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Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
The Church - Drawing By Reynold Arnould - 1970
Located in Roma, IT
The Church is a Pencil Drawing realized by Reynold Arnould (Le Havre 1919 - Parigi 1980). Good condition on a white paper. No signature. Reynold Arnould was born in Le Havre, Fr...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Amalfi Coastline, Italy c 2005 , signed original mixed media painting
Located in Frome, Somerset
'Amalfi Coastline, Italy' signed mixed media on paper. Glazed frame 53cmx 42cm painting 36cmx27cm A view of Amalfi, looking down to the shoreline from the hilly landscape that surrou...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media

Clinton Hill, Paris, Oct., 1951 (France), mid-century abstract gouache drawing
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images. He lived in SoHo, New York, and was a frequent Gallery visitor. Born in Idaho and raised on a working ranch, ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art
Located in New York, NY
"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art Stuart Davis (American, 1892-1964) "Street Signs" Modernist gouache and traces of pencil on paper in the proto-pop art style Davis is celebrated for, 1938, signed to lower right, framed. Image: 11 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches. Frame by Bark: 18 1/2 x 22 inches. LITERATURE: A, Boyajian, M. Rutkowski, Stuart Davis, A Catalogue Raisonne, Vol. 2, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, vol. II, p. 632, no. 1232, illustrated. EXHIBITIONS: ACA Galleries, New York American Artists' Congress: Group Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Dec. 3-16, 1939 (SDAB I, 12/3/39, p. 129). Outlines Gallery, Pittsburgh, Stuart Davis, Mar. 3-16, 1946. Coleman Art Gallery, Philadelphia, 5 Prodigal Sons: Former Philadelphia Artists: Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Julian Levi, Charles Sheeler, Oct 4 - 30, 1947 (pamphlet), no. 12. PROVENANCE: The artist; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bowles, New York, Apr. 3, 1956; thence by descent, Private Collection, New York. NOTES: According to the Catalogue Raissonne, "the title 'Street Signs' is recorded in the artist's account books...
Category

1930s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pencil

Early Abstraction II
Located in London, GB
This soft and inviting work is the second in a series of abstractions by Walkowitz. Containing a central sequence of wavey lines and a singular circle, it evokes a feelings of joy in...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Untitled #3
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Untitled #3" c.1970 is a colors pastel and crayon on thick paper by American artist Jerry Opper, 1924-2014. It is hand signed in pencil at the lower right corner by the artist. The image size is 21.75 x 16.75 inches, sheet size is 24 x 19 inches. It is in excellent condition, there are pastel marks on the margin all around the artwork and also on the back, see picture #1. About the artist: Jerry Opper was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 5, 1924. He moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1933. After graduating from Hollywood High School, he worked in movie studios and attended art classes at Chouinard Art Institute. In May 1942, Opper was drafted into the army and was then able to study at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center while his outfit was stationed in Colorado. Later he was sent to Guam and was discharged in December 1945. Opper returned to Chouinard and his work in movie studios until 1947, when he moved to San Francisco. He enrolled as a full-time student at the California School of Fine Arts (now SFAI) and received his diploma in June of 1950. In 1948, Opper met his wife Gertrud Ruth Friedmann, daughter of artist Gustav Friedmann, whose works are also in the Lost Art Salon collection. It was love at first sight and a few weeks after their first encounter at the Black Cat in San Francisco's North Beach, they got married and enjoyed a passionate, life-long romance. Shortly after he finished school, Opper worked briefly as a decorator’s assistant and then started his career as a commercial artist, working for several firms such as Fibreboard, Beatrix Food and Precision. Working full-time and dedicating himself to having a rich family life occupied most of Opper's time, but he continued to be creative. He was above all a family man with the pride of having raised two exceptional daughters, Erika and Jody. Year after year, Opper would painstakingly craft their Halloween costumes...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

