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Modern Art

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
STILL LIFE - Reptiles - Signed Facsimile, Ltd /450
STILL LIFE - Reptiles - Signed Facsimile, Ltd /450

STILL LIFE - Reptiles - Signed Facsimile, Ltd /450

By M.C. Escher

Located in Paris, IDF

M.C. ESCHER (1898-1972) Still life with reptiles, 2008 Facsimile after the original woodcut from 1943 Signed in the plate Numbered / 450 copies (the number you can see can be differ...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Color

1970 Haitian Mod Gold Painting Portrait of African American Woman Emilcar Simil
1970 Haitian Mod Gold Painting Portrait of African American Woman Emilcar Simil

1970 Haitian Mod Gold Painting Portrait of African American Woman Emilcar Simil

By Emilcar Similien (SIMIL)

Located in Surfside, FL

Feu de Joie 1970 hand signed and dated. Measurements: 25.75 X 25.75 Framed. Image is 23.75 X 23.75 Emilcar Similien, known as Simil was born in 1944 in St. Marc. He finished elementary school in St. Marc and high school in Port-au-Prince. From 1965 until 1971 he studied at the Academy of Beaux-Arts in Port-au-Prince, where he took courses in painting, sculpture, and art history. Simil uses his images of women only as means for displaying patterns, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. He paints with acrylics on Masonite of any size. His surfaces are smooth and polished. Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. This is done in a silhouette style reminiscent of Kara Walker. Emilcar Simil (Similcar) is known for Acrylic painting in high colors of black skinned female figures. He is of the generation of Haitian artists that include Bernard Sejourne, Prospere Pierre-Louis, Levoy Exil, Louisiane Saint Fleurant, Henri Calixte, Paul Dieuseul, Laurent Casimir, Frantz Zephirin, Denis Smith, Philton Latortue, Philome Obin, Préfète Duffaut, Fernand Pierre, Dieudonne L Cedor. Since 1971 he has taught art history and aesthetics at the Academy of Beaux-Arts. He is also an honorary teacher at the private school Juan Vasquez. In 1974, he traveled to the United States to meet American artists and visit major museums. Simil was influenced by Art nouveau and his favorite artist, Gustav Klimt. These influences are most obvious in his paintings of women. Like Bernard Sejourne, Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. But instead of concentrating on pose, he uses his images of women only as vehicles for displaying pattern, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. Only recognizable as females by their contours, their features are not distinguished. There is a playfulness of line that is very different from Sejourne's emphasis on monumentality. Emilcar Similien uses his images of women only as means for displaying patterns, color, and the sparkle of gold jewelry on black skin. He paints with acrylics on Masonite of any size. His surfaces are smooth and polished. Simil delights in beauty, elegance, and grace. He has been exhibiting since 1969 namely in Haiti, USA, Denmark. As Art Critic, Gerald Alexis states in his book Peintres Haitiens "well trained by masters who taught him to excel in his forms, Similien’s works also contain discrete messages” . EXHIBITIONS 1969- Academie des Beaux Arts 1970- Haitian-American Institute 1971- Salon Dante Alighieri, Amb. d'Italie, Port-au-Prince 1972- Christ, Saut-d'Eau 1973- Anderson and Hopkins Gallery, Washington, D.C. 1974- Galerie Mehu, Petion-Ville 1974- Musee d'Art Haitien, Port-au-Prince 1976- Galerie Monnin, One Man Show, Port-au-Prince 1977- Martello Museum, Key West, Florida 1978- Galleriet, Copenhagen, Denmark 1978-1979 - Haitian Art - Brooklyn Museum, New York, Milwaukee Art Center, Wisconsin, Kunst aus Haiti, Berlin, Germany, New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana 1978- Brooklyn College, New York 1978- Musee d'Art Haitien, Port-au-Prince 1979 - Haiti, Musee d'Art (Third Generation Artists) 1979- Kunst aus Haiti, West Berlin, Germany 1980- Curacao Museum, Willemstad, Curacao 1981- Sotheby Parke Bernet Auction, New York, NY 1982- Galerie Monnin Third Generation Artists 1982- Exhibit Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco 1982- Centre de Arte Cultural, Italy 1982- International Art Expo, New York, NY 1983- Musee International d'Art Naif, Nice, France 1983- Galerie Bukowskis, Zurich, Switzerland 1984- Exhibit Metropolitan Museum of Art 1985- Galerie Bukowskis, Zurich, Switzerland 1985- Cafe de la Paix Exposition, Paris, France 1986- Three Man Show, Port-au-Prince 1988- Galerie 93, Paris, France 1989- IFA Galerie und Kontaktstelle, Bonn, Germany 1990- Exposition du Palais du Rhin, Strasbourg, France 1992- La Rencontre Des Deux Mondes Vue Par Les Peintres D'Haiti - Martinique, Seville, Rome, Paris, Nantes, Angouleme, Laval, Toulouse, Japan, Montreal, United States, Mexico Haitian art is a complex tradition, reflecting African roots with strong Indigenous, American and European aesthetic and religious influences. Many artists cluster in "schools" of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School. Centre d’Art, located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was founded in 1944 by American watercolorist DeWitt Peters and several prominent Haitians from the intellectual and cultural circles including: Maurice Borno, Andrée Malebranche, Albert Mangonès, Lucien Price, and Georges Remponeau. Popular artists of this movement include: André Pierre, Hector Hippolyte, Castera Bazile...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic Polymer, Acrylic

