Joseph Justus
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Pastel, Spray Paint, Archival Paper
Antique 17th Century Prints
Paper
People Also Browsed
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Enamel
Early 20th Century Moroccan Moorish Tapestries
Silk
Mid-20th Century Mexican Abstract Sculptures
Wood
Early 20th Century English Arts and Crafts Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Paintings
Sandstone
1990s Outsider Art Abstract Paintings
Paint, Mixed Media, Cardboard
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Acrylic
Antique 19th Century English Gothic Revival Lanterns
Bronze
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Antique 18th Century English Chippendale Cupboards
Brass
Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Linen, Oil
Vintage 1980s American Paintings
Canvas
1990s Peruvian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Lanterns
Tin
Antique Mid-19th Century English Victorian Windows
Pine, Wood, Stained Glass, Glass
Antique 19th Century Italian Renaissance Lanterns
Wrought Iron
Recent Sales
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
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.