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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
Flower Arrangement In Red Spotted Glazed Pot - Mixed Media Abstract Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Krisanne Souter weaves together elements of nature and ancient feminine archetypes, such as the Mother and the Mystic. Botanical themes, playful elements, and unexpected surprises ar...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor, Color Pencil

1980 s Cubist "Orange, Brown, Black" Soft Pastel Abstract Drawing
Located in Arp, TX
D. Tongen "Orange, Brown, Black" 1980s 11.75"x10" Soft pastel and pencil on paper Signed in pencil lower right
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Pencil

"Witching Hour" Abstract Watercolor Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This original abstract watercolor painting by Nealy Hauschildt features a deep blue and magenta palette, with two large organic planes of washy color layered over one another for a b...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Cotton, Paper, Watercolor

"Red splendor"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
Dear art lover, I have worked on a new series of small oil paintings. This is the one of them. This series is dedicated to the scenes of everyday life. This painting is called "Re...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil

Abstract Composition - Original Drawing - Mid 20th century
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition is an Original Ink and Watercolor realized by an Unknown artist of mid-20th century. The artwork is in good condition on a cream colored cardboard. No Signature.
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Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Lily in Charcoal no.3 abstract expressionism photography edition of 10
Located in London, GB
'Lily in Charcoal no.3' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal No.3' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a live lily emerging from a gash....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper

Untitled - abstract painting, made in black, grey color
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with india ink in black and grey color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed with a styrene face on a mat board in white with sizes 16 by 20 in. Mila Akopova is New York artist. She graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in History and Theory of Art. Her Artwork got 3rd place at the 2020 and 2021 American Art Awards, juried by 25 best galleries and museums in America, with artist from 63 countries, in category: minimalism. Also, several works took part in exhibitions of the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum and in the Cube Moscow exhibition space . It was published as the catalog: “The game of tic tac toe, or creating a collection in one year”. Several works by Mila Akopva were created specifically for the collaboration with Vintage Dream...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

"Dark Matters" Minimal Contemporary Abstract
Located in Houston, TX
Large abstract painting by artist Paul Reeves. Was made in 2017 with dark acrylic paints. Shades of red and blue compliment the dark brown and purple tones nicely. Artist Biography...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Second Theme" 1949 Abstract Mid 20th Century Geometric Non-Objective Hard Edge
Located in New York, NY
"Second Theme" 1949 Abstract Mid 20th Century Geometric Non-Objective Hard Edge Burgoyne A. Diller (American, 1906-1965) "Second Theme" 1949. Pencil and crayon on paper. Signed and dated 'D. 49' (lower right). Image: 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York. Martha Jackson Gallery, New York. Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, New York. David K. Anderson Grandchildren's Trust. BURGOYNE DILLER (1906-1965) Recognized as the first American painter to embrace the tenets of Neo-Plasticism, Burgoyne Diller made an important contribution to the development of non-objective art in the United States. Working in a hard-edged geometric style, he produced paintings, drawings, and collages that paved the way for the development of American Minimalism during the 1960s and 70s. Born in New York City in 1906, Diller began painting and drawing as a teenager growing up in Battle Creek, Michigan. Later, while attending Michigan State University in East Lansing on an athletic scholarship, he made weekend visits to the Art Institute of Chicago, where he familiarized himself with Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. He was especially drawn to the landscapes and still lives of Paul Cézanne, who modeled color to create structure and volume. In 1929, Diller moved to Manhattan and enrolled at the Art Students League, where his teachers included such progressive-minded painters as Jan Matulka, Hans Hofmann, and George Grosz. Hofmann's concept of the "push-pull" effect of form and color exerted a strong influence on his early work, as did his growing familiarity with Analytical and Synthetic Cubism, German Expressionism, and other vanguard European styles. Diller had the opportunity to see some of this work firsthand, but he also kept abreast of developments abroad by reading journals such as Cahiers d'Art. Diller completed his studies at the League in 1933, the year he had his first solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in New York. It was around this time that his paintings began to show the influence of the reductive, pared-down geometric compositions of the Dutch Constructivist Piet Mondrian and the equally restrained compositions of Kasimir Malevich and El Lissitsky...
Category

1940s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Crayon, Pencil

Lily in Charcoal abstract expressionism photography edition 3 of 10
Located in London, GB
'Lily in Charcoal' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a live lily emerging from a gash. The charc...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper

