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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
Trees and Snow II, by Peter Milton
Trees and Snow II, by Peter Milton

Trees and Snow II, by Peter Milton

By Peter Milton

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: lift-ground etching and engraving Edition: 15 Year: 1961 Plate: zinc 9 x 15 inches (22.9 x 38.1 cm) Paper: Murillo, 16 x 21 inches (40.6 x 53.3 cm) Peter Milton is internati...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Engraving, Etching

"Uncertainty"

"Uncertainty"

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

The Fool, by Art Werger
The Fool, by Art Werger

The Fool, by Art Werger

By Art Werger

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: Color Etching with aquatint Year: 2024 Edition: 25 Image Size: 24 x 18 inches Signed, titled and numbered in pencil by the artist Dramatic etching of high wire walker Philip...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

The Empress and The High Priest, Diptych. Embroidery thread on canvas
The Empress and The High Priest, Diptych. Embroidery thread on canvas

The Empress and The High Priest, Diptych. Embroidery thread on canvas

By Maria Jose Franco Maldonado

Located in Miami Beach, FL

The Empress and The High Priest, Diptych, 2019 From the Ventura Series Embroidery thread on canvas Overall Frame size: 40 cm H x 60 cm W x 3 cm D Overall Image size: 27 cm H x 34 cm W Individual size: Frame size: 40 cm H x 30 cm W x 3 cm D Image size: 27 cm H x 17 cm W One of a kind Blackwood frame with plexiglass ______________ Maria Jose Franco Maldonado’s family was her art school by the hand of Georgia O`Keefe, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Artemisia Gentileschi, Matisse, Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, Louise Bourgeois, Maripaz Jaramillo, Judy Chicago, Basquiat, and so many others. She then formalized her studies in art direction and advertising in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2015, she showed her work for the very first time in three group exhibitions around New York at Shervin's Café Gallery, Brooklyn Fire Proof Gallery, and Greenpoint Gallery. That same year her illustrations accompanied Pilar Gualco`s literary work in Buenos Aires at Fauna Estudio Taller. In 2017, she fell in love with embroidery. Slowly, she connected techniques and in the process dressed up a lot of weird humans. She showed her work in 2019 at Noches San Felipe and Open San Felipe with SGR and Bandy Bandy galleries in Bogotá, Colombia. Her series AFFAIR was shown at Noches del Millón, from Feria del Millón in Medellín, Colombia at the end of 2019. Closing 2019 she was lucky to have her own exhibition alongside Daniela Moreno, a great Colombian textile...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Gold

"Sorrow"

"Sorrow"

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

Roma May 2014 37bn. Black and White Figurative Photograph
Roma May 2014 37bn. Black and White Figurative Photograph

Roma May 2014 37bn. Black and White Figurative Photograph

By Luca Artioli

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Luca Artioli has always been fascinated by Roman Statues. As a child, he wandered through the Imperial Forum creating dialogues between them. For young Luca the statues were alive. T...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Loosha

Loosha

By Gary Komarin

Located in Fairfield, CT

Mixed media on paper 34 x 12 in. Work is currently unframed. Framing is additional

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Citation - black, white, abstracted figurative, brushed ink on paper
Citation - black, white, abstracted figurative, brushed ink on paper

Citation - black, white, abstracted figurative, brushed ink on paper

By Andrew Lui

Located in Bloomfield, ON

Brushed ink in grey and black leads the eye up the picture plane in this 55-inch tall painting on paper. The intense movement suggestive of rearing horses in this painterly work is in keeping with Lui's theme of pilgrimage in which he explores the idea of "self-inflicted happiness" as a deliberate response to the melancholy and complexity of life. This painting is floated and framed. Framed Size: 60 × 35 inches Born in Guangzhou, China, Lui participated in the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a member of the Red Guard 1968-70 and then escaped to Hong Kong by swimming. Making his way to Toronto he studied at the Ontario College of Art and became a citizen in the late 1970s. He continued studies in the UK, and Italy where he was drawn to the dynamic Uccello's Battle of San Romano...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Resist. From The Rectangular Composition Series
Resist. From The Rectangular Composition Series

Resist. From The Rectangular Composition Series

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Almo wonders about his identity, the countries he has lived in, his daily routine and how he creates himself. An outsider who has made the world his home, skin, and citizenship, and ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Pinks
Pinks

Pinks

By Gary Hume

Located in New York, NY

Gary Hume Pinks 2002 Silkscreen 17 3/8 x 14 inches; 44 x 36 cm Edition of 45 Signed, titled, dated and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Available fr...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Supermodels - Group Portrait in Palazzo Versace, Fine Art Photography, 1994
Supermodels - Group Portrait in Palazzo Versace, Fine Art Photography, 1994

