Wild Plum Hibiscus

Antoinette Ferwerda is a renowned Australian artist largely recognized for producing a bold collection of fine artwork that joyfully explores the geometry of shape and the changing light from dusk to dawn. Championing her love for shape, reflection and nature using a diverse pallet of mixed media to portray her abstract interpretations of nature. Ferwerda's diverse past and a somewhat nomadic childhood has inspired much of her work today. Her backstory reads like something out of an adventure series, having spent her early days living in remote pockets of Papua New Guinea, where she was lucky to spend time in a seaside shack on Ela Beach in Port Moresby, as well as the volcanic town of Rabaul, the Cargo Port Lae, before moving on to Darwin where her Dad worked for the Red Cross and helped with the re-build process after Cyclone Tracy. This was followed by a family stint in Europe, visiting Netherlands, London, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland, before finally settling back in Melbourne for her formative years. Her love for nature and exploring the patterns and relationships she finds within started early. “I’ve been forever fascinated with color and the magical interplay of light. Blessed to have a teacher mom who fostered regular creative time during our nomadic stint, my childhood was largely spent creating, especially outdoors,” she says. Never without a pen, sketchbook or scraps of paper, her natural ability to create in layers instinctively started in these early years. Although her work continues to evolve, she consistently creates works that are rich in layers, resulting in pieces that are optimistic, luminous and full of stories from her colorful life. Her signature work is abundant with color and texture, resulting in a transparent quality of her works. Adaptable to any palette, Ferwerda has produced works from a diversity of spectrums and mediums — sun-soaked, muted and ethereal, vibrant, as well as monochromatic with accents of gold. Her themes include abstract and metaphysical interpretations of fossicking in rock pools, exploring the rolling hills of the countryside both here and abroad, the rock formations of the Australian outback and the magical light of a European summer to name just a few. Her dream and longing to become an artist became a reality after starting her own family and farewelling a corporate life in the pharmaceutical industry, with her debut solo exhibition in 2014. Six years on, Ferwerda has fast become a firm favorite amongst interior designers, stylists and home decorators alike, having been represented by Fenton & Fenton, Thom Gallery and Trit House (formally Click On Furniture) to name just a few. Continually experimenting and evolving as an artist, Ferwerda invites the viewer to look deeper through surface layers to find hidden stories of color and form. Past collections have been inspired by visits to the bustling markets of India, the morning light outside her childhood beach shack in Papua New Guinea, fossicking in Australian rock pools and the romantic interplay of light that a European summer brings.

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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.