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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
Intimité

Intimité

By Jacques Villon

Located in Middletown, NY

Paris: Mourlot Press, 1964. Lithograph in colors on Velin d’Arches paper, 6 3/4 x 10 inches (170 x 253 mm), full margins. Published by Fernand Mourlot and Jean Adhemar, 1964. In ver...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph, Handmade Paper

Shimmering Pond in the Woods - Surrealist Abstract 1960s
Shimmering Pond in the Woods - Surrealist Abstract 1960s

Shimmering Pond in the Woods - Surrealist Abstract 1960s

By Rose Herzog

Located in Soquel, CA

Shimmering Pond in the Woods - Surrealist Abstract 1960s Highly textured abstract composition by Rose Herzog (American, mid-20th Century). A multicolored pond is shown in the middle...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Cotton, Masonite, Mixed Media, Oil, Tissue Paper

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

Up Side Down

Up Side Down

By Valton Tyler

Located in Dallas, TX

In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined painti...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Le Cirque Russe" Large serigraph
"Le Cirque Russe" Large serigraph

"Le Cirque Russe" Large serigraph

By Mihail Chemiakin

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Le Cirque Russe" c.1987, is an original colors serigraph on wove paper by renown Russian artist Mihail Chemiakin, b.1943. It is hand signed and numbered 25/195 i...

Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Screen

Amiens; The Cathedral of Notre Dame, from the Lower Town
Amiens; The Cathedral of Notre Dame, from the Lower Town

Amiens; The Cathedral of Notre Dame, from the Lower Town

By John Taylor Arms

Located in Middletown, NY

A superb impression from the artist's own collection. Etching with drypoint on watermarked FJ Head & Co. handmade laid paper, 10 3/4 x 9 7/8 inches (272 x 252 mm); sheet 18 1/8 x 14 ...

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Etching, Drypoint

Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Chrysanthemums Color woodcut, c. 1950's Signed lower right (see photo) Publisher: Uchida (see photo of red seal) Note: Chrysanthemums, a symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the ...

Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Woodcut

E-Z Street, Nashville Black and White Print, Limited Edition

E-Z Street, Nashville Black and White Print, Limited Edition

By Morgan Silk

Located in Brighton, GB

'E-Z Street, Nashville, Tennessee' is a black and white archival inkjet print by Morgan Silk. It is available in this size of 14.5" x 14.5" in a limited edition of 20. The sunbur...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Black and White, Inkjet

NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA

NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA

By David Fredenthal

Located in New York, NY

NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA. David Fredenthal (1914-1958) "View of New York from New Jersey,"7 x 10 inches. Watercolor on Paper, c. 1948. Signed lower right. David Fredenthal (1914 - 1958) was one ot America's most respected watercolor artists. He was famous for his bold, intensely vigorous and complex paintings and drawings that expressed his deep feeling for excitement with life and living. He was a draftsman with seemingly a special gift for catching anything, physically and emotionally on the spot, and he never went anywhere without three or four loaded pens and a sketchbook in his pocket. As part of the WPA project he executed a number of murals including the Sports Pavilion on the Heinz Building of the New York World's Fair 1939. Some of his fresco and mural techniques were inspired by his friendship with Diego Rivera who had admired and encouraged him in the early 1930's. After he won a traveling scholarship to Europe from The Museum of Modern Art at age 19, he was the recipient of two Guggenheim grants in Painting. He had his first solo exhibition at the Downtown Gallery in New York in 1937 at age 23, and many others after that including the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1947. Because of Fredenthal's prodigious drawing gifts, he was chosen by Erskine Caldwell to illustrate his novel "Tobacco Road...

Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Y.B. Robinson 'Divers' Lithograph Print, American Modern, 20th Century
Y.B. Robinson 'Divers' Lithograph Print, American Modern, 20th Century

Y.B. Robinson 'Divers' Lithograph Print, American Modern, 20th Century

Located in Brooklyn, NY

This plate-signed work by Y.B. Robinson, titled Divers, evokes a sense of nostalgia, capturing a moment where divers leap from a pier into the lake below. The artwork beautifully con...

Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Family Pool (1960) Limited Estate Stamped - Giant

Family Pool (1960) Limited Estate Stamped - Giant

By Slim Aarons

Located in London, GB

Family Pool (1960) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Mrs A Watson Armour III (Jean Schweppe) with friends and family enjoying the pool on their estate at Lake Forest...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Color, Archival Pigment

Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Recipes for a Friend, 1964
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Recipes for a Friend, 1964

Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Recipes for a Friend, 1964

By Jean Cocteau

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1964 album Recettes pour un ami, illustrations de Jean Cocteau (Recipes for a...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

THE THAW
THE THAW

THE THAW

By William Seltzer Rice

Located in Santa Monica, CA

WILLIAM SELTZER RICE (1873 - 1963) THE THAW c 1915-20 Color woodcut, signed and titled in pencil. Image 8 7/8 x 12 inches, sheet 10 3/4 x 14 3/8 inches. On textured fibrous paper. V...

Category

1910s Modern Art

Materials

Color, Woodcut

Man with Cat
Man with Cat

Man with Cat

By Christopher Makos

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Christopher Makos, American Photographer b. 1948. Tattooed Man Holding Cat, ca 1970. Signed in red pencil on verso. Size 8.25 x 10 inches. Unframed and unmounted. This example was...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

British Modernist Oil Painting Golden Fields Beneath A Starry Blue Sky
British Modernist Oil Painting Golden Fields Beneath A Starry Blue Sky

British Modernist Oil Painting Golden Fields Beneath A Starry Blue Sky

By Jill Jackson

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Artist/ School: Jill Jackson (British, contemporary) Title: Golden Fields Medium: oil on artist paper, unframed Painting : 16 x 20 inches Provenance: all the paintings we have b...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Oil

Fuego 8 - Modern Resin Blue Striped Minimalist Artwork
Fuego 8 - Modern Resin Blue Striped Minimalist Artwork

Fuego 8 - Modern Resin Blue Striped Minimalist 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

Mary J Blige  - signed Limited Edition Oversize print

Mary J Blige - signed Limited Edition Oversize print

By Kevin Westenberg

Located in London, GB

Mary J Blige December 16th 1996 NEW YORK ALBUM COVER SHOOT (photo Kevin Westenberg) NB All prints are signed and numbered by the artist. unframed signed and numbered by the artist. limited to 25 only this size. About the artist : Kevin Westenberg is famed - for his creation of provocative and electrifying images of world-class musicians, artists and movie stars for over 25 years. His technique of lighting, colour and composition has helped to produce his own unique visual style. Shortly after receiving an Architecture degree he moved to London where he’s been based since 1983. Westenberg is self-taught and learned his trade working for the UK inkies “New Musical Express” and “Melody Maker” mainly throughout the late 80’s and 90’s documenting amongst others all the UK ‘Britpop’ bands. The breakthrough came in 1993-1994 with the release of Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales and Mary J Blige’s Share My World. These two album covers changed the perception of the work worldwide and thus began a run of 20 years of commissions and choice opportunities. For the last 25 years, his musical heritage includes portraits of Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Coldplay, White Stripes, Jane's Addiction, Sting, Bjork, Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, Luther Vandross, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Roses, The Pixies, Paul Weller, Rufus Wainwright, Michael Stipe, U2, Mary J. Blige, R.E.M., Black Sabbath, Massive Attack, BB King, The Rolling Stones, PJ Harvey, Marilyn Manson, Pete Doherty, Oasis, Soundgarden, Jake Bugg, and Bon Jovi among many others. Also included are 100’s of albums, singles, magazine & book covers from around the world. He’s also been chosen as official photographer for the LIVE 8 Hyde Park event in 2005 and for Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the 02 Arena, London. The work & interest also include a wide range of artists portraits beyond the music world. David Lynch, Paul Auster, The Coen Brothers, Rupert Friend, Sir Tom Stoppard, Orla Kiely...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Thunderstorm Over Boston
Thunderstorm Over Boston

Thunderstorm Over Boston

By James McBey

Located in Plano, TX

Thunderstorm over Boston. July 14, 1930. Ink and watercolor on paper. 10 5/8 x 17 5/8 (sheet 12 x 19 1/4). Signed and dated and titled in ink, lower right; titled verso and annotated...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor

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

Flower I Cherry Wine
Flower I Cherry Wine

Flower I Cherry Wine

By Svitlana Van Rossum

Located in Zofingen, AG

Flower I Cherry Wine (part of the “State of Bloom” series) “Cherry Wine” is a painting about youthful sexuality — that rare moment when the world feels carefree, and life takes on ...

Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

1973 Vintage Modernist Swedish Abstract Landscape Oil Painting - Blue Divide
1973 Vintage Modernist Swedish Abstract Landscape Oil Painting - Blue Divide

1973 Vintage Modernist Swedish Abstract Landscape Oil Painting - Blue Divide

Located in Bristol, GB

BLUE DIVIDE Size: 64 x 64.5 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas An atmospheric 20th century abstract landscape scene that distils nature into its most elemental forms – sky, land, an...

Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Five Fish (Color Food Still Life Photograph of Fish on Tabletop with Mint Green)
Five Fish (Color Food Still Life Photograph of Fish on Tabletop with Mint Green)

Five Fish (Color Food Still Life Photograph of Fish on Tabletop with Mint Green)

By David Halliday

Located in Hudson, NY

Formalist style color still life photograph of five sardine fish on a white marble tabletop with a mint green background "Five Fish", 2007 Archival pigment print, edition of 25 Image size: 11 x 14 inches 17 x 21 inches with light wood frame with non-glare glass and 8-ply white mat Excellent condition, ready to hang as is Halliday captures the beauty of a traditional still life with a contemporary spin. Here 5 fish lay on a table against a light green background. The print is part of an edition of 25, is currently framed in a light wood frame with non-glare glass and an 8-ply white mat. The artist's signature is located on the back and front. About the Artist: David Halliday's photographs are about beauty, pure and simple. His primary subjects are carefully composed still lifes, portraits and landscapes which he shoots in black and white film with only natural light. He is a purist behind the lens, rarely manipulating his negatives in any way, and a master in the darkroom. His work has an ethereal quality that's translated not only through the subject, but also by the warm colors and sepia tones he uses in his printing. More about the work: A master of light, David Halliday produces lush and elegant images that are both classical and modern. Celebrated for his ‘purist’ eye, he poetically captures the nude male body in a selection of sepia-toned prints from 1996. Rarely revealing the model's face, Halliday prefers to focus on the natural drape of limbs, soft folds of flawless skin, and curvature of the spine. Overall, a stunningly intimate portrayal of the male form done with elegance and charm. Resume: Born 1958, Glen Cove, New York Lives in Schodack Landing, NY EDUCATION 1998 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina 1988 The Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport, Maine 1976-79 Syracuse University, New York 1974-76 Wooster School Community Art Center, Danbury, Connecticut SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 Threadbare/New Photographs, Arthur Roger Galley, New Orleans, LA McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX 2012 The Past Still Present, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA 2010 Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA Wessel+O’Connor Fine Art, Lambertville, NJ Julie Heller Gallery, Provincetown, MA Graficas Gallery, Nantucket, MA 2009 Culinary Delights, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX Two Decades: David Halliday, Carrie Haddad Photographs, Hudson, NY 2008 Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA Still-Life, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY Watermark Gallery, Houston TX Strange Fruit: David Halliday and Greg Kuharic...

Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Sensus Victoria - Etching - 16th Century
Sensus Victoria - Etching - 16th Century

Sensus Victoria - Etching - 16th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Etching on paper realized by an unknown italian master in the early 16th century after Battista Franco. Not signed. Full margins, very good condition.

Category

16th Century Modern Art

Materials

Etching

"Air Jordan" 40x50 Nike, Michael Jordan,  Pop Art  1stDibs Exclusive
"Air Jordan" 40x50 Nike, Michael Jordan,  Pop Art  1stDibs Exclusive

"Air Jordan" 40x50 Nike, Michael Jordan, Pop Art 1stDibs Exclusive

By Destro

Located in Los Angeles, CA

"Air Jordan" is an acrylic photomosaic artwork by Destro. The first release in a series mosaic works called "Icons". Destro has created large prints which are made up of many hundre...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Jean Cocteau, Hermetic Measure, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
Jean Cocteau, Hermetic Measure, from Bulls, 1965 (after)

Jean Cocteau, Hermetic Measure, from Bulls, 1965 (after)

By Jean Cocteau

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Mesure hermetique (Hermetic Measure), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by J...

Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

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.