"Untitled I" Jane Freilicher, Hamptons Landscape Drawing, Mid-century Abstract
Located in New York, NY
Jane Freilicher Untitled I, 1958-59 Signed lower right Charcoal on paper 11 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches Provenance: Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York Private Collection, New York Jane Freilic...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Abstract #2
Located in London, GB
“If it brings to me a harmonious sensation…” Walkowitz once said, “…I then try to find the concrete elements that are likely to record the sensation in visual forms.” This philosoph...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Cubist Still Life With Glass Bottles Vessels And Abstract Architectural Interior
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Cubist Still Life With Glass Bottles Vessels And Abstract Architectural Interior Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Pastel on paper, 1922 Initialed lower right (see photo) Exhibited: Francis Nauman, Leon Kelly: Draftsman Extraordinaire, New York, April 4 - May 23, 2014. Condition: Excell...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

A Cheerful 1950s Textile Design by Artist Andre Delfau
Located in Chicago, IL
A colorful textile design in orange, blue, red and yellow tones depicting an abstract polychrome Wedge Star pattern by set and costume designer Andre ...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Gouache, Graphite, Paper

Sans titre
Located in PARIS, FR
Magnificent abstract work on paper by Swiss artist Albert Chubac measuring 65 x 82 x 3 cm
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Polish French Judaica Watercolor Gouache Painting Original Bauhaus Yiddish Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995) Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, ABS

Sand Flow
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "San Flow" 1986 is an original watercolor on Arches watermarked paper by noted American artist Anne Popperwell, born 1948. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist. The artwork size is 22 x 30 inches, framed is 30.25 x 36.25 inches. It is custom framed in a metal bronze color frame. It is in very good condition. About the artist. Anne Popperwell was born in Oakland, California, in 1948 and studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1968-1970 with a major in painting and a minor in photography. She has been painting and exhibiting her work in both private and public galleries, primarily in Canada, since 1981. She paints in watercolour on paper and acrylic on canvas, though not exclusively, using nature-based imagery. Shortly after her arrival in Canada in 1976, Anne moved to an island off the West Coast to paint a particular landscape, the eroded sandstone shoreline. In the course of this eight-year series of paintings, she experimented with point of view, scale and colour, developing a method of working that creates the effect of light coming from within the subject itself. Her paintings are included in private, corporate and public collections in Canada and in private collections in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Solo Exhibitions: 2016 "Shades of Saturna", Artlink Canada, Jaydon Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia 2009 “Beauty” Casa Dahlia Galeria, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico 2008 “Tropical Flowers” Casa Dahlia Galeria, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico 996- "Why Don't You Just Leave?" paintings and video installation 1998 tour to 11 British Columbia regional galleries, originating at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Victoria, British Columbia 1993 Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia 1991 Fran Willis North Park Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia 1990 Fran Willis North Park Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia 1986 Robert Vanderleelie Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia Thomas Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba 1984 Grace Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia Winchester Galleries, Victoria, British Columbia 1982 Kyle's Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia 1981 Kyle's Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, British Columbi1980 Kamloops Public Art Gallery, Kamloops, British Columbia Selected Group Exhibitions: 2014 Insight Art Gallery, Galiano, B.C 2012 The Field Gallery, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico 2002 “European Media Arts Festival”, Osnabruck, Germany 1997 “Open House”, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France 1994 "Spring Run", Baux-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia 1994-1996 Government House, Victoria, B.C. 1992 "Hanging Gardens", Fran Willis Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia 1990 "Bumbershoot Festival 1990", Seattle, Washington 1986 "Images B.C." The British Columbia Pavilion, Expo 86 Vancouver, British Columbia 1985 "Hot Water Colour", Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario "B.C. Women Artists" Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia 1983 "National Watercolour Exhibition" Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia 1981 “Painter’s Day”, Kyle’s Gallery, Victoria, B.C. Public Collections British Columbia Art Collection, Victoria, British Columbia Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Maltwood Art Museum, Victoria, British Columbia City of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia Esso Resources Canada, Ltd., Calgary, Alberta Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario Grants and Awards 1995 British Columbia Cultural Services Branch grant 1973 City of Vancouver Purchase Grant Exhibition Reviews, Catalogues and Articles "A Sense of Place", Aqua magazine, Salt Spring Island, B.C. (Summer 2014) illus. “Why Don’t You Just Leave?”, Exhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, B.C. (April, 1996) illus. Cover, Preview Magazine, Vancouver, B.C., (May/June 1990) Waterman, Jennifer A. “Planetary Visions, Sacred Images of the Earth” Herizons, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Volume 4 #8, December, 1986) p. 44, illus. “B.C. Women Artists”,Exhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, B.C. (October, 1985) illus. Orford, Emily Jane, “Anne Popperwell’s Intimate Earth”, Victoria Times-Colonist, Victoria, B.C. (October 7, 1984) p. 8 Hartog, Diana, “Body Landscapes...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Abstract composition - Drawing by Pascal - 1960
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract composition is an artwork realized by Pascal, in 1960.  Watercolour, 13 x 10 cm. Handsigned in the lower right margin. Good conditions
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Composition
Located in Zug, CH
Abstract composition on paper by Karl Peter Röhl.
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor

