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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
Antique French Modernist Signed Sunflower Still Life Framed Rare Oil Painting
Antique French Modernist Signed Sunflower Still Life Framed Rare Oil Painting

Antique French Modernist Signed Sunflower Still Life Framed Rare Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage French modernist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 35 by 20 inches overall. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a modern...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Hill' — American Modernism, California
'Hill' — American Modernism, California

'Hill' — American Modernism, California

By Paul Landacre

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Paul Landacre, 'Hill', wood engraving, 1936, edition 60 (only 54 printed); only 2 impressions printed in a second edition of 150. Signed, titled, and numbered '49/60' in pencil. Wien...

Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Woodcut

Erotic Scene - Héliogravure by Micheal Von Zichy - 1911

Erotic Scene - Héliogravure by Micheal Von Zichy - 1911

By Micheal Von Zichy

Located in Roma, IT

Erotic scene is an original Héliogravure artwork on ivory-colored paper, realized by Micheal Von Zichy in 1911. Printed in only 300 copies, Leipzig; Privatdruck, from the Catalogue "Liebe" (Dear), Text in German on the plate, The drawing created unusually bold erotic subjects through deft strokes. Good conditions. Mihály Zichy...

Category

1910s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Engraving

Marilyn From the Reverse

Marilyn From the Reverse

By Philippe Halsman

Located in Buffalo, NY

The work offered for sale here is an original vintage silver gelatin print hand created by Halsman in 1953. Philippe Halsman was at one point considered the best photo-portraitist in France. He had an incessant interest in faces: “Every face I see seems to hide—and sometimes fleetingly reveal—the mystery of another human being.” Halsman’s photographs of politicians, celebrities, and intellectuals were featured widely in magazines like LIFE and Vogue. His more famous subjects included the likes of Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier, Audrey Hepburn, and Albert Einstein. He also had a 37-year collaboration with Salvador Dalí, which resulted in several famous surrealist series including the “Dalí’s Mustache...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Henry Moore, Three Heads, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979
Henry Moore, Three Heads, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979

Henry Moore, Three Heads, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979

By Henry Moore

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Henry Moore (1898–1986), titled Three Heads (Three Heads), from the album Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona - Redfern Gallery, London, originates from the 1...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Mulholland Drive Original Vintage Movie Poster One Sheet

Mulholland Drive Original Vintage Movie Poster One Sheet

Located in London, GB

Mulholland Drive 2001 Original Movie Poster featuring Naomi Watts Original Vintage Theatrical Unfolded Single-Sided One-Sheet Movie Poster One sheet measures 27″ x 40″ inches / 69 ...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Paper

'Sisters' — Renowned Black, Harlem Renaissance Artist, Rare Signed Woodcut
'Sisters' — Renowned Black, Harlem Renaissance Artist, Rare Signed Woodcut

'Sisters' — Renowned Black, Harlem Renaissance Artist, Rare Signed Woodcut

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

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

"Crowning Glory" by Bert Hardy

"Crowning Glory" by Bert Hardy

By Bert Hardy

Located in London, GB

"Crowning Glory" by Bert Hardy Premium Rates Apply. An elegant Parisian spends the morning in a Champs Elysees cafe. Original Publication: Picture Post - 5343 - Sunday Morning In Th...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White

A Serene 1940s, Modern Western Landscape Painting with Horses by Francis Chapin
A Serene 1940s, Modern Western Landscape Painting with Horses by Francis Chapin

A Serene 1940s, Modern Western Landscape Painting with Horses by Francis Chapin

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

A serene, 1940s Modern Western landscape painting with horses by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin. Accompanied with a handsome walnut brown stained wooden frame. Canvas size: 22 x 28 inches. Framed size: 25 x 31 inches. Estate stamped on reverse. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington and Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway
Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway

Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway

By Adolf Arthur Dehn

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway Litho crayons on illustrator’s board, c. 1932 Signed: Adolf Dehn (VED) lower right corner (signed by Virginia Dehn, the artist’s widow) Tilted along the upper edge of the recto in pencil by the artist Verso inscriptions: “VF 3168.D” in a circle, also annotated in red pencil “32” in a circle and “699 Provenance: Mary Ryan Gallery, exhibition entitled Adolf Dehn Lithographs, 1927-1940, Nov. 16 to Dec. 12, 1982. The original exhibition notice us affixed to the backing board of the frame Note: A drawing intended or used in the publication Vanity Fair, for whom Dehn worked in the mid 1920’s to the 1930’s. Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere—not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic “little magazines” such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895-1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs...

Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Oil Crayon

Vivian Stanshall, British, etching 'Ramblings of war' Signed
Vivian Stanshall, British, etching 'Ramblings of war' Signed

Vivian Stanshall, British, etching 'Ramblings of war' Signed

Located in Petworth, West Sussex

Vivian Stanshall (British, 1943–1995) Ramblings of War Etching Signed 'Vivian' (on the reverse) 11⅞ x 15¾ in. (30 x 40.2 cm.) frame measurements Provenance: From the artist's estate ...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Etching

A Vintage 1950s Pastel and Charcoal Drawing of a Hockey Game by Francis Chapin
A Vintage 1950s Pastel and Charcoal Drawing of a Hockey Game by Francis Chapin

A Vintage 1950s Pastel and Charcoal Drawing of a Hockey Game by Francis Chapin

By Francis Chapin

Located in Chicago, IL

Perfect for your hockey enthusiast! A colorful, dynamic 1950s pastel on paper drawing of a hockey game by famed Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin. Image size: 9 x 12 inches. Matted size: 14 x 18. Estate stamped on reverse. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington and Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Peintre et modèle
Peintre et modèle

