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Paola Romano was born in Monterotondo, Rome in 1951. She studied at the Rome University of Fine Arts and developed her style in the Roman artistic environment. Later, she opened an art studio in the suggestive ancient borough of Rome, where she currently works and dwells. Her first solo show of 2005, at the Galleria dei Leoni in Via Margutta, was followed by many important exhibitions both in Italy and abroad. Indeed, since 2000 she undertakes an active pathway in the creation of artworks with different kinds of materials. Matter, with all its possibilities of manipulation and its enthralling forms, becomes the main protagonist of her following series. Among her most important series, we find Moons (Lune), which in 2012 dominated the sky in via Margutta in Rome, the series Planimetries (Planimetrie), Plastics (Plastiche), Zoom, the evocative series of works realized in fresco, the very celebrated bronze sculptures, and the series Monochromes (Monocromi). The aesthetic impact of Paola Romano’s artworks is strong and fascinating, and it has been noticed by some important Italian film directors and scenographers. In 2005, Pupi Avati commissioned to the Romano three artworks for his film La cena per farli conoscere, and in 2014 one artwork from the series Monochromes appeared in the film Sotto una buona stella by Carlo Verdone. In 2012, one of her Moons appeared in a scenography of the theatrical play Penso che un giorno così… by Gianni Nazzaro. The series found great success and fascinated also the Gruppo Zarineh Tappeti, which decided to produce precious fabrics inspired by a selection of Romano’s artworks, presented for the first time to the public at the exhibition “Farshe-Mah” (“Moon Carpets”) in 2015 at the Convention Center of Rome Events. Noteworthy among her main expositions is the exhibition at the Cultural Center in Hong Kong, the exhibition at the Università Pontificia Urbaniana in Vatican City, the solo shows AD-Visioni, Dal Cosmo al Caos and Esperienze Estetiche and the group show La Natività in Rome (between 2005–07), the itinerant exhibition “Quarta Fase.” In 2011, she took part in the 54th Venice Biennial in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Armory, where she exhibited an important three-dimensional installation. In the same year, she took part in the show Il Mare della tranquillità at the Museum of Sea in Genoa and in the exhibition at the Lab for Art in Milan. In 2012, she realized the exhibition “Equilibri astrali” at the complex Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome and the personal show Paola Romano tra sogno e realtà at Nova Milanese. The following year, she exhibited at the new location of the Philobiblon Gallery in Rome with the solo show Io, Paola Romano.” In 2014, she had the double personal exhibition “Similitudine e Contrasto” at the complex of the Vittoriano in Rome and “Sconfinamenti” at the Academy of Romania in Rome. Among her latest expositions, worthy of mention is Silenti Riflessi at the Stadio of Domiziano in Rome, the exhibition at the MACRO in Rome and Broadway, New York, in 2018. It is also possible to admire Romano’s artworks in permanent exhibitions at the Fondazione Magna Carta in Rome and the Sale Urbaniana in Vatican City. Among her recognitions, worthy of mention is the “Premio Internazionale Arcaista” of 2007, “Approdi d’Autore” and the “Premio Roma” of 2009.

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

Bring audacious experiments with color and textures to your living room, dining room or home office. Abstract paintings, large or small, will stand out in your space, encouraging conversation and introducing a museum-like atmosphere that’s welcoming and conducive to creating memorable gatherings.

Abstract art has origins in 19th-century Europe, but it came into its own as a significant movement during the 20th century. Early practitioners of abstraction included Wassily Kandinsky, although painters were exploring nonfigurative art prior to the influential Russian artist’s efforts, which were inspired by music and religion. Abstract painters endeavored to create works that didn’t focus on the outside world’s conventional subjects, and even when artists depicted realistic subjects, they worked in an abstract mode to do so.

In 1940s-era New York City, a group of painters working in the abstract mode created radical work that looked to European avant-garde artists as well as to the art of ancient cultures, prioritizing improvisation, immediacy and direct personal expression. While they were never formally affiliated with one another, we know them today as Abstract Expressionists.

The male contingent of the Abstract Expressionists, which includes Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell, is frequently cited in discussing leading figures of this internationally influential postwar art movement. However, the women of Abstract Expressionism, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and others, were equally involved in the art world of the time. Sexism, family obligations and societal pressures contributed to a long history of their being overlooked, but the female Abstract Expressionists experimented vigorously, developed their own style and produced significant bodies of work.

Draw your guests into abstract oil paintings across different eras and countries of origin. On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive range of abstract paintings along with a guide on how to arrange your wonderful new wall art.

If you’re working with a small living space, a colorful, oversize work can create depth in a given room, but there isn’t any need to overwhelm your interior with a sprawling pièce de résistance. Colorful abstractions of any size can pop against a white wall in your living room, but if you’re working with a colored backdrop, you may wish to stick to colors that complement the decor that is already in the space. Alternatively, let your painting make a statement on its own, regardless of its surroundings, or group it, gallery-style, with other works.