Untitled #4
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Untitled #1" c.1970 is a colors pastel and crayon on thick paper by American artist Jerry Opper, 1924-2014. It is hand signed in pencil at the lower right corner by the artist. The image size is 26.5 x 20.5 inches, sheet size is 28.5 x 22.5 inches. It is in excellent condition, there are pastel marks on the margin all around the artwork and also on the back, see picture #1. About the artist: Jerry Opper was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 5, 1924. He moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1933. After graduating from Hollywood High School, he worked in movie studios and attended art classes at Chouinard Art Institute. In May 1942, Opper was drafted into the army and was then able to study at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center while his outfit was stationed in Colorado. Later he was sent to Guam and was discharged in December 1945. Opper returned to Chouinard and his work in movie studios until 1947, when he moved to San Francisco. He enrolled as a full-time student at the California School of Fine Arts (now SFAI) and received his diploma in June of 1950. In 1948, Opper met his wife Gertrud Ruth Friedmann, daughter of artist Gustav Friedmann, whose works are also in the Lost Art Salon collection. It was love at first sight and a few weeks after their first encounter at the Black Cat in San Francisco's North Beach, they got married and enjoyed a passionate, life-long romance. Shortly after he finished school, Opper worked briefly as a decorator’s assistant and then started his career as a commercial artist, working for several firms such as Fibreboard, Beatrix Food and Precision. Working full-time and dedicating himself to having a rich family life occupied most of Opper's time, but he continued to be creative. He was above all a family man with the pride of having raised two exceptional daughters, Erika and Jody. Year after year, Opper would painstakingly craft their Halloween costumes...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Early Abstraction
Located in London, GB
This soft and inviting work is the first in a series of abstractions. Walkowitz utilises innovative drawing techniques, the side of the pencil becomes a valuable tool in creating a b...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film

Polychrome Geometric Composition
Located in Astoria, NY
20th Century School, Polychrome Geometric Composition, Graphite and Watercolor on Paper, apparently unsigned, distressed wood frame. Image: 9.5" H x 13.75" W; frame: 16.5" H x 21" W...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Graphite

Italy Goes to War
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Italy Goes to War, 1941 Watercolor 3 1/8 x 7 3/8 inches (7.9 x 18.7 cm) Signed lower center: Dove Provenance An American Place, New York; World House Galleries, New York, 1953; Private collection, New York; Betty Krulik Fine Art, 2007; Avery Galleries until present Exhibitions An American Place, New York, Exhibition of New Arthur G. Dove Paintings...
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Polish French Judaica Watercolor Gouache Painting Original Bauhaus Yiddish Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995) Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, ABS

Bourrée Fantasque #2 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on Étoile
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #2", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet ...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Bourrée Fantasque #8 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on Étoile
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #8", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet of the same name for the New York...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Framed Early Modern Black White Abstract Drawing Studies of Animals and Birds
Located in Houston, TX
Early modern black and white sketch by iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. Pulled from a collection of previously undiscovered sketchbooks, this work serves as a peak behind t...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pencil

