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.
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Encaustic, Acrylic, Pencil
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Linocut
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Rice Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Glitter, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Oil, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Found Objects, Ink, Gouache, Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Glitter, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Glaze, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Ink, Intaglio
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Oil Pastel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Paper, Acrylic, Gouache, Pencil, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Gouache, Archival Paper
1970s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media
Artist Comments
While camping in the Sonoran Desert, artist Crystal DiPietro beholds the sight of the mesas lighting up at dawn. Soft purple shadows cast over the foothills a...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Gouache, Mixed Media, Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Paint, Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Fabric, Paper, Monotype
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Linen, Ink, Mixed Media, Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Plexiglass, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Wood Panel
Mid-20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Gouache, Color Pencil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Wood, Mixed Media, Oil, Magazine Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Latex, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Monotype
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Lacquer, Pastel, Automotive Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
Paint, Mixed Media, Monotype
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media
1990s Abstract Mixed Media
Thread, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Rag Paper, Screen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Pigment
Late 20th Century Abstract Mixed Media
House Paint, Magazine Paper, Newsprint
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas, Oil
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Resin, Panel, Digital Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Acrylic, Pigment
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Rice Paper
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Abstract Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Laid Paper, Screen
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media
Charcoal, Acrylic





