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Modern Abstract Paintings

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
Vintage American Psychedelic Modernist Abstract Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Measuring 46 by 46 inches overall. In excellent original condition. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Large 20th Century French Modernist Provencal Landscape Cubist Village Houses
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Provence Village 20th century French school after Andre Lhote (bears signature, ie: not by Andre Lhote) oil on board, framed framed: 12 x 19.5 inches board: 8 x 15.5 inches Pro...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Large Mosaic Style Abstract French Oil Painting c.1980 s Bright Colors
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Mosaic abstract French School, (unsigned) late 20th century work oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 21.5 x 15 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: a few minor surfa...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

“Abstract #3”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil paint on heavy archival paper abstract by the American artist, Martin Rosenthal. Bold, vibrant colors. Signed lower left by the artist and dated 1964. Condition is very...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Archival Paper

Antique American School Modernist Hamptons New York Sandy Path Rare Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 18H x 24L.
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Landscape with Palm Tree Judaica Gouache Painting
Located in Surfside, FL
Mane-Katz (1894-1962) Landscape with palm tree. Gouache on paper, signed lower right. Dimensions: (Frame) H 37.5" x W 31", (Sight) H 24.5" x W 18" Emmanuel Mané-Katz (Hebrew:מאנה כ...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache

The Window 332 - Modern Resin Minimalist Vibrant Red Color Field Abstract Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Double Vision 68 - Modern Shiny Resin Minimalist Vibrant Red Abstract Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

The Path to the Beach , Carmel Art Association, Laguna Beach, CSFA, SWA, PAFA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Dooley' for Helen Bertha Dooley (American, 1907-1994); additionally signed, verso, titled 'Turquoise Sea' and dated 1983. Exhibited: Carmel Art Association, Cal...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dappled Light I (Abstract, Expressive, Fun, Colorful, Warm, Green, ~30% OFF)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Katherine Bello Dappled Light I Mixed Media on Board 2023 Size: 12x12x1.5in Framed: 13x13x2in Signed, dated and titled by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1882 *framed in a white wood...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique American New England Fall Impressionist Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American impressionist landscape painting by Will S. Taylor (Born 1882). Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Image size, 12 by 13 inches.
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Masonite

Scottish Modernist Oil Painting on Canvas Iona Blue Seas Purple Highlands
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Iona Scottish School, modern oil on canvas canvas: 25 x 24 inches the painting is in overall very good and sound condition
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Orange Face"
Located in Southampton, NY
Circa 1945 Signed lower left Sight size 12 x 10.5 in Overall size in newly matted one inch wide black frame 25.5 x 21.5 in
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Paper

Vintage Signed Mixed Media Abstract Painting Assemblage
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage mixed media painting signed PERL. Mixed media painting on linen strips. Framed. Signed. Measuring 19 by 15 inches overall and 16 by 14 1/4 painting alone. In excellent origi...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

In Tune 66 - Small Modern Resin Yellow Striped Minimalist Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Antique American School Abstract Cubist Flower Still Life Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very well painted period cubist still life. Oil on canvasboard. Framed. No signature found.
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Urbino, " 1960s Modern Abstract Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This Modern Abstract Expressionist painting by Stanley Bate features a vibrant and unique palette. Made with oil paint on canvas, the painting is modeled after the famed painting by ...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

20th Century German Modernist Oil Painting Abstract Study
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Elisabeth Hahn (German 1924-2021) Elisabeth Hahn was born in Dortmund, Germany, where she began her artistic studies. In 1953, she moved to Paris. She continued her studies ...
Category

20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Interesting Tropical Modernist Palm Tree Abstract Vintage Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist signed abstract tropical oil painting. Oil on board. Framed.
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Reclining Figures
Located in Dallas, TX
Born in 1933, Otis Huband declared his intention to be an artist at age 6. He earned his BFA and MFA at Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William & Mary, now Virginia...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Surreal Signed Nude Figures Framed Original Modernist Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract nude landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed illegibly.
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Samson Schames Abstract Work on Paper, 1960
Located in New York, NY
Samson Schames (German-American, 1898-1967) Untitled, 1960 Mixed media on paper Sight: 16 1/2 x 14 in. Framed: 27 1/2 z 22 1/2 x 1/2 in. Signed and dated lower right Samson Schames ...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Mid Century Modern Art Line Art Painting Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mid Century Modern Abstract Line Art Painting Mixed Media on Canvas Stretched on 1.5" wood and not framed. The edges are painted so there is no need...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Mixed Media