Peintre et modèle

By (after) Pablo Picasso

Located in OPOLE, PL

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Peintre et modèle Lithograph from 1965. Dimensions of work: 23 x 27 cm Reference: Cramer 130 The work is in Excellent condition. Fast and secure ship...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Polyamorous - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1960s

Polyamorous - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1960s

By Mino Maccari

Located in Roma, IT

Polyamorous is a charcoal Drawing realized by Mino Maccari (1924-1989) in the 1960s. Hand-signed on the lower. Good conditions. Mino Maccari (Siena, 1924-Rome, June 16, 1989) was...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Charcoal

Cortland Street
Cortland Street

Cortland Street

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching with drypoint on antique handmade laid Japon paper, 12 7/8 x 7 1/2 (327 x 191 mm); sheet 15 5/16 x 10 7/16 (389 x 265 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil in the lower margin....

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

JFK and Dr. Max Visit with hikers Stash and the boys, 1963

JFK and Dr. Max Visit with hikers Stash and the boys, 1963

By Mark Shaw

Located in New York, NY

February 1963, JFK warns Americans that they need to toughen up by taking up the newest fad, the 50 mile Hike. In this instance Stash Radziwill along with Chuck Spalding and Agent Cl...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Giclée

St Tropez Harbor France Large 1970's French Modernist Oil Painting on Canvas
St Tropez Harbor France Large 1970's French Modernist Oil Painting on Canvas

St Tropez Harbor France Large 1970's French Modernist Oil Painting on Canvas

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

St Tropez French Modernist artist, indistinctly signed circa 1970 oil on canvas, framed framed: 13 x 37 inches canvas: 12 x 36 inches provenance: private collection, France conditio...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Nude Walking, Early 20th Century Bronze Sculpture, Cleveland School Artist
Nude Walking, Early 20th Century Bronze Sculpture, Cleveland School Artist

Nude Walking, Early 20th Century Bronze Sculpture, Cleveland School Artist

By Max Kalish

Located in Beachwood, OH

Max Kalish (American, 1891-1945) Nude Walking, 1930 Bronze Signed and dated on base 17 x 9 x 4 inches Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti and Herbert Adams...

Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Bronze

Night view Rio De Janeiro - Vintage b/w Photo - 1970s

Night view Rio De Janeiro - Vintage b/w Photo - 1970s

Located in Roma, IT

Night view Rio De Janeiro - Vintage b/w Photo realized in the 1970s. Copyright by press Agency Credit Photo, N. Drei. With some handwriting on the rear. Stamped on the rear. Good ...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Buborékfújók; Blowing Bubbles

Buborékfújók; Blowing Bubbles

By Oszkar Glatz

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching with extensive hand coloring in watercolor on white wove paper, 13 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches (347 x 271 mm); sheet 24 x 17 inches (608 x 430 mm), full margins. In good condition wi...

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Watercolor, Etching

Comédie Humaine : The Girl and the Old Man - Original Lithograph (Mourlot)
Comédie Humaine : The Girl and the Old Man - Original Lithograph (Mourlot)

Comédie Humaine : The Girl and the Old Man - Original Lithograph (Mourlot)

By Pablo Picasso

Located in Paris, IDF

Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973) Comédie Humaine, The Girl and the Old Man, 1954 , Original lithograph (Mourlot workshop) Unsigned On paper 26 .5 x 35.5 cm (c. 10,2 x 13.7 in) INFORMATION : Created for portfolio Verve n°29-30 "La comédie humaine, suite de 180 dessins de Picasso...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Bright & Cheerful French Modernist Signed Oil Still Life Flowers in Vase
Bright & Cheerful French Modernist Signed Oil Still Life Flowers in Vase

Bright & Cheerful French Modernist Signed Oil Still Life Flowers in Vase

By Huguette Ginet-Lasnier

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Flowers in Vase Huguette Ginet-Lasnier (French 1927-2020) signed inscribed verso oil painting on canvas 18 x 13 inches. All the paintings we have for sale by this artist have come fr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid Century Modernist Geometric Sailboat Abstract Oil Painting
Mid Century Modernist Geometric Sailboat Abstract Oil Painting

Mid Century Modernist Geometric Sailboat Abstract Oil Painting

Located in Soquel, CA

Mid Century Modernist Sailboat Geometric Abstract Oil Painting This dynamic mid-century piece features bold geometry and a strong sense of movement. White triangular shapes parade a...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Linen, Masonite, Oil

Blushing Roses in a Golden Vase Still Life Large Scale Classical Oil Painting
Blushing Roses in a Golden Vase Still Life Large Scale Classical Oil Painting

Blushing Roses in a Golden Vase Still Life Large Scale Classical Oil Painting

By Continental School

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Blushing Roses in a Golden Vase Continental School, late 20th century most likely a pastiche work after an earlier composition oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 36 x 24 inches provena...

Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Grapes Wine Bottles Long Serving Platter and Jug Golden Drapery Modernist Piece
Grapes Wine Bottles Long Serving Platter and Jug Golden Drapery Modernist Piece

Grapes Wine Bottles Long Serving Platter and Jug Golden Drapery Modernist Piece

By Guy Nicod

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title: Grapes Wine Bottles Long Serving Platter and Jug Golden Drapery Modernist Piece Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 19.75 x 25.75 inches (h...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Gouache

Inner Pearl
Inner Pearl

Inner Pearl

By Svitlana Van Rossum

Located in Zofingen, AG

Flower II Inner Pearl (part of the “State of Bloom” series) “Inner Pearl” is part of the “Bloom of State” series, which explores the inner nature of feminine presence. Here, the cl...

Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

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.