Mark Zimmerman Art
Vintage 1920s English Art Deco Jewelry Boxes
Sterling Silver
1970s Expressionist Figurative Prints
Aquatint, Mezzotint, Etching
Early 20th Century English Art Deco Barware
Silver, Sterling Silver
20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Paper, Color, Lithograph
People Also Browsed
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Decorative Boxes
Sterling Silver
1970s Post-Impressionist Nude Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings
Oil, Board
Antique 1890s Austrian Late Victorian Decorative Boxes
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Vintage 1920s English Decorative Boxes
Vintage 1920s Austrian Art Deco Jewelry Boxes
Brass
1970s Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Antique Mid-19th Century English Medieval Windows
Lead
Vintage 1930s North American Art Deco Sterling Silver
Gold, Sterling Silver
1920s Expressionist Nude Prints
Engraving, Woodcut
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings
Masonite, Oil
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Antique 1880s Maps
Paper
Vintage 1930s English Art Deco Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Recent Sales
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Color Pencil, Paint, Paper, Permanent Marker
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Pastel
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Wood
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Paint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Carbon Pencil
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Gouache
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Oil
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Wood
Vintage 1920s British Art Deco Barware
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1940s English Art Deco Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Birch, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Glaze
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Wood
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Cedar
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Stoneware, Birch, Ceramic
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Stoneware, Cedar
Antique Early 19th Century English Romantic Animal Sculptures
Earthenware
Antique Early 19th Century English Romantic Animal Sculptures
Earthenware
2010s Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Wood
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
2010s Abstract Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Birch
Early 20th Century English Art Deco Decorative Boxes
Sterling Silver
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.
Read More
Roberto Burle Marx’s Bold Brazilian Landscape Design Comes to New York
The New York Botanical Garden, in the Bronx, has mounted a multifaceted show honoring the polymath modernist's legacy, including new work by contemporary landscape maker Raymond Jungles.
Brooklyn Artist Angel Otero’s Abstract Works Tell a Unique Story about Art and Heritage
In his current show at New York's Lehmann Maupin gallery, the Puerto Rican–born talent reveals new paintings with a semiautobiographical aspect.