Four Figures, Framed Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting by John Uht
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: John Uht, American (1924 - 2010) Title: Four Figures Year: circa 1960 Medium: Oil on canvas, signed l.l. Size: 40 in. x 30 in. (101.6 cm x 76.2 cm) Frame Size: 46.5 x 36.5 in...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Translucent Purple Bubbles, Mid-Century Shapes in Warm Tones, Overlapping Layers
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Translucent Purple Bubbles" is a hand-painted acrylic painting on high-quality 300g paper by artist Ryan Rivadeneyra. These painting, influenced by modernist artists of the 50's, 6...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Vintage American Modernist Surreal Dry Dock Boat Scene Signed Framed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Nicely painted modernist dry dock boat landscape by Karl Soderlund (Born 1962). Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed.
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

In Tune 68 - Small Modern Resin Warm Tone Minimalist Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ricky Hunt’s mixed media minimalist wall art is influenced by his tumultuous past that led to a paradigm shift in creativity and life. He covers the wood panel with layers of acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

"Untitled #305 (Trees), " 1960s Modern Abstract Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This Modern painting by Abstract Expressionist painter Stanley Bate depicts large trees in an abstracted landscape. The palette is bright and vibrant, with expressive strokes of pain...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Signed Framed Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Signed and dated Warren Brandt '58, this dynamic mixed-media composition by American artist Warren Brandt (1918–2002) exemplifies mid-century abstraction with a vibrant use of color,...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

CLOTO TESSE IL FILO DELLA VITA - Oil on canvas painting, Antonio Minopoli
By Antonio Minopoli
Located in Napoli, IT
CLOTO TESSE IL FILO DELLA VITA - Oil on canvas painting cm.70x100, Antonio Minopoli Italia 2009 Frame available on request from our workshop.
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Messages to Fribourg, " 1960s Modern Abstract Painting
Located in Westport, CT
This Modern abstract painting by Stanley Bate features a warm, deep palette of red, yellow, orange, and burnt umber. Thick strokes of paint are layered beneath light white overlappin...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Female Modernist Precisionist Street Scene Original Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist street scene oil painting by Elaine Wesley (1923 - 2007). Oil on board. Estate stamped verso.
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Modernist Figural , California, New Mexico, Oakland Museum, SFAA, SFMA, GGIE
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Z. Kavin' for Zena Kavin (American, 1912-2003) and dated 1966. Born in Berkeley, California, Zena Kavin studied at the California School of Fine Arts in San Fra...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Still Life with Red Drapery Fruit and Blue Background French Modernist Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Still Life with Red Drapery Fruit and Blue Background French Modernist Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 22.5 x 15.75 inches (hei...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Abstract Still Life with Green Spheres Yellow Rope and Pink Cloth French Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Abstract Still Life with Green Spheres Yellow Rope and Pink Cloth French Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 22.75 x 19.25 inches (...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Eucalyptus Trees, Sunset Coastal Landscape Watercolor by Kipp Stewart
Located in Soquel, CA
"Shoreline", Modern Coastal Landscape Eucalyptus Trees, Sunset Coastal Landscape Watercolor by Kipp Stewart (American, b. 1928), late 20th century. This vivid scene uses a soft and dreamy polychromatic palette of golden rod yellow, subdued purple, and dark green. Acrylic on natural edge paper. Signed in the lower right, "Stewart". Tag on verso with title ("Shoreline"), artist's name, size, and materials. Presented in a light wood frame, mounted on a white background. Image size: 12.75"H x 17.5"W. Paper size: 23"H x 30"W. Framed size: 30.5"H x 38"W x 1.25"D. Kipp Stewart (American, b. 1928) is an artist, architect, and designer from Pennsylvania. Known to furniture obsessives for the Declaration series he codesigned for North Carolina’s Drexel Furniture, Stewart is most commonly associated with mid-century design movements of his adopted home state of California. There, in 1972, Stewart designed the Ventana Big Sur, a luxury resort near Montecito for which he oversaw architecture, planning, furniture and interior design across 160 acres of land. By the time Stewart spearheaded the Ventana, he was already well versed in furniture design. After briefly serving in the U.S. Navy as a teenager, Stewart enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute (present-day Cal Arts) in Los Angeles. By the time he graduated, he was steeped in the world of modern seating design, experimenting with new chair models that bridged form and function. Charles and Ray Eames were important influences on his early work, which included a chrome-framed lounge chair whose reclined shape bears a striking resemblance to the Eames iconic lounge. In the late 1950s, Stewart partnered with another West Coast furniture designer, Stewart MacDougall, on a line of modern furniture for Drexel. (The pair were also producing case pieces and more for Glenn of California.) Drexel soon unveiled Stewart and McDougall’s Declaration line, which was constructed entirely of natural walnut and featured the choice of white porcelain or brass drawer pulls and cabinet door handles...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Vintage Signed Mixed Media Abstract Painting Assemblage
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage mixed media painting signed JJ PERL. Mixed media painting on linen strips. Framed. Signed. Measuring 13 by 13 inches overall and 12 by 12 painting alone. In excellent origin...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Modernist Palettes, Orange and Turquoise Mid-Century Floating Shapes, Abstract
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Modernist Palettes" is a hand-painted acrylic painting on high-quality 300g paper by artist Ryan Rivadeneyra. These painting, influenced by modernist artists of the 50's, 60's, and...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Paper