Bourrée Fantasque #9 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on Étoile
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #9", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet ...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Vintage Modernist Abstract -- "Aquarelle #93"
By Yukako Okudaira
Located in Soquel, CA
Substantial modernist watercolor by California artist Yukako Okudaira (American, b. 1943). Signed lower right. Metal frame. Image size, 18"H x 20"W. (We inlcuded a reference image of...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Abstract Houses and Faces Ink Drawing and Watercolor Painting Shtetl Judaica
Located in Surfside, FL
Image size is 11.60" by 9" Boris Deutsch (Lithuanian-American Modernist) was born in Krasnogorsk Lithuania june 4 1892 died in Los Angeles 1978. Entered the polytechnic school in rig...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Sketch for The X Its Tails . 1967
Located in Palo Alto, CA
This work is registered as an authentic work by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) in the archives of the Calder Foundation (NY), under application number A.24492.  Created in 1967, this original pen and red ink drawing on paper is initialed ‘CA’ in blue ink in the lower right by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) with a handwritten dedication, also in blue ink, ‘To Alvin Lane’ along the lower center. The Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’ is an original study and preliminary drawing made by Calder preceding his large-scale sculpture for the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Sketches for models and sculptures are rare and this is no exception; according to Alvin S. Lane, collector and friend to Calder, “To the best of my knowledge there were very few, if any, preliminary drawings done by Calder that were on the market, but he was good enough when he did two for commissions to send the drawings to me as a present [including this Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’].  I included one of them here to show that although his drawings usually have a flowing steady line, his preliminary drawings are sloppy scribbles” (23). Provenance: ~       Gift of artist ~       Private Collection (Riverdale, NJ) Catalogue Raisonné and COA: Sketch for 'The X & Its Tails,' 1967 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work). 1. Registered with the Calder Foundation, NY under application number A.24492. 2. Elvehjem Museum of Art. The Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Black and White Abstract Figurative Drawing of Nude Female
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white figurative drawing by Texas artist William Anzalone. The drawing depicts nude women dressing up. Signed by the artist at the bottom right. Framed in a beautiful black modern frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 16.63 in. x W 21.5 in. Artist Biography: William Anzalone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935. He was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen, Pencil

Equestrian Riders with Horses in Arena French Modernist Watercolour Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Equestrian Riders with Horses in Arena French Modernist Watercolour Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.75 x 19.25 inches (heigh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Wolf Kahn, Emily Mason The Baby II (Grace Borgenicht Gallery) unique signed
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Emily The Baby II (Grace Borgenicht Gallery), 1960 Pastel on Paper. Hand signed on the front. Grace Borgenicht gallery label on the back Vintage frame included Proven...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Wine Bottles Wooden Crate And Red Wine Glasses French Still Life Watercolour
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Wine Bottles Wooden Crate And Red Wine Glasses French Still Life Watercolour Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Watercolour on artist paper, unframed Size: 18.75 x 25.25 inches (...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Bourrée Fantasque #4 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on Étoile
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #4", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet of the same name for the New York...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Farmyard Scene with Barn and Farmer French Modernist Rural Landscape Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Farmyard Scene with Barn and Farmer French Modernist Rural Landscape Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache and pen on artist paper, unframed Size: 15 x 18.25 inches ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache, Pen

Bourrée Fantasque #10 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on Étoile
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #10 Blue", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet of the same name for the Ne...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Geometric Abstract Composition with Spherical Form French Modernist Watercolour
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Geometric Abstract Composition with Spherical Form French Modernist Watercolour Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 11.25 x 9.25 inches (he...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Dorothy Dehner - A Piano for Pete, unique signed/inscribed drawing by sculptor
Located in New York, NY
Dorothy Dehner A Piano for Pete, 1975 Ink on paper Hand signed, dated and inscribed "A Piano for Pete - Best, Dorothy" on the the front Unique Frame included Held in the original vin...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Abstract Geometric Interior French Modernist Watercolour Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Geometric Interior French Modernist Watercolour Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 11...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Abstract Composition - Watercolor by Jean Delpech - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
"Abstract Composition" is an original drawing in watercolor on paper, realized by Jean Delpech (1916-1988). The state of preservation of the artwork is good. The artwork represents ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

