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Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

ABSTRACT STYLE

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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Style: Abstract
0118.13 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
0118.13 (Abstract Painting) Pigmented wax and ink on Shikoku paper - Unframed Working on paper has always been an important part of Tracey Adams daily practice. For almost thirty y...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Wax

0118.5 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
0118.5 (Abstract Painting) Pigmented wax and ink on Shikoku paper - Unframed Working on paper has always been an important part of Tracey Adams daily practice. For almost thirty ye...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Wax

Paris - Ober (Blue Tarp) (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Paris - Ober (Blue Tarp) (Abstract painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tenden...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil

Warren St 18 (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
Warren St 18 (Abstract Drawing) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano is a Philippines-born French-American abstract artist wh...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil

Rosey Combo, pastel pink and grey abstract watercolor painting on archival paper
Located in New York, NY
Lisa Fellerson’s paintings provoke an interplay and tension between line, shape, and color. With no preconceived idea in mind, she begins by dripping, scrapping, and gouging acrylic ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Pierced (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Pierced (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on Montval paper - Unframed Martina Nehrling is an American abstract artist whose dynamic and richly textured paintings evoke kaleidoscopic worl...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Substraction III Geometric Painting Blue Melissa Dupont
Located in Madrid, ES
The series bodies in space was born from my interest in architecture and the games of perception. I use color as a construction element where the volumes are made visible through col...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Plastic

Untitled 11 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 11 (Abstract painting) Pigment, silica medium and gouache on paper - Unframed. Marcy Rosenblat describes herself as having an affinity for process art, a method of art mak...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pigment

Covers 20 Red A (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
Covers 20 Red A (Abstract Drawing) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper - Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tape t...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Pulse (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Pulse (Abstract drawing) Watercolour on Arches paper - Unframed Uchiyama works with watercolor on Arches paper. She often develops as many as eight compositions at one time, movin...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Covers 13 Red Orange (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Covers 13 Red Orange (Abstract painting) Gouache on handmade paper. Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tape t...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Handmade Paper

M271 (Abstract new media)
Located in London, GB
M271 (Abstract new media) Digital creation, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag de 308 gr - Unframed. Fluctuating between illustration and expressionism, connecting the geometric and ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Digital

M377 (Abstract new media)
Located in London, GB
M377 (Abstract new media) Digital creation, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag de 308 gr - Unframed. Fluctuating between illustration and expressionism, connecting the geometric and ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Digital

Tipping Point #7 (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Tipping Point #7 (Abstract drawing) Pigment pencil on Mylar - Unframed. This work is from a series titled Tipping Point. This drawing has been created eyes closed. It captures an a...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mylar, Pencil

Untitled 8 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 8 (Abstract painting) Acrylic and oil on paper. Unframed. Claude Tétot is a French abstract artist whose work expresses harmony in disharmony by exploring the enigmatic unity that can exist between seemingly disparate elements, such as graphic patterns and gestural markings. Tétot is inspired by the search for unexpected harmonies. He could be placed in an aesthetic lineage with Hans Hofmann and Shirley Jaffe...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Acrylic

Soft Rock, pastel pink abstract watercolor painting on archival paper
Located in New York, NY
Lisa Fellerson’s paintings provoke an interplay and tension between line, shape, and color. With no preconceived idea in mind, she begins by dripping, scrapping, and gouging acrylic ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper

0118.2 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
0118.2 (Abstract Painting) Pigmented wax and ink on Shikoku paper - Unframed Working on paper has always been an important part of Tracey Adams daily practice. For almost thirty y...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Wax

13.1.16 (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
13.1.16 (Abstract Drawing) Pen and inkjet on paper - Unframed. Richard Caldicott drawings have a minimal esthetic, an architectural character, created with only one or two lines. P...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Plans in Space II
Located in Madrid, ES
The series bodies in space was born from my interest in architecture and the games of perception. I use color as a construction element where the volumes are made visible through col...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Plastic

Warren 85. 18 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Warren 85. 18 (Abstract Painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil

