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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
At One with Nature
At One with Nature

At One with Nature

By Jacob Burda

Located in Zofingen, AG

At One with Nature is a contemplative landscape that explores the quiet harmony between human presence and the natural world. Figures appear gently integrated into the greenery, not ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Little Darlings (Till Death do us Part) - Contemporary, Polaroid, Women

Little Darlings (Till Death do us Part) - Contemporary, Polaroid, Women

By Stefanie Schneider

Located in Morongo Valley, CA

Little Darlings (Till Death do us Part) - 2005 38x37cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 artist proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inv...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Scattered - acrylic and oil on canvas
Scattered - acrylic and oil on canvas

Scattered - acrylic and oil on canvas

By Wencke Uhl

Located in West Hollywood, CA

Wencke Uhl is a contemporary figurative paintress living and working in Germany. She draws inspiration from human beauty and the female form. As a teenager Uhl wanted to become a fas...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

"Pinky" Small Pac-Man Ghost Glass Sculpture
"Pinky" Small Pac-Man Ghost Glass Sculpture

"Pinky" Small Pac-Man Ghost Glass Sculpture

By Dylan Martinez

Located in East Quogue, NY

"Pinky" - Small Glass Pac-Man Ghost Sculpture by Dylan Martinez. Size: 5" h x 4.5" w. Signed on the base by the artist. Each sculpture is unique. These whimsical Pac-Man Ghost scu...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Blown Glass

Gnarled Laurel Tree in Fog — Fanal, Madeira Contemporary Landscape Photograph
Gnarled Laurel Tree in Fog — Fanal, Madeira Contemporary Landscape Photograph

Gnarled Laurel Tree in Fog — Fanal, Madeira Contemporary Landscape Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 8 // Gallery ID: 21326 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

Inner Nature 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Women on African Fabric
Inner Nature 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Women on African Fabric

Inner Nature 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Women on African Fabric

By Oluwafemi Afolabi

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. “Your mind knows...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"TV", needlepoint woman on horseback wrapped around vintage television with plug
"TV", needlepoint woman on horseback wrapped around vintage television with plug

"TV", needlepoint woman on horseback wrapped around vintage television with plug

By Ulla-Stina Wikander

Located in Philadelphia, PA

"TV" is an original piece by Ulla-Stina Wikander is a free standing sculpture. This piece is made from sourcing vintage needlepoint embroidery featuring a woman on vintage television...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Thread, Found Objects, Textile

Hummingbird (260306)

Hummingbird (260306)

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

"Honeymoon"  Limited Edition Drawing
"Honeymoon"  Limited Edition Drawing

"Honeymoon" Limited Edition Drawing

By John Lennon

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

Rare Limited Edition Serigraph of John Lennon's "Honeymoon" originally drawn in 1969, this limited edition was released by Bag One Arts (The Lennon Estate) in 1986 and has been sold...

Category

1970s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen

After Botero Bronze Sculpture of Man on Horse, Dark Patina, Edition 50 beautiful
After Botero Bronze Sculpture of Man on Horse, Dark Patina, Edition 50 beautiful

After Botero Bronze Sculpture of Man on Horse, Dark Patina, Edition 50 beautiful

By Fernando Botero

Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México

This AFTER BOTERO sculpture is a very beautiful, faithful reproduction in the style of BOTERO'S work that has sold very well here on 1st Dibs. Please give us up to 10 working days to...

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Morning Light in the Mountains – Limited Edition Black-and-White Panoramic Photo
Morning Light in the Mountains – Limited Edition Black-and-White Panoramic Photo

Morning Light in the Mountains – Limited Edition Black-and-White Panoramic Photo

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 21040 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

Woman Protestor, 1960s, Washington, Signed Gelatin Silver Photograph, 14x11
Woman Protestor, 1960s, Washington, Signed Gelatin Silver Photograph, 14x11

Woman Protestor, 1960s, Washington, Signed Gelatin Silver Photograph, 14x11

By Leonard Freed

Located in New york, NY

American photographer Leonard Freed enjoyed documentary storytelling and as a "concerned photographer" his photography demonstrated humanitarian concerns. Woman Protestor, March on Washington, 1963 by Leonard Freed, is a 14" x 11" gelatin silver photograph, signed and stamped on verso (back of photo) by the estate, Brigitte Freed (wife of the photographer). The photo is in Leonard Freed's book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington'' (p. 50). The photographer travelled to New York, Washington, D.C., and throughout the South, capturing the daily lives of African-Americans. Documenting the 1960s Civil Rights Movement from the East Coast to the Deep South, Freed’s photo essay culminated in the book Black in White America, which contributed to Freed's becoming a well-known documentary photographer of 20th Century America. After Freed’s death in 2006 his widow, Brigitte Freed was inspired to compile a book on the March on Washington from her late husband’s archive because she heard then-Senator former President Barack Obama remark to an audience of civil rights activists, “I stand here because you walked.” The March on Washington series is a powerful visual testimony, capturing protests that culminated in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream'' speech, delivered at the base of the Lincoln Memorial. Provenance: Freed estate *** Artist’s Bio: Leonard Freed (1929-2006) was an American photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His "Black in White America" series made him known as a documentarian, a social documentary photographer. Freed worked as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards and as a Magnum photographer Freed traveled widely abroad and, in the US, photographing African Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68, 1973), and the New York City police department (1972-79). Freed's coverage of the American civil rights...

