Rene Rodriguez
20th Century Abstract Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Recent Sales
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Cuban Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Masonite, Paint
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1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
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Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Cherry
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
Resin, Wood, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Romantic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Plastic
1970s Modern Abstract Prints
Lithograph
Antique 17th Century Belgian Baroque Tapestries
Tapestry, Wool, Silk
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
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1950s Modern Figurative Prints
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1990s Dutch Brutalist Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Agate, Multi-gemstone, Concrete, Slate, Metal, Brass
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Garden Ornaments
Bronze, Copper
Vintage 1940s French Secretaires
Brass
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary French Futurist Side Tables
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20th Century Danish Other Porcelain
Porcelain
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.
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