venice - limited edition

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Gerald Berghammer - Color cityscape photography. Gondolas docked along wooden posts on a misty water canal and in back San Giorgio Maggiore Church. All Gerald Berghammer prints are ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Row of colorful Pedal Boats Panorama, waterscape - limited edition color print
Row of colorful Pedal Boats Panorama, waterscape - limited edition color print

Row of colorful Pedal Boats Panorama, waterscape - limited edition color print

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Gerald Berghammer - Color panorama waterscape photography. A row of colorful pedal boats on the lake Balaton with dramatic cloudy sky. All Gerald Berghammer prints are made to order...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Mini Hope (14/55) - Figurative Table or Desk Sculpture with Glossy Teal Balloon
Mini Hope (14/55) - Figurative Table or Desk Sculpture with Glossy Teal Balloon

Mini Hope (14/55) - Figurative Table or Desk Sculpture with Glossy Teal Balloon

By Nayla Saroufim

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Nayla Saroufim’s contemporary sculptures translate optimism into form. Her works feel playful at first glance, then quietly persistent the longer you live with them. Working in metal...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Metal, Steel

The Heat - Handwoven  Abstract Landscape, Contemporary Woven and Painted Artwork
The Heat - Handwoven  Abstract Landscape, Contemporary Woven and Painted Artwork

The Heat - Handwoven Abstract Landscape, Contemporary Woven and Painted Artwork

By Marta Pokojowczyk

Located in Salzburg, AT

‚The Heat’, handwoven landscape, linen yarn, organic cotton, acrylic textile paint, 60 x 50 cm, 2021. This work are a symbiosis of two disciplines of art, Painting and Weaving. Handw...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Textile, Cotton, Linen, Yarn, Acrylic

Stonehenge Panorama - prehistory stone landscape - color photography, limited
Stonehenge Panorama - prehistory stone landscape - color photography, limited

Stonehenge Panorama - prehistory stone landscape - color photography, limited

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Gerald Berghammer - Color landscape panorama photography. Historic Stonehenge monument with large standing stones on a grassy field under a gray sky. Archival pigment ink print as p...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Lemniscate - 21st Century Contemporary Realistic Still life Painting
Lemniscate - 21st Century Contemporary Realistic Still life Painting

Lemniscate - 21st Century Contemporary Realistic Still life Painting

Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant

Erik van de Beek (Dutch artist) Lemniscate 15,2 x 27,9 cm ( framed included 19,2 x 31,9 cm) Oil paint on wood panel Artist Erik van de Beek lives and works in Nijmegen. The modest N...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Shrimps Wanna Have Cocktails Too, Still-Life Painting, 90x90 cm
Shrimps Wanna Have Cocktails Too, Still-Life Painting, 90x90 cm

Shrimps Wanna Have Cocktails Too, Still-Life Painting, 90x90 cm

Located in Zofingen, AG

Shrimps Wanna Have Cocktails Too is a quiet rebellion served on a silver plate, a reminder that even those placed on the sidelines of the table deserve the center of the scene, becau...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Sailing Towards You - Figurative Bronze Iron Boat Metal Wall-Mounted Sculpture
Sailing Towards You - Figurative Bronze Iron Boat Metal Wall-Mounted Sculpture

Sailing Towards You - Figurative Bronze Iron Boat Metal Wall-Mounted Sculpture

By Mireia Serra

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Mireia Serra creates sensuous bronze and iron sculptures showing the beauty of snapshots caught in life which are full of emotions and feelings along the life journey. Her metal artw...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Metal, Bronze, Iron

The Best is Yet to Come For You - Abstract Mixed Media Graffiti Inspired Artwork
The Best is Yet to Come For You - Abstract Mixed Media Graffiti Inspired Artwork

The Best is Yet to Come For You - Abstract Mixed Media Graffiti Inspired Artwork

By Amber Goldhammer

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles artist Amber Goldhammer paints dramatic abstract compositions in acrylic on canvas featuring energetic brushstrokes. Goldhammer uses her contemporary paintings to express...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Latex, Ink, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Acrylic

Serie Dibujos Felices 10 - Original Red Blue Watercolor and Ink Artwork on Paper
Serie Dibujos Felices 10 - Original Red Blue Watercolor and Ink Artwork on Paper

Serie Dibujos Felices 10 - Original Red Blue Watercolor and Ink Artwork on Paper

By "Sergio ""Valenz"" Valenzuela"