"Ebb and Flow" original pastel drawing by Sylvia Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this pastel drawing, Sylvia Spicuzza presents the viewer with a rhythmic view resembling waves and rolling hills. The colors of the repeating patterns and softness of the undulati...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Two Wood Ducks on a Flowering Branch
Located in New York, NY
Joseph Stella was a visionary artist who painted what he saw, an idiosyncratic and individual experience of his time and place. Stella arrived in New York in 1896, part of a wave of Italian immigrants from poverty-stricken Southern Italy. But Stella was not a child of poverty. His father was a notary and respected citizen in Muro Locano, a small town in the southern Appenines. The five Stella brothers were all properly educated in Naples. Stella’s older brother, Antonio, was the first of the family to come to America. Antonio Stella trained as a physician in Italy, and was a successful and respected doctor in the Italian community centered in Greenwich Village. He sponsored and supported his younger brother, Joseph, first sending him to medical school in New York, then to study pharmacology, and then sustaining him through the early days of his artistic career. Antonio Stella specialized in the treatment of tuberculosis and was active in social reform circles. His connections were instrumental in Joseph Stella’s early commissions for illustrations in reform journals. Joseph Stella, from the beginning, was an outsider. He was of the Italian-American community, but did not share its overwhelming poverty and general lack of education. He went back to Italy on several occasions, but was no longer an Italian. His art incorporated many influences. At various times his work echoed the concerns and techniques of the so-called Ashcan School, of New York Dada, of Futurism and, of Cubism, among others. These are all legitimate influences, but Stella never totally committed himself to any group. He was a convivial, but ultimately solitary figure, with a lifelong mistrust of any authority external to his own personal mandate. He was in Europe during the time that Alfred Stieglitz established his 291 Gallery. When Stella returned he joined the international coterie of artists who gathered at the West Side apartment of the art patron Conrad Arensberg. It was here that Stella became close friends with Marcel Duchamp. Stella was nineteen when he arrived in America and studied in the early years of the century at the Art Students League, and with William Merritt Chase, under whose tutelage he received rigorous training as a draftsman. His love of line, and his mastery of its techniques, is apparent early in his career in the illustrations he made for various social reform journals. Stella, whose later work as a colorist is breathtakingly lush, never felt obliged to choose between line and color. He drew throughout his career, and unlike other modernists, whose work evolved inexorably to more and more abstract form, Stella freely reverted to earlier realist modes of representation whenever it suited him. This was because, in fact, his “realist” work was not “true to nature,” but true to Stella’s own unique interpretation. Stella began to draw flowers, vegetables, butterflies, and birds in 1919, after he had finished the Brooklyn Bridge series of paintings, which are probably his best-known works. These drawings of flora and fauna were initially coincidental with his fantastical, nostalgic and spiritual vision of his native Italy which he called Tree of My Life (Mr. and Mrs. Barney A. Ebsworth Foundation and Windsor, Inc., St. Louis, illus. in Barbara Haskell, Joseph Stella, exh. cat. [New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1994], p. 111 no. 133). Two Wood Ducks...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Color Pencil

Abstract Spiral Composition French Modernist Watercolour by Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Spiral Composition French Modernist Watercolour by Guy Nicod Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Watercolour on artist paper, unframed Size: 21.75 x 17.5 inches (height x...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Abstract Landscape with Umbrellas French Modernist Watercolour Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Landscape with Umbrellas French Modernist Watercolour Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.75 x 19.25 inches (height x w...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Persian Miniature - Drawing - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Persian miniature realized in Iran or Central Asia in the early 20th Century Gouache, ink and gold on paper, mounter on a later walnut frame. Very well preserved, with strong pigme...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Gouache

L Ange - Drawing - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
L'Ange is an original Drawing in Charcoal realized by an anonymous artist in the 20th Century. Good Conditions. The artwork is depicted through strong strokes with perfect Hatchings.
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Sans Titre
Located in PARIS, FR
Work on cardboard signed lower left by Swiss artist Albert Chubac, measuring 68 x 53 cm.
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Cardboard

Abstract Architectural Still Life French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Architectural Still Life French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.75 x 19.25 inches (height x ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

