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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
Hidden Portraits X
Hidden Portraits X

Hidden Portraits X

Located in London, GB

'Hidden Portraits X', acrylic on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an intermediary of an ageing ar...

Category

1980s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Dans l'Atelier
Dans l'Atelier

Dans l'Atelier

By Pablo Picasso

Located in OPOLE, PL

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Dans l'Atelier Etching and aquatint from 1965. The edition of 33/50. Dimensions of work: 39 x 51.5 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Galerie Louise Leiris,...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Aquatint

Dining Out - New York Dinner Portrait Couple Dining Black and White Photograph

Dining Out - New York Dinner Portrait Couple Dining Black and White Photograph

Located in Brighton, GB

Dining Out - New York Dinner Portrait Couple Dining Black and White Photograph A couple dining out at an elegant hotel in New York is caught momentarily distracted by the floor show...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Black and White, Silver Gelatin

The Window 342 - Modern Resin Minimalist Blue Two Tone Color Field Abstract Art
The Window 342 - Modern Resin Minimalist Blue Two Tone Color Field Abstract Art

The Window 342 - Modern Resin Minimalist Blue Two Tone Color Field Abstract Art

By Ricky Hunt

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Porto Ercole, 1973
Porto Ercole, 1973

Porto Ercole, 1973

By Slim Aarons

Located in New York, NY

A jetty juts out from the rocky shoreline at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1973. Slim Aarons Porto Erocole, 1973 C print Estate stamped and numbered edit...

Category

1990s Modern Art

Materials

C Print

Beneath the Surface - contemporary, abstract, three dimensional, wall art
Beneath the Surface - contemporary, abstract, three dimensional, wall art

Beneath the Surface - contemporary, abstract, three dimensional, wall art

By Lucy Maki

Located in Bloomfield, ON

This contemporary abstract mixed media composition is geometric in form. The bold, unique and complex artwork of Lucy Maki challenges the traditional approach to painting. The New Mexico artist has been influenced by modernist abstraction, cubism, and even surrealism. For decades she has explored a distinctive visual language that incorporates mixed media, geometric shapes and architectural elements. Her shaped canvases like Beneath the Surface are an eclectic mix of oil paint and wood framing on canvas—they are both paintings and sculptures. Within the frame of this work, lyrical gestural brushstrokes in green and a creamy white play against a teal backdrop. Thick black patterns framed in geometric shapes add structure. The wood frame of this piece extends beyond the artwork itself extending the picture plane--a signature of Maki’s work. “I am fascinated with the New Mexico’s 1930s...

Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Louis Armstrong on Stage - Louis Armstrong Trumpet Player Concert Photograph

Louis Armstrong on Stage - Louis Armstrong Trumpet Player Concert Photograph

Located in Brighton, GB

Louis Armstrong on Stage - Louis Armstrong Trumpet Player Concert Photograph World renowned trumpeter and jazz musician Louis Armstrong is photographed on stage during a concert. 1...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Black and White, Silver Gelatin

The Window 352 - Contemporary Shiny Resin Minimalist Brown Dual Tone Artwork
The Window 352 - Contemporary Shiny Resin Minimalist Brown Dual Tone Artwork

The Window 352 - Contemporary Shiny Resin Minimalist Brown Dual Tone Artwork

By Ricky Hunt

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Bell Tower and Buildings In Blue Sky Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch
Bell Tower and Buildings In Blue Sky Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch

Bell Tower and Buildings In Blue Sky Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Pastel Landscape by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) pastel sketch on brown artist tracing paper , unframed painting: 4.5 x 3.75 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds condit...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V
Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V

Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V

Located in London, GB

'Prisms of Identity: A Portrait Series V', Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This new collection represents some of the most appealing works we have acquired to date from our Flor...

Category

1980s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Board

'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

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Cubist Oil Painting
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Cubist Oil Painting

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Cubist Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 24 by 20 inches overall. and 14 by 18 painting alone. Handso...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Oil

1930's Modernist Oil Painting Paris Rooftops Hazel Guggenheim Mckinley Fauvist
1930's Modernist Oil Painting Paris Rooftops Hazel Guggenheim Mckinley Fauvist

