Al Loving Jr
1980s Abstract Abstract Prints
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Metal
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Rag Paper
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Rag Paper
Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media
Lucite, Acrylic, Cardboard
1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gold Leaf
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1950s American Crystal Serveware
Crystal
Late 20th Century Moroccan Bohemian Moroccan and North African Rugs
Wool
20th Century English Victorian Bookcases
Hardwood
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Laid Paper, Mixed Media
1990s Japonisme Bookcases
Wood
Early 20th Century American Pitchers
Cut Glass
1970s Abstract Abstract Prints
Screen
Mid-20th Century Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Metal
Early 20th Century American Edwardian Barware
Cut Glass
1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
Mid-20th Century Zimbabwean Figurative Sculptures
Serpentine
Mid-20th Century Moroccan Bauhaus Moroccan and North African Rugs
Wool, Cotton
1940s Abstract Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Stone
Early 20th Century Tableware
Cotton
Recent Sales
1970s Op Art Abstract Paintings
Acrylic Polymer
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Silver
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gold Leaf
A Close Look at Abstract Art
Beginning in the early 20th century, abstract art became a leading style of modernism. Rather than portray the world in a way that represented reality, as had been the dominating style of Western art in the previous centuries, abstract paintings, prints and sculptures are marked by a shift to geometric forms, gestural shapes and experimentation with color to express ideas, subject matter and scenes.
Although abstract art flourished in the early 1900s, propelled by movements like Fauvism and Cubism, it was rooted in the 19th century. In the 1840s, J.M.W. Turner emphasized light and motion for atmospheric paintings in which concrete details were blurred, and Paul Cézanne challenged traditional expectations of perspective in the 1890s.
Some of the earliest abstract artists — Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint — expanded on these breakthroughs while using vivid colors and forms to channel spiritual concepts. Painter Piet Mondrian, a Dutch pioneer of the art movement, explored geometric abstraction partly owing to his belief in Theosophy, which is grounded in a search for higher spiritual truths and embraces philosophers of the Renaissance period and medieval mystics. Black Square, a daringly simple 1913 work by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, was a watershed statement on creating art that was free “from the dead weight of the real world,” as he later wrote.
Surrealism in the 1920s, led by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Meret Oppenheim and others, saw painters creating abstract pieces in order to connect to the subconscious. When Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York during the mid-20th century, it similarly centered on the process of creation, in which Helen Frankenthaler’s expressive “soak-stain” technique, Jackson Pollock’s drips of paint, and Mark Rothko’s planes of color were a radical new type of abstraction.
Conceptual art, Pop art, Hard-Edge painting and many other movements offered fresh approaches to abstraction that continued into the 21st century, with major contemporary artists now exploring it, including Anish Kapoor, Mark Bradford, El Anatsui and Julie Mehretu.
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