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Sergio Valenzuela “Valenz” is a contemporary Guatemalan artist who tells stories with everyday objects, primarily expressing them with graphite and acrylic on canvas. His artworks pr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Life Journey 2 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Figurative, Realism
Life Journey 2 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Figurative, Realism

Life Journey 2 - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative, Figurative, Realism

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About the Artist Joy Eyitayo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Seascape XVIII Diptych - large scale abstract monochromatic ocean water surface
Seascape XVIII Diptych - large scale abstract monochromatic ocean water surface

Seascape XVIII Diptych - large scale abstract monochromatic ocean water surface

By Frank Schott

Located in San Francisco, CA

Large format abstract photograph diptych of mesmerizing water surface and ephemeral abstract ripple patterns from a series of photographic works capturing the monochromatic oceanic b...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment

THE SHADOW II - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Women's Portrait
THE SHADOW II - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Women's Portrait

THE SHADOW II - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Women's Portrait

By Jarek Puczel

Located in Salzburg, AT

The Polish artist Jarek Puczel catches the calmness of apparently simple and unspectacular situations with an impressive modesty and apparent ease. He creates an interesting and tens...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mixed Media Large Pop Art Painting Drawing Brian Kenny NYC Street Art 2015
Mixed Media Large Pop Art Painting Drawing Brian Kenny NYC Street Art 2015

Mixed Media Large Pop Art Painting Drawing Brian Kenny NYC Street Art 2015

Located in Surfside, FL

Brian Kenny, (German-American, 1982-) MIxed Media Painting with Drawing, Oil or Acrylic on Canvas. Hand signed On Verso and Dated 2015, NYC Dimensions: Sight- 30" x 24", Frame- 36" x 30" Brian Kenny (born 1982, Heidelberg, Germany) is a NYC-based American multidisciplinary artist exhibited in galleries, museums, theaters and alternative venues in the US, Canada, Russia, Israel and across Europe. In 2004 Brian began an ongoing collaboration with artist Slava Mogutin as SUPERM, and in 2016 with writer Rich Juzwiak as BOYFRIEND HOUSE. Using an array of mediums including drawing, painting, sculpture, textile, video and performance, Brian’s artwork is bright and vividly expressionistic; often autobiographical and reflective of his current states of mind which include themes of his queer identity, shifting societal perceptions about gender, sexuality and politics, urban living and free-associative wanderings of thought and creative experimentation. New York-based artist Brian Kenny’s work is a visually striking exploration of gender, sexuality, and politics in contemporary North America. Known for his experimental and expressionistic practice, Brian mixes mediums such as painting, illustration, collage, sculpture, and textiles – oftentimes all at once. Brian’s foundation in drawing is evident across his portfolio, with nearly every piece incorporating some signature scribblings from the artist. He has experimented with drawing, collage, photography, performance and, more recently, painting. “All the other mediums I’m exploring like, painting, textile art, and animation all branch out from drawing,” he explains. This focus is what makes Brian’s vast collection of work all feel so cohesive. "Both of my parents were in the US military and we moved around a lot in the US. But most of the places I lived were rural, far from big cities and art museums, so I had no idea who Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Chuck Close, David Hockney or Damien Hirst were. The few small art museums I visited as a child were full of old-school oil paintings; all life-like portraits, rural landscapes and historical recreations. It wasn’t until I met Slava Mogutin and moved to New York that I began to meet artists, see exhibitions at art galleries of living artists near my age, and tour lot of contemporary art museums like MoMA and begin learning about contemporary art history". Brian says. “I’m definitely not a minimalist and lean toward more narrative and figurative artwork than abstraction or decoration”. Minimalist, he is not: Brian’s work pops with vibrant colours, characters and shapes, evoking a Warholian play on pop art culture. Kenny’s signature line drawing style is reminiscent of Keith Haring and LA Ortiz and evokes comparisons to early Jean Michel Basquiat. Brian's commercial and fashion work includes art and design commissions and collaborations with Onitsuka Tiger (Japan...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Permanent Marker

Park XVI (Berlin artist, Postwar, Contemporary, Abstract vs Figurative)
Park XVI (Berlin artist, Postwar, Contemporary, Abstract vs Figurative)

Park XVI (Berlin artist, Postwar, Contemporary, Abstract vs Figurative)

Located in Kansas City, MO

Barbara Keidel Park XVI Mixed media, pastel on handmade, toned laid paper 1997 Size: 29.5 × 21.25 inches (75 × 54 cm) Signed and dated in pencil Additionally hand-signed, dated, tit...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Pastel, Mixed Media, Laid Paper

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.