Supermodels - Group Portrait in Palazzo Versace, Fine Art Photography, 1994

By Michel Comte

Located in Vienna, AT

Glamorous Group Portrait of the most famous Supermodels of the 90s in the Palazzo Versace, wearing the famous Versace Oroton Chainmail dresses, photographed by Michel Comte in 1994. All prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. With "Supermodels, Versace, 1994," Michel Comte captured a moment of unparalleled glamour from the world of haute couture. Set against the backdrop of Versace's iconic fashion house, this fine art print immortalizes a gathering of legendary supermodels amid a timeless fashion moment. With his discerning eye for composition and detail, Comte expertly frames the scene, allowing the viewer to witness the convergence of beauty, style, and sophistication. Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni, Nadja Auermann, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Shalom Harlow, Kristy Hume, Linda Evangelista, Nadege Du Bospertus, and Brandi Quinones staged for Vogue in blue and turquoise baroque shades. The saturated colors of the broiling desert against the piercing blue of the clear sky or the cool palette of an intimate black-and-white portrait, Michel Comte can do it all. The Swiss star...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

San Rafael,  Artist Self Portrait. Black and white Photograph
San Rafael,  Artist Self Portrait. Black and white Photograph

San Rafael, Artist Self Portrait. Black and white Photograph

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Water is constant in the artist's visual investigation, for her water is no longer the stage in which the body's memory bursts, but rather the environment and protagonist, constant o...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Jack Rabbit
Jack Rabbit

Jack Rabbit

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Jack Rabbit is a lithograph on paper, 9.5 x 7.5 inches image size. From the edition of 395, numbered 151/275 (there were also 100 Roman and 20 AP), framed in a contemporary, silver-t...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Palazzo Altemps 45bn, Black and White Figurative Photograph
Palazzo Altemps 45bn, Black and White Figurative Photograph

Palazzo Altemps 45bn, Black and White Figurative Photograph

By Luca Artioli

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Luca Artioli has always been fascinated by Roman Statues. As a child, he wandered through the Imperial Forum creating dialogues between them. For young Luca the statues were alive. T...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

772-772, 2015
772-772, 2015

772-772, 2015

By Takashi Murakami

Located in Greenwich, CT

772-772 is an offset lithograph on paper by Takashi Murakami, 25.5 x 38" image size and 38.25 x 51" framed size. From the edition of 300, signed lower right and numbered 77/300. Fram...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Offset

NIGHT COURIER

NIGHT COURIER

By Julio Larraz

Located in New York, NY

watercolor and pencil drawing of a small airplane. framed in a silver leaf frame. landscape

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Stars 5, 2014 - Stars and Trees in Ancient English Woodland and Forest Landscape

Stars 5, 2014 - Stars and Trees in Ancient English Woodland and Forest Landscape

By Ellie Davies

Located in Brighton, GB

Stars 5, 2014 - Stars and Trees in Ancient English Woodland and Forest Landscape by Ellie Davies Stars 5 by Ellie Davies is a stunning Digital C-Type Print on Fuji Maxima Matte pape...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Digital, C Print, Color

The Yellow Jacket, Portrait Painting
The Yellow Jacket, Portrait Painting

The Yellow Jacket, Portrait Painting

By Manuel Santelices

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Movies, TV and magazines are constant source of inspiration. Fame, as fleckring and shallow it can be sometimes, is very intriguing to him. The worlds of fashion, society and pop cu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Ink

Behold. From The Rectangular Composition Series
Behold. From The Rectangular Composition Series

Behold. From The Rectangular Composition Series

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Almo wonders about his identity, the countries he has lived in, his daily routine and how he creates himself. An outsider who has made the world his home, skin, and citizenship, and ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Highway California, 2016 - United States American Landscape Travel Photography

Highway California, 2016 - United States American Landscape Travel Photography

By Jo Crowther

Located in Brighton, GB

Highway, California, 2016 by Jo Crowther is a 16" x 20" Archival Inkjet Print from a Limited Edition of 12 in this size. A view of the Californian desert sunset is viewed through th...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Color, Inkjet

Ibis

Ibis

By Gary Komarin

Located in Fairfield, CT

Mixed media on paper 34 x 12 in. Work is currently unframed. Framing is additional

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Dahlia 14, 2013 - Orange Sunburst Decorative Dahlia Photograph

Dahlia 14, 2013 - Orange Sunburst Decorative Dahlia Photograph

Located in Brighton, GB

Dahlia 14, 2013 - Orange Sunburst Decorative Dahlia Photograph by Philip Gatward This is a Limited Edition Contemporary Archival Inkjet Print by British photographer Philip Gatward....

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Color, Inkjet

Hotel Chelsea, New York. First Floor, North
Hotel Chelsea, New York. First Floor, North

Hotel Chelsea, New York. First Floor, North

Located in Miami Beach, FL

These extraordinary photographs are part of the the Hotel Chelsea series. The Hotel Chelsea closed its doors for the first time in its iconic history of over one hundred years. Amer...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

C Print

Xenestela 14. From The Series Xenestela
Xenestela 14. From The Series Xenestela

Xenestela 14. From The Series Xenestela

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Exuberantly colorful, symmetric colleges with ovoid shapes, called emissaries, originate from another cosmic dimension. We are troubled by the unsettling apprehension that they may b...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Magazine Paper

'Thinking' Figurative Expressionist Portrait Painting
'Thinking' Figurative Expressionist Portrait Painting

'Thinking' Figurative Expressionist Portrait Painting

By La Ba Quan

Located in Rye, NY

‘Thinking’ is a medium size vertical expressionist figurative oil on canvas painting created by Vietnamese artist La Ba Quan in 2011. Featuring a palette made of grey, soft blue, green and pink, the painting brings to mind the fascinating aura of a Chaim Soutine. This expressionist painting is dominated by the tortuous lines of the man’s silhouette...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bent Blue

Bent Blue

By Jasper Johns

Located in New York, NY

A whimsical image in black and white, created by Jasper Johns in 1971, Bent Blue is an original lithograph, hand-signed and numbered in pencil, measuring 26 x 20 in. (66 x 51 cm), f...