Nasereddin Shah, King of Persia and his Soldiers- Lithograph - 1862

Nasereddin Shah, King of Persia and his Soldiers- Lithograph - 1862

Located in Roma, IT

Persian Cloth in 19th Century is a Hand-colored lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History...

Category

1860s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Antique American Modernist Fruit Still Life Tablescape Framed  Oil Painting
Antique American Modernist Fruit Still Life Tablescape Framed  Oil Painting

Antique American Modernist Fruit Still Life Tablescape Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist still life oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 14 by 17 inches overall, and 9 by 12 painting alone.. In excellent original condition. Handsomel...

Category

Early 1900s Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Board

The Catacombs in Naples - Lithograph - 1862

The Catacombs in Naples - Lithograph - 1862

Located in Roma, IT

Uses and Customs - The Catacombs in Naples is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History...

Category

1860s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel
Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel

Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel

By Lydia Radda

Located in PARIS, FR

Lydia Radda (1891-1967) Aquarium, circa 1935 Oil on panel Signed “Radda” lower right 13 x 16 inch Painter born in Corbeil-Essonnes in 1891, Julie Florent was active in Paris at the ...

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Paint, Oil

20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting Nude Woman Seated
20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting Nude Woman Seated

20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting Nude Woman Seated

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Seated Nude Woman by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century 11 x 7.5 inches oil on canvas, unframed condition: very good and ready to enjoy provenance: from a private collect...

Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil

Mascara Roja
Mascara Roja

Mascara Roja

By Rufino Tamayo

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Mascara Roja" 1969 is an original colors lithograph on B.F.K. Rives paper by renown Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, 1899-1991. It is hand signed and inscribed H.C. (Hors Commerce) in pencil by the artist. The image size is 21 x 27.25 inches, framed size is 37.25 x 42 inches. Published by Touchtone Publisher, New York, printed by Ateliers Desjobert, Paris. Referenced and pictured in the artist's catalogue raisonne by Pereda, plate #124. Custom framed in a wooden gold leaf frame, with gold and red spacer and fabric matting. It is in excellent condition. About the artist: A native of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico, Rufino Tamayo's father was a shoemaker, and his mother a seamstress. Some accounts state that he was descended from Zapotec Indians, but he was actually 'mestizo' - of mixed indigenous/European ancestry. (Santa Barbara Museum of Art). He began painting at age 11. Orphaned at the age of 12, Tamayo moved to Mexico City, where he was raised by his maternal aunt who owned a wholesale fruit business. In 1917, he entered the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, but left soon after to pursue independent study. Four years later, Tamayo was appointed the head designer of the department of ethnographic drawings at the National Museum of Archaeology in Mexico City. There he was surrounded by pre-Colombian objects, an aesthetic inspiration that would play a pivotal role in his life. In his own work, Tamayo integrated the forms and tones of pre-Columbian ceramics into his early still lives and portraits of Mexican men and women. In the early 1920s he also taught art classes in Mexico City's public schools. Despite his involvement in Mexican history, he did not subscribe to the idea of art as nationalistic propaganda. Modern Mexican art at that time was dominated by 'The Three Great Ones' : Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueros, but Tamayo began to be noted as someone 'new' and different' for his blending of the aesthetics of post Revolutionary Mexico with the vanguard artists of Europe and the United States. After the Mexican Revolution, he focused on creating his own identity in his work, expressing what he thought was the traditional Mexico, and refusing to follow the political trends of his contemporary artists. This caused some to see him as a 'traitor' to the political cause, and he felt it difficult to freely express himself in his art. As a result, he decided to leave Mexico in 1926 and move to New York, along with his friend, the composer Carlos Chavez. The first exhibition of Tamayo's work in the United States was held at the Weyhe Gallery, New York, in that same year. The show was successful, and Tamayo was praised for his 'authentic' status as a Mexican of 'indigenous heritage', and for his internationally appealing Modernist aesthetic. (Santa Barbara Museum of Art). Throughout the late thirties and early forties New York's Valentine Gallery gave him shows. For nine years, beginning in 1938, he taught at the Dalton School in New York. In 1929, some health problems led him to return to Mexico for treatment. While there he took a series of teaching jobs. During this period he became romantically involved with the artist Maria Izquierdo...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

