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.
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Art
Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Fabric, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Fabric, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Canvas, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Mixed Media, Board, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Fabric, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Fabric, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Handmade Paper
Mid-20th Century Abstract Art
Gouache
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Clay
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Gesso, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Photographic Paper, Giclée
1980s Abstract Art
Screen
2010s Abstract Art
Raw Linen, Ink, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Art
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Steel
1960s Abstract Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Inkjet
2010s Abstract Art
Clay, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Graphite, Ink, Paper
2010s Abstract Art
Gesso, Oil, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Abstract Art
Screen
2010s Abstract Art
Acrylic, Oil, Cotton Canvas
2010s Abstract Art
Cotton Canvas, Oil
1950s Abstract Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper
20th Century Abstract Art
Paper, Charcoal
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1940s Abstract Art
Paper, Ink
1990s Abstract Art
Gouache
Artist Comments
Vibrant green cacti stand tall as they reach for the sky on a bright day. "Mild blue of the sky and warm shades of the ground together outline the beauty of these legendary plants," artist Suren Nersisyan says of the big saguaro cactuses in the Arizona desert...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1960s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Steel, Stainless Steel
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Watercolor, Mixed Media, Graphite
Artist Comments
"For a few brief moments on the south rim, the morning sun lights up the canyon walls like neon while casting blue shadows into its depths," says artist Cryst...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Acrylic, Handmade Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Paper, Digital
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Art
Archival Pigment, Color
2010s Abstract Art
Glass
1950s Abstract Art
Etching
1960s Abstract Art
Screen
2010s Abstract Art
Panel, Digital Pigment
1940s Abstract Art
Paper, Pencil
1980s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
1970s Abstract Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Art
Canvas, Acrylic