Lily in Charcoal abstract expressionism photography edition of 10
Located in London, GB
'Lily in Charcoal' 2023 From raw energy to sublime. 'Lily in Charcoal' is an expression piece combining an abstract charcoal drawing with a live lily...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Photographic Film, Charcoal, Archival Ink, Archival Paper

Reclining Nude Male Figure, figural expressionist New York artist ink drawing
Located in Beachwood, OH
Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Reclining Male Figure (For Nick) 1971 India ink on paper Inscribed, signed and dated 10.25 x 14 inches 18.5 x 21 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was...
Category

1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

India Ink

December 4
Located in New York, NY
Rocio Rodriguez December 4, 2020 Pastel and charcoal on paper 11 x 14 in. (rodr054) Rocio's work represents an exploration of the transient and temporal and a process of creating a ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel

Post-Impressionist French Watercolour Painting The Trégon Estuary, Brittany
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) signed lower left, Inscribed Verso. watercolour painting on artist paper, unframed 10 x 14 inches Very good condition. Provenance: from the artist...
Category

20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Ephemeral composition VI - abstract painting, made in black, grey color
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with india ink in black and grey color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed with a styrene face on a mat board in w...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Seeker Rhizome - Surreal Abstract Red Artwork on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Krisanne Souter weaves together elements of nature and ancient feminine archetypes, such as the Mother and the Mystic. Botanical themes, playful elements, and unexpected surprises ar...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor, Color Pencil

Colorful Abstract Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract multicolor watercolor with softly blended color fields by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). From the estate of Les Anderson in Monterey, California. Signe...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Untitled (C82-142)" Hannelore Baron, Mixed Media Collage, Abstract
By Hannelore Baron
Located in New York, NY
Hannelore Baron Untitled (C82-142), 1982 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media collage Sheet 12 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches Provenance: Manny Silverman ...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Fabric, Paper, Mixed Media, Laid Paper

Refracted Sunset, Coral and Ocean Blue , Seascape
By Nada Brahma
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Lower right "N.Brahma", inscribed verso "Nada Brahma" and titled "Refracted Sunset". A large watercolor seascape showing an abstracted view of jade and cobalt waves beneath a scarle...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Graphite

French Expressionist Abstract Original Painting Artists Studio Provenance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on board unframed: 7.75 x 7.75 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we have fo...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil

Sculptured Marble in Classic Blue, Extra Large Cyanotype Print, Abstract Silk
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted limited edition cyanotype. Details: + Title: Marble Blue Silk Pattern + Year: 2022 + Edition Size: 50 + Medium: Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper + Sta...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Emulsion, Watercolor, Rag Paper, Lithograph

Post-Impressionist French Watercolour Painting The Island of Guesclin, Brittany
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) signed lower left, Inscribed Verso. watercolour painting on artist paper, unframed 10 x 14 inches Very good condition. Provenance: from the artist...
Category

20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Abstract Watercolor Painting, Design for Sculpture , C. 2000 by David Ruth
Located in Oakland, CA
This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Fig. 8 BASE NARANJA. From The Dibujar el Tiempo Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The project is a series of ink drawings on different surfaces, depicting the solstices and equinoxes of the year through the overlapping of shadows at various times of the day. ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Ephemeral composition Iv - abstract painting, made in black, grey color
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with india ink in black and grey color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed with a styrene face on a mat board in w...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Mt. Diablo Mirage, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar paints a panoramic view of Mt. Diablo, a sight visible from her home. She paints a rendition of the mountain with much detail of the surrounding foothills. "I confess I have used my artistic license to have a little fun with the scene," admits Catherine. The title gives the viewer a hint about the creative aspect integrated into the stunning impression.


About the Artist
Impressionist Catherine McCargar expresses her deep admiration of nature through landscape paintings of Northern California...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Forever Beautiful
Located in Brooklyn, NY
One of my favorite creative challenges is pairing vintage frames with my artwork. From the thrill of the hunt to finding that perfect match between art and frame, it's a process I lo...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Ink