The New Yorker Magazine Cover Art of The Metropolitan Museum
The New Yorker Magazine Cover Art of The Metropolitan Museum

The New Yorker Magazine Cover Art of The Metropolitan Museum

By Charles E. Martin

Located in San Francisco, CA

This especially rare original watercolor painting by American artist Charles E. Martin (1910-1995), depicting The Metropolitan Museum of Art in winter, appeared as the cover art for ...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Illustration Board

Jack the Ripper - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1950s

Jack the Ripper - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1950s

By Mino Maccari

Located in Roma, IT

Watercolor on paper. A striking and emblematic drawing by Mino Maccari, executed in fluid watercolour with brush, dominated by a vivid monochrome palette of red-pink tones. The comp...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Vase Deux Anses Hautes (A.R. 141)
Vase Deux Anses Hautes (A.R. 141)

Vase Deux Anses Hautes (A.R. 141)

By Pablo Picasso

Located in PARIS, FR

• Picasso began working with ceramics in 1946 at the Madoura workshop in Vallauris, marking the beginning of an important and highly productive chapter in his career. What initially ...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Ceramic

Original Ski West  United Airlines vintage travel poster  1975
Original Ski West  United Airlines vintage travel poster  1975

Original Ski West United Airlines vintage travel poster 1975

Located in Spokane, WA

Original 1975 United Airlines Ski West Vintage Travel Poster – Mid-Century Modern Artwork. Archival linen-backed and in Grade A- condition, ready for Framing. The images displayed are of the exact vintage poster you will receive. Experience the golden era of travel with this rare original United Airlines "Ski West" vintage travel poster from 1975. Created during a time when air travel embodied elegance and adventure, this striking piece provides a vibrant glimpse into mid-century advertising and ski culture. Showcasing bold typography and colorful, eye-catching artwork, the “Ski West” poster embodies the thrill of powdery slopes and the promise of unforgettable ski vacations in the American West. Ideal for vintage art collectors, travel enthusiasts, or anyone looking for a chic retro touch in their decor, this piece authentically showcases 1970s graphic design. It blends bold colors with minimalistic yet striking visuals. Whether you collect United Airlines memorabilia...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Offset

'Sisters' — Renowned Black American, Harlem Renaissance Artist
'Sisters' — Renowned Black American, Harlem Renaissance Artist

'Sisters' — Renowned Black American, Harlem Renaissance Artist

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

James Lesesne Wells, 'Sisters', linocut, edition not stated but small, 1928. Signed, titled, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A fine impression on off-white wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 3 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by the artist. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 8 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches (208 x 171 mm); sheet size 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (343 x 273 mm). Exhibition and Literature: 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, extensive touring exhibition, 1998-2000. Collections: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Anacostia Community Museum). ABOUT THE ARTIST “Wells is more than an artist with a deep concern for his fellow man. He carries many of his themes a step further into an apocalyptic world, a world of revelation and shifting lights. … He works on large blocks in a bold free style. … His work has a vigor, therefore, that is not often used in the medium today.” —Jacob Kainen (painter, critic, and collector) from Richard J. Powell’s 1986 essay Phoenix Ascending: The Art of James Lesesne Wells. James Lesesne Wells was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work established a vital connection between African heritage, modernist form, and African American cultural identity. Known for his innovative use of linoleum and woodblock printing, Wells played a key role in shaping 20th-century African American art and inspired countless students throughout his lengthy career as a teacher at Howard University. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Wells' early exposure to the arts came through church and community, where African American cultural traditions were central. He pursued formal artistic training at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (earning a B.A. in 1924), followed by studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, where he encountered European modernists as well as traditional African sculpture, which profoundly influenced his style. Wells moved to New York in the late 1920s, swiftly immersing himself in the lively artistic and intellectual scene of Harlem. There, he became associated with artists, writers, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to the growth of Black cultural identity. Considered a mentor to many famed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Wells served as director of a summer art workshop in Harlem where his assistants included Charles Alston, Jacob Lawrence, and Palmer Hayden...