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

Plate No. 322 - Print, Landscape, Portrait, Cityscape

Plate No. 322 - Print, Landscape, Portrait, Cityscape

By Johanna Goodman

Located in Brighton, GB

Plate No. 322 by Johanna Goodman Giclée print on Archival Matte Paper with Archival Pigment Ink. In 2017 she was awarded the New York State Council for the Arts/New York Foundation...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée

The Art of Modern Living
The Art of Modern Living

The Art of Modern Living

By René Lalonde

Located in Greenwich, CT

The Art of Modern Living is a digital pigment print on paper, image size 24 x 38.5 inches and framed in a contemporary light wood frame. Signed 'RENÉ LALONDE' lower right and annotat...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Digital Pigment

Gisele Buendchen with Paparazzis, Cannes - supermodels escaping from the press
Gisele Buendchen with Paparazzis, Cannes - supermodels escaping from the press

Gisele Buendchen with Paparazzis, Cannes - supermodels escaping from the press

By Michel Comte

Located in Vienna, AT

All prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. In 1999, star photographer Michel Comte created a series of images with supermodel Gisele Bündchen in Cannes, France for Vogue Italia. The highly praised artworks are now part of fashion and fine art history and sought-after worldwide. Intimate moments of a young Gisele captured on camera in Comte's raw signature style. The saturated colours of the broiling desert against the piercing blue of the clear sky or the cool palette of an intimate black-and-white portrait; Michel Comte can do it all. The Swiss star...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

"When the Moon and the Sky Talk About Flowers"

"When the Moon and the Sky Talk About Flowers"

By Ana Maria Hernando

Located in Lyons, CO

The artist describes this project: “I paint and draw flowers, not only out of mesmerized wonder for their presence on earth, but also as a rebellion against the labels of “decorative”, “inconsequential” and “superficial” that have been equated historically to the art of women...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

August Still Life - contemporary, floral, still life, acrylic and oil on canvas
August Still Life - contemporary, floral, still life, acrylic and oil on canvas

August Still Life - 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. Inspired by the classic still life paintings of ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Spring - large, bright, yellow, orange, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
Spring - large, bright, yellow, orange, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas

Spring - large, bright, yellow, orange, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas

By Milly Ristvedt

Located in Bloomfield, ON

Passages of butter yellow, rose and light green float on a washed spring yellow ground in this elegant abstract painting by Milly Ristvedt. Milly Ristvedt (b. 1942, Kimberley, BC) MA, RCA, began her career in Toronto in 1964 after studies with Takao Tanabe...

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Aqua - large, geometric abstract, contemporary, mild steel, outdoor sculpture
Aqua - large, geometric abstract, contemporary, mild steel, outdoor sculpture

Aqua - large, geometric abstract, contemporary, mild steel, outdoor sculpture

Located in Bloomfield, ON

A collaborative project, artist Javid Jah and fabricator Alex Akbari of Qube Inc. re-designed this series from a recent public art exhibition in downtown Toronto, which was exhibited in collaboration with Roger Mooking and Wyandot artist Catherine Tammaro. The dynamic geometric form of the three pieces—Terra, Aqua and Aero (the elements of earth, water and air) is inspired by the ideas of cosmology (the study of the universe) and sacred ancestral principles. Forged from steel, light shines through the intricately detailed pattern of perforations on the surface. Each individual sculpture can also be used as a wood burning or gas fire pit...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Metal, Steel

Going to the Olympics
Going to the Olympics

Going to the Olympics

By Frank Romero

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Frank Romero created this serigraph after learning that the original mural, completed on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles, 1984, had been painted over. The mural, which was done for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, has since been restored. Signed and numbered by the artist in black marker, in lower left corner of print on black background - hard to see except at an angle. 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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

Chanel Pastels, Fashion, Watercolor Painting
Chanel Pastels, Fashion, Watercolor Painting

Chanel Pastels, Fashion, Watercolor 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, Watercolor

Stockholm Red, 2014 - Nordic Photography Ice Caves Ships Nautical Coastal Snow
Stockholm Red, 2014 - Nordic Photography Ice Caves Ships Nautical Coastal Snow

Stockholm Red, 2014 - Nordic Photography Ice Caves Ships Nautical Coastal Snow

By Jo Crowther

Located in Brighton, GB

Stockholm Red, 2014 by Jo Crowther is a 16" x 20" Archival Inkjet Print available in this size only from a Limited Edition of 12 The icy water of this Stockholm dock is the center o...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Color, Inkjet

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.