BLUE JAY WAY
Located in New York, NY
BLUE JAY WAY, 2012 ink and graphite on Arches cold press paper 44.5 x 75 inches / 1130 x 1905 mm  unframed Christina McPhee’s expansive abstract paintings, drawings, photographs, and videos test or query how can we know, and who is we? Moving from within a matrix of measurement, observation and contingent effects, her work resists characterization as product, and continually accesses fields outside itself. For her, process equals trial. Her work emulates potential forms of life, in various systems and territories, from a perspective of the non-self– a world beyond identity. McPhee’s dynamic, performative, physical engagement with materials, in both her analogue and digital works, is a seduction into surface-skidding calligraphic gestures and mark-making. The tactics of living are in subterfuge, like the ‘dazzle ships...
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21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Graphite

"Composizione astratta turchese" Olio su carta cm. 26 x 20 1950 ca
Located in Torino, IT
Opera su carta olio, di DORA Maar Colore Turchese blu Timbro MD atelier Siglato sul retro
Category

1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Red-Blue
Located in Toronto, Ontario
It is somewhat hard to reconcile Gershon Iskowitz's (1921-1988) joyful aesthetic with his personal history. Born to a religious family in Poland, Iskowitz was allowed to leave yesh...
Category

1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

1960s "Fruit Bowl in Mexico" Gouache Oil Pastel Abstract Mid Century
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield Mexican Fruit Bowl 1960s Oil Pastel and Gouache on Paper 36"x32" unframed $1600 *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache

Judith Brenner, Solfrid Dancing 2, Original Contemporary Figurative Nude Sketch
Located in Deddington, GB
Judith Brenner Solfrid Dancing 2 Original Figurative Drawing Acrylic Paint, Pan Pastel, Ink and Watercolour Pencil on Paper Sheet Size: 84.1cm x W 59.4cm x D 0.1cm Sold Unframed Plea...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Watercolor

Clif McChesney, Abstract Expressionist, Watercolor
Located in Detroit, MI
The 16 in x 23 in watercolor displays striking and colorful qualities that influenced abstract expressionism for decades to come. In 2016 the Dennos Museum in Traverse City, Michigan, in homage to the very first exhibition in the Zimmerman Sculpture Court, installed the first two paintings by the former Michigan State University painting professor, Clif McChesney (1929-2011) on the Court walls, and the glass artistry of Dale Chihuly, featuring works from the Dennos Collection. In 1991, an exhibition of Dale Chihuly glass...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"D.O.S.E."
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
“When beauty and art heal us” Several recent observations in neuroimaging have proven the effects of contemplation which, by stimulating certain brain regions, activate the reward ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor

French Expressionist Abstract Original Painting Artists Studio Provenance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on thick board unframed: 8 x 8 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we have fo...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil

Interconnections - colorful, contemporary, geometric abstract, paper collage
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This bold contemporary composition by Yvonne Lammerich is an intriguing exploration of colour and form. Origami-like folded shapes inter-connected by fine lines dance across this col...
Category