Category

1960s Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Row of Colourful Pedal Boats, Panorama – Limited Edition Colour Photograph
Row of Colourful Pedal Boats, Panorama – Limited Edition Colour Photograph

Row of Colourful Pedal Boats, Panorama – Limited Edition Colour Photograph

By Gerald Berghammer

Located in Vienna, Vienna

Archival pigment ink print, produced in a limited edition of 7 // Gallery ID: 25045 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

Sensory Experience original large nude art Paula Craioveanu 39x27.5in in Florida
Sensory Experience original large nude art Paula Craioveanu 39x27.5in in Florida

Sensory Experience original large nude art Paula Craioveanu 39x27.5in in Florida

By Paula Craioveanu

Located in Forest Hills, NY

"Sensory Experience", pencil and ultramarine tempera on paper, inspired by Matisse. Part of Nude in Interior series. Large drawing. Shipped rolled in a tube, from Florida, US. Choose between express or standard shipping. This particular piece is in my studio in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Other pieces are in my other studios in Europe, or in NY. Artist Statement "I started by painting interiors, being interested in space and perspective through my studies. These scenes evolved, when I added the human figure. I focused more on the human figure and its relation to the background. The human figure is more present than ever in my paintings now. As a woman artist I’ve been preoccupied with the female form and its imagery. One of my goals was to capture the solitary moments and the nude’s relation to the surrounding space. My interest turned from depicting the space to rendering the atmosphere and the scene as a whole, the feeling a woman adds to the environment: warmth, desire, joy, a feeling of power and control, or the opposite – sadness, despair. Here is a collection of figurative paintings, exploring the nudes in interior spaces, seeing the nudes from my perspective, as a woman artist, considering the physical and spiritual realities of a woman’s body, in a new level of intimacy. My paintings are the opposite of objectifying a woman’s or a man’s anatomy. Painted works, featuring female nudes and a also men nudes...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Tempera, Pencil, Paper

"Nowhere Man" Limited Edition Hand Written Lyrics
"Nowhere Man" Limited Edition Hand Written Lyrics

"Nowhere Man" Limited Edition Hand Written Lyrics

By John Lennon

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

Rare Limited Edition Serigraph of John Lennon's handwritten lyrics for the song "Nowhere Man," first released on "Revolver" by the Beatles in 1965. This limited edition was releas...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Screen, Other Medium

Christine's '52 Henry J & Teardrop Bonneville, Utah - Landscape Car Photo
Christine's '52 Henry J & Teardrop Bonneville, Utah - Landscape Car Photo

Christine's '52 Henry J & Teardrop Bonneville, Utah - Landscape Car Photo

By Richard Heeps

Located in Cambridge, GB

'Christine's '52 Henry J & teardrop' was captured in Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, the iconic home of speed. This photograph captures the mountains in the distance meeting and contras...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin

Person with Eyes Closed 11"x17" Contemporary Figure Painting
Person with Eyes Closed 11"x17" Contemporary Figure Painting

Person with Eyes Closed 11"x17" Contemporary Figure Painting

Located in Washington, DC

Person with Eyes closed is a striking contemporary portrait that balances psychological depth with bold color and expressive mark-making. Rendered in a vibrant palette of deep cobalt...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Charcoal, Acrylic

Michael Jackson Seated, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography

Michael Jackson Seated, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography

By Greg Gorman

Located in München, BY

Edition 10 Also available in 40 x 50 cm / 16 x 20 inch, Edition 25 Portrait of superstar Michael Jackson. From personality portraits and advertising campaigns to magazine layouts and fine art work, Greg Gorman has developed a unique style in his profession. His distinctive use of light in his black and white portraits is one of the identifying aspects of a Gorman photograph. Gorman’s strength has been photographing motion picture and music personalities. His work has been used in film advertising and publicity campaigns as well as album and CD covers. Some of the motion picture celebrities that he has photographed include Ben Affleck, Lauren Bacall, Alec Baldwin, Antonio Banderas, Kim Basinger, Marlon Brando, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin Costner, Bette Davis, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Loren, Al Pacino, Barbra Streisand, Kiera Knightley, Clive Owen, Jennifer Lopez and John Travolta. In the music field, Mr. Gorman has worked with Elton John, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Morrissey, John Mayer, Bette Midler, Grace Jones and Frank Zappa to name a few. A partial list of the films that he has generated graphics and publicity for include “The Hurt Locker”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “King Arthur”, “Tootsie”, “The Big Chill”, “Bull Durham...

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Happiness is What Matters - Original Colorful Abstract Street Art Painting
Happiness is What Matters - Original Colorful Abstract Street Art Painting

Happiness is What Matters - Original Colorful Abstract Street Art Painting

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

Measured Appearance -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Mixed Media

Measured Appearance -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Mixed Media

By Bakare Abubakri-sideeq Babatunde

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 Artist Bakare Babatund...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Fabric, Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

Between Dreams
Between Dreams

Between Dreams

By Elizabeth Geisler

Located in Burlingame, CA

Elizabeth Geisler is best known for contemporary paintings of water that bridge realism and abstraction. At close range, her surfaces appear loose and ambiguous, but from a distance ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

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.