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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
Hotel Chelsea, New York. Room 121
Hotel Chelsea, New York. Room 121

Hotel Chelsea, New York. Room 121

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

Seven by Seven 5, 2018
Seven by Seven 5, 2018

Seven by Seven 5, 2018

By Brad Faine

Located in Greenwich, CT

Seven by Seven 5 is one of a series of 13 unique color variations of this title. The digital pigment print with diamond dust on canvas is signed and titled on the verso, and framed i...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Digital Pigment, Canvas

Rodeo Cowboy by Anouk Krantz 2018

Rodeo Cowboy by Anouk Krantz 2018

By Anouk Krantz

Located in Chicago, IL

Rodeo Cowboy (B&W) 2018 ARCHIVAL PIGMENT PRINT Unframed Sizes: 45 x 30 in (114.3 x 76.2 cm) - Edition of 8 + 2 AP (Artist Proofs) 60 x 40 in (152.4 x 101.6 cm) - Edition of 10 + 2 A...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Silver Gelatin

Toucans
Toucans

Toucans

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Toucans is a lithograph on paper, initialed lower right 'BD', 9 x 9" image size. From the edition of 395, numbered LI/C (there were also 275 Arabic and 20 AP), framed in a contempora...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Marella Agnelli in Marrakesh
Marella Agnelli in Marrakesh

Marella Agnelli in Marrakesh

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, Gouache

Untitled II. Painting. From the Medium - Screen Time series
Untitled II. Painting. From the Medium - Screen Time series

Untitled II. Painting. From the Medium - Screen Time series

Located in Miami Beach, FL

In this project, exploring the fluid condition between the virtual and real world, the artist seek to materialize my experiences in digital environments - whether browsing through G...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Oil, Giclée, Mixed Media

Island Light, by Stephen McMillan
Island Light, by Stephen McMillan

Island Light, by Stephen McMillan

By Stephen McMillan

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: etching and aquatint Edition of 120 Year: 2023 Image Size: 4 x 5 inches Signed, titled and numbered by the artist. The view west from Cypress Island off the coast of Washin...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

The Devil - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper
The Devil - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

The Devil - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This graphic painting by John Scott deals with images associated with the devil and war. Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, in the 1950s during the Cold War, John Scott experienced the...

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Clown

Clown

By George Condo

Located in New York, NY

George Condo is a New York-based artist known for his psychologically charged paintings and drawings that combine traditional art references with cartoonish distortions. His work is ...

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

The Last Dynasty: Countess

The Last Dynasty: Countess

Located in Lyons, CO

Color lithograph, Edition 30. Known for paintings based on historical Chinese photographs, Hung Liu's subjects over the years have been prostitutes, refugees, street performers, s...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Rhapsody"

"Rhapsody"

By Ron Hicks

Located in Scottsdale, AZ

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1965, Ron Hicks was an avid artist from an early age. Hicks began his formal studies in art at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Hicks contin...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Pause 2/3 - desktop bronze, sculpture
Pause 2/3 - desktop bronze, sculpture

Pause 2/3 - desktop bronze, sculpture

By P. Roch Smith

Located in Bloomfield, ON

The legendary canoeist and Canadian filmmaker Bill Mason once said, “First God made the canoe then he created a country to go with it.” Sculptor Roch Smith has embraced the iconic i...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Bronze

Gisele Buendchen Smoking - b&w Portrait with Jewelery, Fine Art Photography 1999
Gisele Buendchen Smoking - b&w Portrait with Jewelery, Fine Art Photography 1999

Gisele Buendchen Smoking - b&w Portrait with Jewelery, Fine Art Photography 1999

By Michel Comte

Located in Vienna, AT

Black-and-white Portrait of Topmodel Gisele Bündchen with luxurious jewelry and cigarette, photographed by Michel Comte in Cannes for Vogue Italia 1999. 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 capturing intimate moments with a young Gisele Bündchen in Cannes, France, for a Jewelry Campaign published in Vogue Italia. The highly praised artworks are now part of fashion and fine art history and are sought-after worldwide. This black-and-white portrait shows the supermodel with wet hair and smeared makeup as if she had just come back from a swim in the ocean. Her head is tilted back slightly, and the look she is shooting the camera is somewhat condescending yet challenging. With one hand, she is brushing her messy hair out of her face, showing off the cigarette she is holding to the viewer. The grungy and rebellious image is juxtaposed by the lavish jewelry the Model is wearing: Big chandelier earrings...