1970s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Gouache, Color Pencil

Light Dark - abstract painting, made in black, grey, beige color, 2025
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with india ink in black and grey color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed with a glass on a mat board in white wi...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Pillar of Zen #124, unique signed gouache painting Andre Zarre Gallery, 1959
Located in New York, NY
Charmion von Wiegand Pillar of Zen #124, 1959 Gouache on paper painting Hand signed, titled and dated on the front Unique Provenance: Andre Zarre Gallery, with label verso (Estate of renowned gallerist Andre Zarre, ne Andre Sowulewski) Measurements: Framed 26.5 inches vertical by 25.5 horizontal by 2 inches Artwork: 21 inches vertical by 22 inches horizontal Mid century modern, geometric, spiritual abstraction, mystical The Estate of the celebrated artist Charmion Von Wiegand has been represented exclusively by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery since 1998. From March 3 to August 13, 2023, Charmion Von Wiegand was the subject of an acclaimed retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Basel, and she has received major attention in the price, including a June, 2023 ArtNews feature entitled, "Who Was Charmion von Wiegand and Why Is She Important?". Her work was also featured in a solo presentation by Rosenfeld Gallery at the New York Art Show held at the Park Avenue Armory, which also received critical acclaim. Artists Biography - courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery: Known for her vibrant, geometric paintings that originate a deeply personal language of spiritual enlightenment expressed through a constructivist mode of abstraction, Charmion von Wiegand (1896–1983) was born in Chicago but spent much of her childhood traveling. The daughter of a journalist for Hearst, von Wiegand eventually settled in New York in 1915 to attend Barnard College and Columbia University, where she took classes at the School of Journalism while nurturing a growing interest in art history. In 1925, von Wiegand realized that she wanted to be an artist and set up a studio in Greenwich Village, teaching herself how to paint while pursuing a career as a journalist. In 1929, she secured a position in Moscow as a foreign correspondent for Hearst, the only woman at the desk at the time. In 1932, von Wiegand returned to New York and married Russian émigré Joseph Freeman, who co-founded and edited the leftist journal New Masses. Von Wiegand began writing art criticism for New Masses as well as for other publications, including New Theatre, ARTnews, and Arts Magazine. When the Abstract American Artists (AAA) held their inaugural exhibition, von Wiegand reviewed it. An early champion of abstract art, von Wiegand became close friends with AAA founder Carl Holty. In 1941, Holty introduced von Wiegand to Piet Mondrian, who would have a profound impact on her art. Fascinated by Mondrian’s artistic philosophy, von Wiegand played a key role in the introduction of his work to American audiences, translating many of the Dutch artist’s writings into English and assisting in the composition of his influential article “Toward the True Vision of Reality” (1941). Through her friendship with Mondrian, von Wiegand re-kindled her interest in Theosophy (a religion established in the late 19th century that combines aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, occultism, and esotericism) and embarked on an extended study of neoplasticism. In her artwork, she incorporated Mondrian’s iconic grid but rejected the constraints of pure neoplasticism and embraced a wide range of influences including surrealism and German expressionism. In 1942, von Wiegand became a member of the AAA, exhibiting regularly with the group and eventually serving as its president from 1951 to 1953. In the late 1940s, sculptor and fellow AAA member Ibram Lassaw gave her a translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life, which inspired von Wiegand to immerse herself in a study of Buddhist art. She began incorporating Buddhist motifs such as stupas and mandalas into her paintings, and her spiritual practice steadily intensified throughout the 1950s. In 1953, her husband gifted her a copy of the Taoist I Ching Book of Changes, a guide for divining meaning from randomly derived numbers arranged in a hexagram—a form the artist readily incorporated into her painting. Von Wiegand’s study of Theosophy also intensified over these years, bolstered by her increased access to the religion’s primary sources composed by the religion’s founders and their successors at the New York Theosophical Society’s library. Von Wiegand’s search for the sacred and transcendent ultimately led her to Tibetan Buddhism and, in 1967, von Wiegand met Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, a Gelugpa monk who had recently arrived in New York, who would mentor her spiritual study in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism until her death. Her travels in the 1960s and 1970s took her to Tibet and India, where she had an audience with the Dalai Lama, who was living in exile in Dharamsala. Many works from these decades incorporate symbols and schematics drawn from Theosophical prismatic color charts, Chinese astrology and tantric yoga. In 1978, she was the subject of a PBS documentary titled The Circle of Charmion von Wiegand, which was scored by Philip Glass. In 1980, von Wiegand was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1982, the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach (FL) organized her first retrospective exhibition. She died the following year in New York, bequeathing her estate to Khyongla Rato and the Tibet Center of New York. In 1998, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery became the sole representative of her estate and has presented her work in four solo and multiple group exhibitions. Recent notable exhibitions that have included her work are The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 2009) and Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America (Newark Museum, NJ, 2010). In March 2023, the Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland) opened the first comprehensive museum retrospective of von Wiegand’s work in Europe. Von Wiegand’s work is represented in numerous museum collections including the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy (Andover, MA); Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY); Arithmeum, University of Bonn (Germany); Birmingham Museum of Art (Alabama); Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Brooklyn Museum (NY); Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA); The Cleveland Museum of Art (OH); Indianapolis Museum of Art (IN); Fondazione Marguerite Arp (Locarno, Switzerland); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Massachusetts); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); Newark Museum of Art (New Jersey); Seattle Art Museum (WA); Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC); Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN); Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College (Clinton, NY); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); and Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT). More about gallerist Andre Zarre A tribute in the New Criterion: Dispatch August 11, 2020 Andre Zarre, 1942–2020 by Dana Gordon On the late New York gallery pioneer. Art should never be aggressively explained; art should be felt. —Andre Zarre, 1977 Often, in the starlit New York cultural mecca, a longtime important figure fades away through the penumbra and dies without notice. Such was the fate of Andre Zarre, the contemporary art dealer, who passed away a few weeks ago. Andy, as he wanted friends to call him, opened his eponymous gallery in 1974 just off Madison Avenue on Sixty-ninth Street. He soon moved it to the omphalos of the art world in that era, 41 East Fifty-seventh Street, the Fuller Building. Over the years he moved to SoHo and then to Chelsea, as fashion and real estate prices pushed the art souk hither and thither. To understand his importance, all you need do is take a look at a list of artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery. This includes such names, from an early generation, as Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Sari Dienes, and Perle Fine. Among a subsequent generation are Pat Lipsky, Jay Milder, Thornton Willis, and Kes Zapkus.1 And this list does not include the many knowns and unknowns who were in his lively group shows. Zarre had a real “eye” and was a champion of abstract art from the moment he founded his gallery—even among the gathering storms of conceptual and political art, which he eschewed. He showed a good deal of figurative art as well. His galleries were always spacious and unpretentious, oriented simply to show the art. In the words of Dee Shapiro, who showed with the Zarre gallery many times, “He had a photographic memory and knew a lot about art and was always interested in the artist’s life.” Reliable biographical information on Zarre is scarce, but he said of his background that he was born in Poland in 1942 and that his parents were a diplomat and a socialite. He left home for the United States at the age of fifteen. During his decades as an art dealer in New York, Zarre did not appear to accumulate wealth, though he acquired a collection and lived on Park Avenue. “He was not personally aggressive in that way. People had to come to him,” Dee Shapiro said. He was honest in his financial dealings with artists, which not all art dealers are. For a long time while running the gallery he had a second job as a supervisor in an airline office and he kept little to no additional staff in the gallery. He supported a brother who remained in Poland. Among artists, Zarre was known to be quite ornery. After my show at his gallery in 1997, I refused to enter it for seventeen years. Then I ran into him in Chelsea and he offered me another show, an opportunity I gladly accepted, but he remained just as disagreeable. He showed the work of many women, probably more than any other gallery, save those devoted to showing only women. Collectors, curators, and writers found him mostly friendly. As Peter Reginato put it, Zarre was a “strange guy but I liked him. I think he was a dealer who was more interested in the art than in making money, but somehow he lasted forty-plus years.” Zarre is not known to have kept extensive or extant records of his gallery’s long history, though these may emerge in time. Scouring the Internet, one may compile a partial list of more than eighty artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery:Nancy Azara, Ellen Banks, Mary Barnes, Tony Bechara, Juan Bernal, Stephanie Bernheim, Randy Bloom, Elena Borstein, Michael Boyd, Fritz Bultman, Ed Buonagurio, Yoan Capote, Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Cathy Diamond, Sari Dienes, Joseph Dolinsky, Beata Drozd, Ronnie Elliot, William Fares, Perle Fine, Lynne Frehm, Ben Georgia, Mikel Glass, Dana Gordon, Juanita Guccione, Fred Gutzeit, Don Hazlitt, Amy Hill, Clinton Hill, Monroe Hodder, Budd Hopkins, Arlan Huang, Richard Hunt, Rhia Hurt, Buffie Johnson, Alexander Kaletski, Robert Kaupelis...
Category