French Village with Steeples and Pine Trees Colourful Pastel Landscape Drawing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: French Village with Steeples and Pine Trees Colourful Pastel Landscape Drawing Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Oil pastel on artist paper Size: 19.75 x 23.5 inches (height x w...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel

Vintage Reclining Nude Modernist Female Figure French Gouache Painting on Paper
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Vintage Reclining Nude Modernist Female Figure French Gouache Painting on Paper Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 17.25 x 24.5 inches (he...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Nude Woman Bathing French Modernist Figurative Gouache by Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Nude Woman Bathing French Modernist Figurative Gouache by Guy Nicod Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 18.75 x 15.75 inches (height x widt...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Martini and Rossi Bitter Vintage Cocktail Advertising French Modernist Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Martini and Rossi Bitter Vintage Cocktail Advertising French Modernist Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.75 x 11.75 inches (height x width) Provenance: Artists estate, France Condition: good overall condition with light edge wear, gentle handling creases to the margins and minor age toning to the paper; colours remain fresh and well preserved Description: This original gouache advertising design by French modernist artist Guy Nicod was created for Martini Rossi to promote their iconic “Bitter” aperitif. Executed in bold colours and simple yet powerful forms, the composition is both decorative and functional, epitomising the energy of mid-20th-century European commercial art. At the centre of the design stands a tall red bottle of Bitter, its dramatic silhouette set against a glowing red-orange sun and framed by areas of deep black and crisp white. A vibrant cocktail glass filled with Martini Bitter sits prominently in the foreground, complete with a twist of orange peel garnish, while a whole orange beside it reinforces the flavour profile of the drink. Two stylised clouds drift into the scene, softening the graphic edges and adding an atmospheric touch. The strong lettering at the top and bottom — “BITTER” and “MARTINI ROSSI” — is rendered in bold white capitals, giving the design an immediate visual punch. Nicod’s technique with gouache produces opaque, saturated colour fields that make the imagery pop, while the geometric framing and limited palette reflect the aesthetics of 1960s and 70s poster...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Cubist French Village Landscape With Horses Church Trees And Hills Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Cubist French Village Landscape With Horses Church Trees And Hills Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 19.5 x 25.5 inches (height x...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

"Falaise d Aval"
Located in Astoria, NY
Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), "Falaise d'Aval", Pastel on Paper, 1960, signed lower right, titled to verso, wood frame. Image: 30" H x 22" W; frame: 32" H x 24" ...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel

Cubist Gouache French Landscape With Yellow Path Trees Houses And Fields
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Cubist Gouache French Landscape With Yellow Path Trees Houses And Fields Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 18.25 x 23.75 inches (height x...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
Located in London, GB
In ‘Untitled’ 1932, Walkowitz crafts a memorable image. Tessellating lines are centred on the page and form geometric shapes. Faint pencil marking reveal the artists forward planning...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pen, Pencil

"Sketch for the Spinner" Alexander Calder, Preliminary Drawing for Mobile
Located in New York, NY
Alexander Calder Preliminary drawing for the Spinner, 1966 Signed lower right Felt tip pen on paper Overall 27 x 15 1/2 inches Individual sheets 8 x 10 1/2 inches Alexander Calder ...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Felt Pen

Nude Before the Fireplace French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Nude Before the Fireplace French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Signed, right hand side Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.5 x 19.25 in...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Abstract Composition in Yellow and Blue French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Composition in Yellow and Blue French Modernist Gouache by Guy Nicod Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Signed, lower right Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 15.75...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7)
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7), pencil, 1918. Signed and dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spon...
Category

1910s Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Still Life with Chrysanthemums in Glass Vase French Modern Floral Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Still Life with Chrysanthemums in Glass Vase French Modern Floral Oil Painting Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Oil on artist paper, unframed Size: 25.5 x 19.75 inches (height ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil

Modern abstract drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern abstract drawings and watercolors 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 abstract drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, blue, purple, green and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Sylvia Spicuzza, Moses Bagel Bahelfer, Abraham Walkowitz, and Benoît Gilsoul. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolor and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Modern abstract drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 3.55 inches across are also available. Prices for abstract drawings and watercolors 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 $260,743, while the average work sells for $950.