Lui Shou Kwan
1970s Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Paper, Ink, Acrylic
20th Century Contemporary Mixed Media
Mixed Media
People Also Browsed
2010s South African Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Side Chairs
Cedar
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century Japanese Showa Sculptures and Carvings
Iron
2010s South African Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Chinese Mid-Century Modern Jars
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s Japanese Anglo-Japanese Night Stands
Wood
Late 20th Century American Anglo-Japanese Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s British Scandinavian Modern Benches
Papercord, Wood
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s South African Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Antique 1880s Austrian Vases
Porcelain
Antique Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Decorative Art
Wood
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Abstract Sculptures
Clay
Recent Sales
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Ink, Cardboard, Pen
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Acrylic, Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Ink, Canvas
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Cardboard, Ink
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Ballpoint Pen, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Ink, Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Landscape Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pen, Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Cardboard, Pen, Ink
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Prints
Paper
20th Century Contemporary Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings
Paper, Ink
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.