1950s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Open Empty: Silver Gold Abstract Expressionist Painting with Jewel Tones
Located in Hudson, NY
Gestural abstract expressionist painting on archival paper mounted to panel with gold and silver metallic powders and accents of blue, mauve, and teal enamel paint "Involved and Obsc...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Enamel

Mystery - abstract painting, made in grey, blue color
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with alcoholic ink in grey, blue color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed (gold or black) with a styrene face on ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Salvador Dalì (1904-1989) - Aphrodite - heliogravure and drypoint etching
Located in Varese, IT
Mixed media incorporating heliogravure and drypoint etching hand-colored on Arches paper , edited in 1963 Limited edition of 150 copies , numbered 71/150 in lower left Hand signed by...
Category

1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

Andra Samelson, Stars of Tallapooza, Acrylic on paper, 12 x 12 inches, 2018
Located in Darien, CT
Andra Samelson’s work explores the relationship of microcosm and macrocosm, emptiness and form. The imagery in her paintings is often associated with molecular and galactic systems. ...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Handmade Paper

Horizon - abstract painting, made in black, grey, beige color, 2025
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The work was done with india ink in black and grey color on Yupo paper. The work is 11 by 14 inches in size, framed with a glass on a mat board in white wi...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Belted Kingfisher and Foliage, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Suren Nersisyan paints an impressionist Belted Kingfisher in gentle brush strokes. The bird roosts on the dense summer...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