Category

1920s Modern Art

Materials

Linocut

Figures Riding Horses, Folk Art Oil Painting by Joyce Roybal
Figures Riding Horses, Folk Art Oil Painting by Joyce Roybal

Figures Riding Horses, Folk Art Oil Painting by Joyce Roybal

Located in Long Island City, NY

Figures Riding Horses Joyce Roybal, (1955) Oil on canvas, signed lower right Size: 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm) Frame Size: 35.5 x 45.5 inches

Category

1980s Modern Art

Materials

Oil

"Marigold" by Luce Brélaz - Oil on Canvas - 38x46 cm
"Marigold" by Luce Brélaz - Oil on Canvas - 38x46 cm

"Marigold" by Luce Brélaz - Oil on Canvas - 38x46 cm

Located in Geneva, CH

Luce Brélaz-Jacquet was a Swiss painter born in 1915. Although biographical details about her life and career remain scarce, she is recognized in Swiss art archives and known for he...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled - Mixed media by Michele Zalopnay - 1993

Untitled - Mixed media by Michele Zalopnay - 1993

Located in Roma, IT

The proposed work is a mixed media canvas created by artist Michele Zalopnay, measuring 63 x 100 cm is in excellent state of preservation Michele Zalopany is an American Postwar and ...

Category

1990s Modern Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Canvas

Abstract Seated Nude with Red Background French Modern Figurative Gouache
Abstract Seated Nude with Red Background French Modern Figurative Gouache

Abstract Seated Nude with Red Background French Modern Figurative Gouache

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title: Abstract Seated Nude with Red Background French Modern Figurative Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 20.25 x 15.75 inches (height ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Gouache

'Wild Pilgrimage' (Contemplation) — 'Story Without Words' Graphic Modernism
'Wild Pilgrimage' (Contemplation) — 'Story Without Words' Graphic Modernism

'Wild Pilgrimage' (Contemplation) — 'Story Without Words' Graphic Modernism

By Lynd Ward

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Lynd Ward, 'Wild Pilgrimage', No. 26, wood engraving, 1932, edition not stated but very small. Signed in pencil. A fine, black impression, with full margins (1 1/16 to 3 3/16 inches), on tissue-thin cream Japan paper, in very good condition. A scarce, artist-printed, hand-signed proof impression before the published edition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Created by Lynd Ward for his narrative book of illustrations without words, 'Wild Pilgrimage', published by Harrison Smith...

Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Woodcut

Original "Wonderful Copenhagen" vintage travel poster
Original "Wonderful Copenhagen" vintage travel poster

Original "Wonderful Copenhagen" vintage travel poster

Located in Spokane, WA

Original vintage poster: WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN created by the artist Viggo Vagnby. This antique poster is archival linen-backed, in excellent condition, and ready to frame. No da...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Original 'Map of the United States as Californians See It' vintage map poster
Original 'Map of the United States as Californians See It' vintage map poster

Original 'Map of the United States as Californians See It' vintage map poster

Located in Spokane, WA

Original vintage poster: "Map of the United States as Californians See It". 1947, artist: Oren Arnold. Size: 16.5" x 20.5", R. H. MOEBUS COMPANY This poster is not linen-backed. This poster is in very good fine condition, ready to frame. A humorous satirical pictorial map from 1947 with the golden sun on the upper left, gives a detailed depiction of California, its relative size to the rest of the United States, showing Florida as "Death Valley", the rest of the United States as "Unexplored" 'Unimportant anyway, not in California". The image has your Mexican singer; bikini-clad bathers and others set in the image. Shows rivers, lakes, harbors, landmarks, parks, recreational activities, and local people. This map shows Los Angeles’ city...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Offset

Antique, 19th C. Peugeot Frères Brevetés French Coffee Grinder Table Sculpture
Antique, 19th C. Peugeot Frères Brevetés French Coffee Grinder Table Sculpture

Antique, 19th C. Peugeot Frères Brevetés French Coffee Grinder Table Sculpture

Located in Surfside, FL

This is being sold as a piece of (functional?) decorator table sculpture for a kitchen or restaurant. I do not know if or how it works. the wheel and gears turn. It might be missing a cover on the handle. It is a lovely antique piece. Made in France. A halfcentury before they produced their first car, the Peugeot brothers were making coffee grinders, continuing to do so for over 100years. In 1840 the Peugeots produced their first moulin a cafe out of a combination of metal and wood. The beans were inserted into the metal hopper up top; metal gears were turned by a woodenknob-capped metal...

Category

Late 19th Century Modern Art

Materials

Metal, Brass

Modern art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern 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, red, orange, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Kevin Westenberg, Stuart Möller, Destro, and Christel Haag. 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 Modern art, so small editions measuring 0.4 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $33 and tops out at $390,000, while the average work sells for $1,912.