Manabu Mabe
Vintage 1980s Brazilian Space Age Tapestries
Tapestry
People Also Browsed
Antique Mid-19th Century English High Victorian Taxidermy
Other
Vintage 1950s French Modern Tapestries
Wool
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
Glass, Maple
Vintage 1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Cork, Hardwood
Early 2000s Pop Art Nude Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Jacaranda
Vintage 1970s French Organic Modern Tapestries
Wool
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
Brass
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Cabinets
Wood
Late 20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Tapestries
Natural Fiber
Mid-20th Century Post-War Abstract Paintings
Ink, Gouache
Antique 19th Century English Renaissance Revival Panelling
Wood, Pine
Vintage 1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Wood, Formica
Recent Sales
1990s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
Screen
1990s Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
Screen
20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
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.