Tom Lieber Monotype

Artist Tom Lieber’s Abstract Expressionist paintings have a distinct visual language. They are energetic and powerfully emotive yet contemplative through a use of graceful, bold lines, dense colors and neutral backgrounds.

Born in 1949 in St. Louis, Missouri, Lieber attended the University of Illinois where he graduated with a BFA in 1971 before obtaining his MFA in 1974. The following year, Lieber received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1982, he was selected for the “Emerging American Artists’ Exhibition” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. 

In 1983, Lieber began a collaboration with artist Garner Tullis to create large-scale monotypes. Through Tullis, he met influential artists such as Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, John Walker, Sean Scully, William T. Wiley and Friedel Dzubas.

Since the mid-1980s, Lieber’s abstract paintings, inspired by nature and meditation, have been characterized by his calligraphic mark-making, underlying color fields and masterful tonal variations, often anchored by a single brushstroke. His monumental, oil paint-laden canvases recall the works of Joan Mitchell, while his subtle use of color evokes the art of Mark Rothko.

In the 2000s, Lieber has been inspired by living in Kauai, Hawaii. This is evident in his landscape works and abstract prints such as “Hot Water,” “Lava” and “Black Drop X.”

Lieber’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally at solo and group shows. His works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Tate in London.

On 1stDibs, find a range of Tom Lieber’s paintings and prints.

Bring audacious experiments with color and textures to your living room, dining room or home office. Abstract paintings, large or small, will stand out in your space, encouraging conversation and introducing a museum-like atmosphere that’s welcoming and conducive to creating memorable gatherings.

Abstract art has origins in 19th-century Europe, but it came into its own as a significant movement during the 20th century. Early practitioners of abstraction included Wassily Kandinsky, although painters were exploring nonfigurative art prior to the influential Russian artist’s efforts, which were inspired by music and religion. Abstract painters endeavored to create works that didn’t focus on the outside world’s conventional subjects, and even when artists depicted realistic subjects, they worked in an abstract mode to do so.

In 1940s-era New York City, a group of painters working in the abstract mode created radical work that looked to European avant-garde artists as well as to the art of ancient cultures, prioritizing improvisation, immediacy and direct personal expression. While they were never formally affiliated with one another, we know them today as Abstract Expressionists.

The male contingent of the Abstract Expressionists, which includes Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell, is frequently cited in discussing leading figures of this internationally influential postwar art movement. However, the women of Abstract Expressionism, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and others, were equally involved in the art world of the time. Sexism, family obligations and societal pressures contributed to a long history of their being overlooked, but the female Abstract Expressionists experimented vigorously, developed their own style and produced significant bodies of work.

Draw your guests into abstract oil paintings across different eras and countries of origin. On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive range of abstract paintings along with a guide on how to arrange your wonderful new wall art.

If you’re working with a small living space, a colorful, oversize work can create depth in a given room, but there isn’t any need to overwhelm your interior with a sprawling pièce de résistance. Colorful abstractions of any size can pop against a white wall in your living room, but if you’re working with a colored backdrop, you may wish to stick to colors that complement the decor that is already in the space. Alternatively, let your painting make a statement on its own, regardless of its surroundings, or group it, gallery-style, with other works.