Sophie Tauber Arp
Mid-20th Century Dutch Expressionist Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Drawings
Paper
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1940s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
Oil
People Also Browsed
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Modern Still-life Prints
Lithograph
Vintage 1970s German Modern Paintings
Acrylic
Early 20th Century Belgian Belle Époque Paintings
Gesso, Wood, Paint
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Steel, Metal, Copper
Early 20th Century Naturalistic Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Chrome
1980s Modern Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board
2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Color Pencil, Graphite
20th Century Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Oil
1970s Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Vintage 1970s Photography
Paper
20th Century Modern Abstract Prints
Lithograph
Vintage 1920s Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Stainless Steel
Recent Sales
20th Century Abstract More Art
Wool
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
Mid-20th Century Dutch Expressionist Paintings
Canvas
1970s Abstract Prints
1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
1950s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Photography
Silver Gelatin
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
Lithograph
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.