Barbara Landry

Stephen P. Edlich (1944-1989) was born in New York City. He graduated from NYU in 1967, and spent a lot of time traveling in the UK. In England, he met Barbara Hepworth and saw the work of Ben Nicholson, which had a great influence on his art. Edlich worked in Cornwall before going back to the states to attend the New School for Social Research in New York for a sociology masters program. While he was in England, Edlich also met art dealer Victor Waddington. Waddington put on an exhibition of Edlich’s work in 1969 at his gallery in Montreal. Edlich continued to create sculptures and exhibit in New York. There, he also worked for a serigraph printing firm and as an adjunct instructor at the New York Institute of Technology. Edlich also began creating paintings and works on paper, and was showing at more and more important galleries, including Marlborough. His work belongs to several museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Neuberger Museum of Art; the Brooklyn Museum; the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

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.