Category

1990s Contemporary Art

Materials

Black and White, C Print

Big Shot

Big Shot

By Cristina Mittermeier

Located in Chicago, IL

Big Shot Greenland Available sizes: 20 x 30 in / Edition of 6 - $7,500 32 x 48 in / Edition of 6 - $17,500 40 x 60 in / Edition of 6 - $18,500 50 x 75 in ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Pink Africa, Painting
Pink Africa, Painting

Pink Africa, 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

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Color of Water 18

Color of Water 18

By Frances Ashforth

Located in Fairfield, CT

Additional $150 for framing. Frances Ashforth’s spare paintings, drawings and waterbase monotypes reflect the geography and geology of intersecting habitats that she has visited and...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Synthetic, Oil

Waterfall
Waterfall

Waterfall

By Hiroshi Senju

Located in Palm Desert, CA

"Waterfall" is an abstract landscape natural pigments and platinum on Japanese mulberry paper mounted on board painting by Hiroshi Senju in 2021. The artwork is 36 x 46 inches and 36...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Platinum

Barbuda (Caribbean Daydreams)
Barbuda (Caribbean Daydreams)

Barbuda (Caribbean Daydreams)

By Thomas McKnight

Located in Greenwich, CT

Barbuda from the Caribbean Daydreams portfolio is a serigraph on paper measuring 16 x 18 inches, signed 'McKnight' lower right and annotated lower left. Framed in a contemporary, bla...

Category

20th Century Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Screen

Isolation III. From the Isolation Series
Isolation III. From the Isolation Series

Isolation III. From the Isolation Series

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Starting with photographic base elements, such as the figure or the landscape, Haider transforms the scenery into a surreal world through heavy post-production. She uses photographs,...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Rag Paper, Archival Pigment

El Rio Grande
El Rio Grande

El Rio Grande

By Juan Fuentes

Located in Palm Springs, CA

Medium: linocut Year: 2023 Image Size: 18 x 24 inches Edition Size: 10 Image of a immigrants wading across the Rio Grande River at the border between Mexico and the United States. ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Linocut

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

By Allison Gildersleeve

Located in Dallas, TX

Allison Gildersleeve, born in Connecticut in 1970, earned her B.A. from the College of William and Mary and her M.F.A. from Bard College. Gildersleeve lives and works in Brooklyn, Ne...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Photogravure

Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats
Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats

Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats

By Takashi Murakami

Located in Greenwich, CT

'Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arthats' is a large-format offset lithograph by Takashi Murakami, image size 28 x 46.5 inches and framed size 37.5 x 56 inches. From the edition of 300, signed lower right and numbered 191/300. Framed in a contemporary, white frame. In the 2017 monograph, ‘The Octopus Eats its Own Legs’, Michael Dylan Foster writes, “Akiko Miki has noted that in his more recent work Murakami has made a ‘shift not only to being concerned with the notion of religion – a main component, along with capitalism, behind the creation of art – but also towards a more serious engagement with the traditions of Japanese art.’ These concerns, manifested in his explicit invocations of folkloric imagery and creatures from both religion and art, are particularly apparent in ‘The 500 Arhats,’ his monumental twenty-four-paneled, 100-meter-long painting. The work portrays five hundred wizened and grotesque arhats, Buddhist religious figures who, as art historian Nobuo Tsuji puts it, ‘normally… stay in the mountains practicing religious austerities, only appearing after a fire, tsunami, earthquake, or some other disaster has occurred, as a kind of rescue team.’ The gargantuan painting represents Murakami’s interest in creating – in the wake of Japan’s tragedy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011 – ‘a work of art that would be deemed indispensable to our times.’ The inspiration came directly from a series of exchanges between Murakami and Tsuji, whose critical work the artist had long admired.” Regarding the red and blue demons in the present artwork, these are allusions to Japan’s folkloric tradition of ‘oni’ – ogre or devil-like creatures who in ancient times were associated with bad fortunes and events, but in modern times are more ambiguous. “…Murakami’s invocation of the oni suggests that – unlike his arhats, or his baku and hakutaku – these beings have not come as part of the post-disaster ‘rescue team’ but may represent the very inhuman forces that cause disaster. A closer examination of the figures, however, reveals that Murakami has incorporated other cultural allusions that complicate a one-sided interpretation. …these poses are reminiscent of the so-called Niō guardian...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Offset

Cy Twombly with pink chairs. From the Interiors series
Cy Twombly with pink chairs. From the Interiors series

Cy Twombly with pink chairs. From the Interiors series

By Manuel Santelices

Located in Miami Beach, FL

A new series inspired by architecture, décor and stylish personalities of the world of interior design. The worlds of fashion, society and pop culture are captured in the illustrati...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Acrylic

Like Ice in the Clouds (Japan) No. 94

Like Ice in the Clouds (Japan) No. 94

By Simone Rosenbauer

Located in New York, NY

15 x 15 archival pigment print, framed, edition 8. Signed, titled, dated and editioned on frame label provided. In this latest body of work, Simone Rosenbauer continues her series "...

Category

2010s Contemporary Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Sleeping with the Fishes
Sleeping with the Fishes

Sleeping with the Fishes

By Robert Deyber

Located in Greenwich, CT

Sleeping With the Fishes is a lithograph on paper, 9.25 x 9 inches image size, and initialed 'BD' lower right. From the edition of 395, numbered 171/275 (there were also 100 Roman a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

VIVA MEXICO

VIVA MEXICO

By Beatriz González

Located in New York, NY

tin plate painted with man in large sombrero. Edition of 500

Category

1980s Contemporary Art

Materials

Metal

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.