1930's Modernist Oil Painting Paris Rooftops Hazel Guggenheim Mckinley Fauvist

By Hazel Guggenheim McKinley

Located in Surfside, FL

Hazel Guggenheim King-Farlow McKinley (American, London, New Orleans, 1903-1995), "Paris Rooftops" c. 1930 Oil paint on wood panel Attributed, dated and titled verso (I am not sure in whose hand not signed by the artist herself). Dimensions H.- 18 in., W.- 15 in., Framed- H.- 26 1/2 in., W.- 23 in. Provenance: From an estate New Orleans, Louisiana. Hazel Guggenheim King-Farlow McKinley (born Barbara Hazel Guggenheim; April 30, 1903 – June 10, 1995) was an American painter, art collector, and art benefactor. Hazel Guggenheim was born in New York City to Benjamin Guggenheim and Fleurette (Seligman) Guggenheim. The marriage united two wealthy German-Jewish families. Born into the well-known Guggenheim family, a niece of Solomon Guggenheim who founded the Guggenheim Museum, she grew up in New York, alongside her sisters Benita Guggenheim and Marguerite Peggy Guggenheim who would become the influential gallery proprietor, art collector, museum founder, and midwife to the Abstract Expressionism art movement. Her father Benjamin gave up much of his financial interest in the family's mining business to start his own business in Paris. With his business failing, in 1912 he set out to return to the United States in time for McKinley's ninth birthday on the Titanic. Following the shipwreck, he drowned aged 46; his body was not recovered. McKinley inherited $450,000. She later inherited money on the deaths of her mother, and of her older sister, Benita, who died in childbirth. The loss of her father haunted McKinley for the rest of her life, and in 1969 she recorded "In Memoriam, Titanic Lifeboat Blues." McKinley began painting as a teenager and was a prolific artist throughout her life. When she fled New York for Paris at age 19 she studied at the Sorbonne and became part of 1920's bohemian Paris, France, where she was taught by key modernism artists of the time. Her primary mediums were ink, water color, tempera, and crayon. Some of her work is hand signed and some is not. In 1928 her sister Peggy moved to London and mar­ried the British writer John Holmes. In 1931, McKinley married the Englishman Denys King-Farlow. They settled in Sussex, UK, and had two children, John King-Farlow, who became a philosopher and poet, and Barbara Benita King-Farlow, who became an artist in her own right. In 1938 Peggy opened Guggenheim Jeune, a London gallery of mod­ern art, starring Wassily Kandinsky, Henry Moore, Salvador dali, Constantin Brancusi, Max Ernst, Pablo Pic­asso and Jean Miro with whom they socialized. Whilst living in the south of England with Denys King-Farlow in the 1930s, McKinley was influenced by a group of avant-garde artists, and had her first solo exhibition in London in April 1937 at the Coolings Gallery. She received instruction from British artists Rowland Suddaby, Raymond Coxon, and Edna Ginesi, becoming associated with the London Group and the Euston Road School. She painted primarily in watercolor. Her work included still-life, portraits, townscapes and landscapes. Although her first work was done in a "slightly plain palette," her later work in the 1930s brightened, sometimes falling within the realm of fauvism. "Under the influence of the Surrealist artists, Hazel's paintings after the 1930's became freer, though her work was far more whimsical and humorous than many artists more closely associated with the surrealism movement." In 1939 McKinley fled Europe due to the impending war and returned to the US, living mostly in California. She took brief art lessons from her sister Peggy's one-time husband Max Ernst and much later attended several summer schools taught by muralist and renowned teacher Xavier Gonzalez. In her life in the United States and abroad, McKinley met many prominent artists of the Paris, London, and New York art scenes including Jackson Pollock. McKinley continued to paint, and ran a small gallery of her own in the late 1950s and early 1960s in West Cornwall, Connecticut. One show at her gallery featured the works of British and Irish painters including Rowland Suddaby, Frank Beteson, Tom Nisbett, and Patrick Swift. McKinley showed two of her own works in the same exhibit, a watercolor painted at Positano, Italy and one painted at the Tuileries, Paris. Another featured work was a surrealistic water color portrait of McKinley by London artist Mervyn Peake. McKinley exhibited her work both in Europe and the United States throughout her long career, mostly at smaller venues. An incomplete listing of her exhibits and museum acquisitions of her work include: Berkshire Museum, the Galerie Raymond Duncan in Paris, Stendahl Galleries, the Jake Zeitlin Gallery, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, the Artists' Own Gallery in London, the Manchester City Art Gallery, and Santa Fe Art Museum. McKinley's work was only once included in a show by her sister Peggy. In 1943 McKinley was selected to exhibit a painting in Peggy's infamous show Exhibition by 31 Women in her New York gallery Art of This Century. The exhibition was radical at the time for being one of the first all-woman exhibitions, as well as showing only abstract or Surrealist works. The Exhibition by 31 Women was conceived by Peggy Guggenheim in collaboration with Marcel Duchamp, who is usually credited with suggesting the idea. The participating artists were selected by a jury that included André Breton, Max Ernst Duchamp, and Guggenheim. Advice was sought from Alfred H. Barr Jr., first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, who provided Guggenheim with five names, of which three were included in the exhibition, Suzy Frelinghuysen, Irene Rice Pereira, and Esphyr Slobodkina. Those already known to Guggenheim through their partners included Xenia Cage, wife of the composer John Cage, Frida Kahlo, wife of Diego Rivera, who was noted for his frescoes, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, wife of the sculptor, Hans Jean Arp, and Jacqueline Lamba, ex-wife of the surrealist André Breton. Guggenheim’s sister, Hazel Guggenheim McKinley and her daughter, Pegeen Vail Guggenheim exhibited. Also in the exhibition was the burlesque dancer, Gypsy Rose Lee, another friend of Guggenheim, who was possibly included more to help publicise the event than for her artistic skills. Other artists were friends of Guggenheim or of Max Ernst. One, Dorothea Tanning, was Ernst's lover, leading Guggenheim to say: "I realized that I should have only had thirty women in the show". Only one artist is known to have refused the invitation to submit works, Georgia O'Keeffe, who reportedly responded that she wished to be identified as a painter, and not singled out because of her gender. In the late 1950s, McKinley moved back to Europe for a while, before returning to the United States in 1969. She lived in New Orleans until her death in 1995. On her death, her only living son, John King-Farlow, wrote a poem in his mother's honor, entitled "Eulogy For My Mother (Hazel Guggenheim McKinley, Artist)." A short obituary distributed by the Associated Press noted she was a member of the illustrious New York Guggenheim family, that she was determined to make a name for herself as an artist, that her art works were shown in museums in the United States and Europe, and were in the collections of such celebrities as Greer Garson, Benny Goodman, and Jason Robards. In 1998 after her death, one of her paintings was exhibited in Peggy Guggenheim's Venice home museum the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Guggenheim’s work in various media and her connections to influential artists and collectors provide glimpses into the complex tapestry of the art world in the first half of the 20th century. In her later life she settled in New Orleans, where she continued painting, exhibiting, and studying art into her eighties at Newcomb College, New Orleans. She was part of a regional art scene that included Ida Kohlmeyer, George Rodrigue, Noel Rockmore and Hunt Slonem. Towards the end of her life while confined to bed, her last works were colored pen drawings and sketches. McKinley collected major contemporary artworks and she donated many of these works to public institutions. She donated over 15 works to Wakefield Art Gallery, UK, in the 1930s, and in 1938 presented the painting Cossacks...

Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Couple at Party - Black and White Romantic Couple Silver Gelatin Photograph

Couple at Party - Black and White Romantic Couple Silver Gelatin Photograph

Located in Brighton, GB

Couple at Party - Black and White Romantic Couple Silver Gelatin Photograph A couple relaxes and laughs on a spacious sofa on the terrace of a villa. The party is still in full swin...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Black and White, Silver Gelatin

Wacky Valley Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch
Wacky Valley Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch

Wacky Valley Landscape British Modernist Pastel Sketch

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Pastel Landscape by Irina Hale (British 1932-2022) pastel on brown artist tracing paper , unframed painting: 3.75 x 4.5 inches provenance: private collection, Cotswolds condition: ve...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Pastel

Mid-Century Modern Paris: A View of the Seine
Mid-Century Modern Paris: A View of the Seine

Mid-Century Modern Paris: A View of the Seine

Located in Norwich, GB

Experience the romance and abstraction of 1950s Paris through this striking original mixed media drawing by the acclaimed American Modernist, Frederick E. Conway (1900–1973). This c...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Nude Woman In Pink Female Room 20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting
Nude Woman In Pink Female Room 20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting

Nude Woman In Pink Female Room 20th Century French Modernist Oil Painting

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Nude Woman In Pink Female by Jacqueline Boisselot, French late 20th century 18 x 13 inches oil on canvas, unframed condition: very good and ready to enjoy provenance: from a private ...

Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil

Tropical Foliage Study
Tropical Foliage Study

Tropical Foliage Study

By Joseph Stella

Located in London, GB

In 1919, Stella experienced an artistic shift from depicting New York cityscapes to themes of nature as he reflected on his childhood in Italy. This shift is evident when we consider...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Crayon

Untitled Composition (Cuban Modernism, Afro-Caribbean Art)
Untitled Composition (Cuban Modernism, Afro-Caribbean Art)

Untitled Composition (Cuban Modernism, Afro-Caribbean Art)

By Wifredo Lam

Located in Kansas City, MO

Wifredo Lam Untitled Composition from "Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona at Redfern Gallery, London" Original Color Lithograph Year: 1979 Edition: 100 Size: 10 x 7.325 inches (25.4 × ...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Lithograph

Vintage American Modernist Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Vintage American Modernist Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting

Vintage American Modernist Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 13 by 25 inches overall. Handsomely framed in...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Board

A Stylish, Vintage 1940s Woman's Fashion Design Study, Marshall Field & Co.
A Stylish, Vintage 1940s Woman's Fashion Design Study, Marshall Field & Co.

A Stylish, Vintage 1940s Woman's Fashion Design Study, Marshall Field & Co.

Located in Chicago, IL

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring elegant designs for women's evening wear by Lilly Daché, Likely an illustration study for a print advertisement for the famed Chic...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Stormig natt (Stormy Night) (1978)
Stormig natt (Stormy Night) (1978)

Stormig natt (Stormy Night) (1978)

Located in Stockholm, SE

Bruno Wiklund (1937-2011) Sweden Stormig natt (Stormy Night) (1978) medium: pastel signed and dated unframed 52 × 41.5 cm (approx. 20.5 × 16.3 in) framed 59 × 48 cm (approx. 23.2 ×...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Pastel

Tall Sunspot 49 - Modern Resin Minimalist Colorful Striped Abstract Artwork
Tall Sunspot 49 - Modern Resin Minimalist Colorful Striped Abstract Artwork

Tall Sunspot 49 - Modern Resin Minimalist Colorful Striped Abstract Artwork

By Ricky Hunt

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

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.