Alexis Mendoza On Sale
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint, Oil, Pencil
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Charcoal, Crayon, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Wood
People Also Browsed
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1990s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Figurative Sculptures
Wood
Antique 18th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Busts
Wood, Hardwood, Paint
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
Marble
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
Clay, Wood
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Vases
Pottery
1990s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
2010s Modern Figurative Sculptures
Clay, Stoneware, Glaze, Underglaze
1960s Impressionist Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
20th Century Colombian Post-Modern Paintings
Canvas
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Clay
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Prints
Paper
Recent Sales
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
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.
Find original abstract paintings, sculptures, prints and other art on 1stDibs.