Balancing Act
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
104-24
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
102-24
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
111-22
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#109-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#100-15
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#107-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#110-18
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#104-20
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
Unavailable
H 46 in W 60 in D 1.5 in
Extra Large Abstract Oil Painting Lisa Kowalski
Located in Chicago, IL
lovely dream" series “Lisa Kowalski is not afraid to paint. With bold, fluid brush strokes and minimal
Oil
Untitled #102-22
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
Untitled #103-2
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This diptych consists of two panels that are 60"H x 60"W and 60"H x 36"W for an overall size of 60"H x 96" According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with d...
Oil, Wood Panel
Untitled #100-21
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This diptych consists of three panels that are 60"H x 36"W each for an overall size of 60"H x 108"W According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct i...
Oil, Wood Panel
#111-20
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This diptych consists of two panels that are 60"h x 48" each. According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experi...
Oil, Wood Panel
Untitled #103-21
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#119-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#117-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#121-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#120-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#107-19
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
106-22
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
#119-19 / #120-19 / #121-19 Lot of 3
Located in Los Angeles, CA
According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interpretation, but as I see and experience faces, words, gestures, colors and shapes – all of it – I ...
Oil, Wood Panel
Back on Black
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This diptych consists of two panels one that is 60"h x 48"w and the other that is 60"h x 54"w. According to the artist, "everything in life inspires me, not quite with direct interp...
Oil, Wood Panel
$2,052 / item
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.03 in
"Les Terrains" Signed Limited Edition Art Print by Christiane Lemieux - 30"x40"
Located in New York, NY
Our first limited edition fine art print “Les Terrains” is an emotive abstract landscape translated in gouache, charcoal and pastel. Created by artist Christiane Lemieux, there will ...
Paper
$1,160Sale Price|20% Off
H 21 in W 25 in D 2 in
Antique American Modernist Framed Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Wonderful early American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed.
Canvas, Oil
Every Which Way, Abstract Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Dorothy Gaziano builds layers of orange and cream over deep blues and black using oil paint and cold wax. The interplay of light and dark draws the viewer in,...
Oil
Untitled
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2017). Untitled, 1983. Ink on paper, measures 17 x 23 inches. Unframed and unmounted. Signed and dated lower left. Ayers holds the distinction of having participa...
Paper, Ink
$396Sale Price|20% Off
H 17 in W 21 in D 2 in
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Canvas, Oil
Extase, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Emily STARCK
Located in Yardley, PA
Ecstasy is predominantly green and blue artwork, enhanced with yellow. Its title is linked to the feelings of the artist during its creation. The emotions were very strong and indesc...
Acrylic
$716Sale Price|20% Off
H 36 in W 36 in D 2 in
American Large Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage modernist abstract painting. Oil on canvas. Image size, 36L x 36H. Signed verso, "Larry Glickman".
Canvas, Oil
$1,200
H 26 in W 32 in
Untitled 150901 Acrylic on Canvas Painting, Abstract, 21st Century
By Ryan Beck
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Untitled 150901" is an original acrylic on canvas painting by Ryan Beck measuring 26"h x 32"w. Ryan Beck works in an abstract style that aims to link contemporary art sensibility w...
Canvas, Acrylic
Go Softly, Abstract Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Shades of blue, gray, and black blend to create a serene, misty seascape. Gentle brushstrokes give the impression of a ship or a city in the distance. The ove...
Acrylic
Not This Not That
Located in Dallas, TX
acrylic on birch panel
Birch, Acrylic, Panel
Untitled
Located in Barcelona, CT
the painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Canvas
Somewhere
By Alicia Gitlitz
Located in New York, NY
Acrylics and oils on canvas that is one inch deep. Abstract Focus. Vibrant Colors. Not framed. About the Artist: "Alicia is a versatile painter working in a variety of styles ...
Mixed Media
Silver Silence 10, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Oil abstract artwork Multilayered technique Texture Golden/ silver /beige /grey colours 2023 year creation Signature on the back side :: Painting :: Abstract :: This piece comes...
Oil
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.
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.
The Italian-American’s 2020 abstract painting “The Hoe” personifies his “art of not knowing.”
In his current show at New York's Lehmann Maupin gallery, the Puerto Rican–born talent reveals new paintings with a semiautobiographical aspect.