Warren 14 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Warren 14 (Abstract painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from something observed, ideally around him. He tends to be “in” the configuration that is the subject of the work. Soriano is fond of “systems” objects attached to other objects, such as the wiring plan of a room. But very often there are other shapes that play a role in the work. The artist would fold and rework a piece a number of times. Folding seems to concentrate the dialogue that attracts him. Reworking is part of his nature. The finished work normally is the result of this ebb and flow between the heightening and repositioning the relationship between forms. The title refers to Warren street where Soriano had his studio at that time. Peter Soriano is a Philippines-born French-American abstract artist who divides his time between New York City and Penobscot, Maine. Although he began his career as a sculptor, his work is now two-dimensional. He is known for his bold spray-painted wall murals...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil, Paper, Ink, Spray Paint

Prism 61 Geometric Green Watercolor Painting Melissa Dupont
Located in Madrid, ES
The series bodies in space was born from my interest in architecture and the games of perception. I use color as a construction element where the volumes are made visible through col...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Plastic

The Surface of Things (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
The Surface of Things, (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on Montval paper - Unframed Artwork exclusive to IdeelArt. Martina Nehrling is an American abstract artist whose dynamic and ric...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Clench (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Clench (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on Montval paper - Unframed Martina Nehrling is an American abstract artist whose dynamic and richly textured paintings evoke kaleidoscopic world...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Untitled (Ref 16103) (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled (Ref 16103) (Abstract Painting) Ink on paper - Unframed. Martín Reyna is an Argentinian-born abstract painter living in Paris, France. His gestural abstract paintings deli...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Untitled (Ref 19013) (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
Untitled (Ref 19013) (Abstract Drawing) Ink on paper - Unframed. Martín Reyna is an Argentinian-born abstract painter living in Paris, France. His gestural abstract paintings delig...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Waterway I (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Waterway I (Abstract drawing) Watercolor on Arches paper - Unframed but mounted and hinged on foamcore backing, ready for framing. Uchiyama works with watercolor on Arches paper. S...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Covers 13-Black B (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Covers 13-Black B (Abstract painting) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper. Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses ta...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Handmade Paper

Covers 13 Red 2 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Covers 13 Red 2 (Abstract Painting) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper. Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tape ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Handmade Paper

M353 (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
M353 (Abstract Drawing) Digital creation, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag de 308 gr - Unframed. Fluctuating between illustration and expressionism, connecting the geometric and bi...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Digital

P1.15 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
P1.15 (Abstract Painting) Gouache and collage on Japanese paper. Unframed. This gouache paint with collage on Japanese paper is a result of working with the accidental arrangements...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Cut Space (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Cut Space (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on paper. Unframed. As a multidisciplinary artist, Snow uses different mediums and supports. Each work results from preliminary studies drawn ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

P1.13 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
P1.13 (Abstract Painting) Gouache and collage on Japanese paper - Unframed This gouache paint with collage on Japanese paper is a result of working with the accidental arrangements...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Storm Series (Ref 844) (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Storm Series (Ref 844) (Abstract drawing) Pigment pencil on Mylar. Unframed. So many different storms, so hard to capture. Beginning in the wake of hurricanes Irene and Sandy, th...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mylar, Pencil

Screech of ice series 43 (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Screech of ice series 43 (Abstract drawing) Colored pencil and graphite on plastic paper. Unframed. Screech of Ice is a new series of drawings made by holding a bunch of pencils in...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Plastic, Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite

BP37, INEXISTENTEIDEEN, 2019 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
BP37, INEXISTENTEIDEEN, 2019 (Abstract painting) Acrylic, graphite on paper - Unframed. Daniel Gottin's interest and concept are to examine the subject...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Graphite

Untitled 557 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 557 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on paper - Unframed. The technique Johnson employs is extremely rigorous, involving, as he says, “pushing paint around with palette knives ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Untitled 9 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 9 (Abstract painting) Acrylic and oil on paper - Unframed Claude Tétot is a French abstract artist whose work expresses harmony in disharmony ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Acrylic

