Abstract Mixed Media
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.
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Ceramic, Porcelain
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Gouache, Magazine Paper
20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Glass
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Marble
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Crayon, Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Handmade Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Latex, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic, Gouache, Graphite
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Chalk, Pastel, Acrylic
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Wax, Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Watercolor, Polyurethane
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil Pastel, Graphite
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Pigment, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Parchment Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Board
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite, Inkjet
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Found Objects, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Early 2000s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Mixed Media, Panel
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Crayon, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor
Artist Comments
In this dynamic abstract, artist Margriet Hogue used many different types of handmade paper with acrylic paint, which she then d...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Stencil, Mixed Media, Mulberry Paper, Monoprint, Monotype
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
Artist Comments
Part of Ryan's long-running series of portraits done in charcoal and oil paint on gold washed paper. Ryan enjoys pairing the fluidity and transparency of oil paint with the substance of charcoal. "Much like the ballet of the same name, "Giselle" combines dramatic patterns with stoic expression," says Ryan. The figure wears an abstract dress of dripping circles, her hair in modernist angles. She looks intensely at the viewer, her slender frame elongated by her strong pose.
About the Artist
Words that describe this painting: girl, ballet, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, modern, portrait, expressionism, people, fashion, representational, mixed media artwork, yellow
Giselle
Ryan Pickart...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Using her signature painting and collage technique, artist Margriet Hogue created this small statement work. "I layered paint an...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Paper
Artist Comments
In this layered modern abstract, artist Margriet Hogue collaged handmade paper on a painted surface, which she then sanded and painted again. "I added two sma...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Latex, Acrylic, Archival Paper
Artist Comments
A modern abstract inspired by the Color Field paintings of the 1950s. "This piece consists of layers of handmade paper, paint, and powdered pigment," explains artist Margriet Hogue...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic, Laid Paper
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Board, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media