1960s "Storm at Sea" Gouache and Oil Pastel Abstract SF Artist
Located in Arp, TX
Storm at Sea 1960s Gouache and Oil Pastel on paper 35.75"x33.25 float mount black wood frame measures 38.5"x1.5"x36" Gloria (Fischer) Dudfield July 12, 1922 – May 27, 2015 Came from...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache

Abstract drawing n°14 by Julien Dinou - A4 size
Located in Geneva, CH
Drawing on paper without frame Size A4
Category

1960s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel

Contemporary abstract acrylic painting on paper "Power"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This artwork makes part of my small collection of abstract paintings created in various soft neutral earth tones. Main colors of this collection are grey, brown, suede, black, white....
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Expressive vibrant colorful painting "Energy of Nature"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
In this abstract floral artwork I experience the world of nature through the bright colors of spring. While painting, I sought to capture the beauty of nature which is full of diffe...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Cell 06 - Contemporary Art, Abstract, White, Black, Organic, Minimalist, Drawing
Located in Baden-Baden, DE
Cell 06, 2021 black ink on white paper 39 3/8 H x 27 9/16 w cm 100 H x 70 W cm The drawings signed by Alina Aldea show the meticulousness and perfection of microscopic observation....
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Josette Urso "Sea Stars" Water Color on Paper
Located in New York, NY
Josette Urso "Sea Stars" Water Color on Paper
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Abstract Watercolor Painting, Design for Sculpture , C. 2000 by David Ruth
Located in Oakland, CA
This is a contemporary abstract watercolor painting by artist David Ruth. This series of paintings often feature bright colors and vibrant layouts that draw the viewer in. They are c...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

A Second Hand II (unique) signed color monotype by contemporary abstract artist
Located in New York, NY
Andrea Belag A Second Hand II, 1990 Monotype on cotton rag paper 42 1/2 × 30 inches Hand-signed by artist, Signed, titled and dated in pencil on the front; bears publishers name and copyright on the back, along with the unique inventory number Unframed Poignant 1990 monotype, in elegant pastel colors. The cotton rag paper has lightly deckled edges so it will look gorgeous when floated and framed. American painter Andrea Belag creates lush and luminous abstractions inspired by the visual and spiritual principles of Zen, as well as artists such as Mary Heilmann, Bernard Frize...
Category

1990s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Rag Paper, Pencil, Graphite, Monotype

No title 2 and 3, Diptych. Abstract Watercolor
Located in Miami Beach, FL
In this series, water and pigments dance in a liquid choreography, intertwining and painting their own destinies. Each brushstroke traces ephemeral paths that are born, intersect and...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Desert Landscape, Painting, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
I like to paint atmospheric watercolors using lots of textures. Painting comes with a white mat. :: Painting :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authentic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

1950s "Abstract #4" Ink and Gouache Painting Univ of Paris
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy "Abstract #4" c.1950s Ink & Gouache on paper 10.5x19.5" brown, ripple, wood frame 11.5”x1”x20.75” Signed in pencil lower right with label on reverse Came from artist's e...
Category

Early 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

Untitled #I
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Untitled #1" is a watercolor on paper by California abstract expressionist artist R. Anthony (Tony) Askew, b.1939. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist....
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Fragmented in Red with Ships and Bridge
Located in New York, NY
Robert Strati is an American artist who creates multimedia artworks using broken plates. His recent series “Fragmented” started when he accidentally dropped and broke a porcelain pla...
Category

2010s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Porcelain, Ink

Mid Century French Geometric Abstract in Black White and Brown Signed SG
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century French Geometric Abstract in Black White and Brown Signed SG by Serge Guerin (b. 1916), French signed lower right “SG”, name stamped verso Acrylic and gouache on b...
Category

20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic, Gouache

6C, Modern Abstract Tempera Painting by Yasmin Brandolini
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large minimal abstract painting on paper by Yasmin Brandolini. Artist: Yasmin Brandolini d'Adda, South African/Italian (1929 - ) Title: 6C Year: 1984 Medium: Tempera on Paper, sig...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Tempera

Mid Century French Geometric Abstract Black and Brown Ink Drawing on Paper
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century French Geometric Abstract Black and Brown Ink Drawing on Paper by Serge Guerin (b. 1916), French Signed with initials bottom right Black and brown ink on paper, un...
Category

20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

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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