Test Pattern 6 (Grey study)
Located in London, GB
Test Pattern 6 (Grey study) Ink, gouache and acrylic on Fabriano paper - Unframed. Test Pattern series sets up a generic template as a poetic prompt to consider how behavioural res...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Gouache

Warren St 8 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Warren St 8 (Abstract Painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work fr...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil

4th floor (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
4th floor (Abstract Painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil, Paper

Organic Geometry (Spectrum II) (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Organic Geometry (Spectrum II) (Abstract Painting) Mixed media on paper - Unframed Artwork exclusive to IdeelArt. In this series, Michael Barringer wants to make deeply felt, poe...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Damier 20153 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Damier 20153 (Abstract painting) Mixed media on paper - Unframed. Reyna works with ink, acrylics and oils on canvas or paper. One of his signature techniques is to dilute his mediu...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Untitled 20242 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 20242 (Abstract painting) Mixed media on paper - Unframed. Reyna works with ink, acrylics and oils on canvas or paper. One of his signature techniques is to dilute his med...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Sequencing 11 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Sequencing 11 (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on Montval paper - Unframed Martina Nehrling is an American abstract artist whose dynamic and richly textured paintings evoke kaleidoscopi...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Hangar (Ref 20224) (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Hangar (Ref 20224) (Abstract painting) Ink on paper - Unframed. Reyna works with ink, acrylics and oils on canvas or paper. One of his signature techniques is to dilute his mediums...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Untitled 7 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 7 (Abstract painting) Pigment, silica medium and gouache on paper - Unframed. Marcy Rosenblat describes herself as having an affinity for process art, a method of art maki...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pigment

Untitled 10 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 10 (Abstract painting) Pigment, silica medium and gouache on paper - Unframed. Marcy Rosenblat describes herself as having an affinity for process art, a method of art mak...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pigment

01-19 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
01-19 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on paper - Unframed. Using the geometric vocabulary found in architectural schemata, Bolt tries to create a dynamic tension between foreground and...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Swing (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Swing (Abstract drawing) on Arches paper - Unframed Uchiyama works with watercolor on Arches paper. She often develops as many as eight compositions at one time, moving on to the...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Covers 20 Red A (Abstract Drawing)
Located in London, GB
Covers 20 Red A (Abstract Drawing) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper - Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tape t...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Terra Incognita 1 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Terra Incognita 1 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on 300lb. Arches hotpress paper - Unframed Snow sees her work as a constant play between order and chaos, logic and emotion. She combi...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

M323 (Abstract new media)
Located in London, GB
M323 (Abstract new media) Digital creation, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag de 308 gr - Unframed. Fluctuating between illustration and expressionism, connecting the geometric and ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Digital

P4.13 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
P4.13 (Abstract Painting) Gouache on Japanese paper. Unframed. This gouache paint on Japanese paper is a result of working with the accidental arrangements of found colored papers ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Big Melt #16 (Abstract drawing)
Located in London, GB
Big Melt #16 (Abstract drawing) Pigment pencil and water on mylar - Unframed. This work is from a series titled Big Melt. It has been created with pigment pencils and ice. It captu...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mylar, Pencil

Blue Water Dots (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Blue Water Dots (Abstract Painting) Watercolor / work on paper - Unframed This work on paper is made with thread and watercolor. It is a “drawing” of color with a brush, line wit...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Thread

A12 - I am having so much fun (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
A12 - I am having so much fun (Abstract painting) Acrylic on paper - Unframed. The artist created this series shortly afterward arriving in NY. His interest was to see what respons...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Untitled 7 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Untitled 7 (Abstract painting) Acrylic and oil on paper - Unframed Claude Tétot is a French abstract artist whose work expresses harmony in disharmony by exploring the enigmatic u...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Acrylic

Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Martin Reyna , Mila Akopova, Jaanika Peerna, and Sumit Mehndiratta. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Abstract drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 0.5 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $400,000, while the average work sells for $1,408.

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