Vintage American Post Impressionist Woman and Bird Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist abstract figural oil painting of a woman and bird. Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Framed. Provenance from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Measuring: 25 by ...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Modernist New York Cityscape Framed Street Scene Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist abstract street scene oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 31 by 27 inches overall, and 24 by 20 painting alone. In excellent original ...
Category

1980s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Original Lazzaro Donati Painting of an Abstracted Woman
Located in New York, NY
Lazzaro Donati (Italian, 1926-1977) Untitled (Abstract Woman), Mid-20th Century Oil on board 20 x 16 in. Framed: 25 3/4 x 21 7/8 in. Signed lower right Lazzaro Donati (1926-1977) was born in Florence in 1926 and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. He began to paint in 1953, and in 1955 held his first exhibition at the Indiano Gallery in Florence. Within three years eleven exhibitions followed in Italy, and as his reputation grew he was invited to give major exhibitions in London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. He is considered one of the foremost contemporary Italian painters and his paintings hang in museums and private collections throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Mr. Donati lived and worked at 24 Piazza Donatello in Florence, the square where generations of artists have created works worthy of the great Florentine tradition. As you entered the narrow hallway to his studio, a gilded life-size Venetian angel beckoned you to his door. Once inside, the present faded away and you found yourself in an atelier where early masters might have worked during the Renaissance. Within, luxurious Persian rugs set off the innumerable objects d'art and antique furnishings. Light poured in through the sloping glass wall on the north side. A dramatic stairway led to an overhanging balcony which served as a private gallery where the artist hung some of his favorite early works. To the left of the entrance was a smaller studio where Donati sculpted, with a window overlooking the famous old English cemetery where tourists laid flowers on the grave of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In the main studio itself, where Donati received his clients in an atmosphere as polished as an office of a top executive, one hardly realized that it was here that the artist actually painted. His easel was covered with Persian blue velvet, the painting on the easel was already framed, his chair was upholstered in red velvet and on his palette the colors were arranged with the precision of a Byzantine mosaic. In a corner stand were his latest works, framed and ready to be sent off to his next exhibition in Europe or America. Donati was a born host with a warm welcome, an elegant man who possessed enormous charm a good nature and a keen sense of humor. Apparently shy, he preferred to speak on subjects extraneous to his art, purposely distracting you from his paintings, then leading you back to them, tactfully and without pretension. He spoke fluent French and English as well as some Spanish and German. "After all", he said, "you've got to know how to sell a painting to everyone." He had no sympathy for the "drip and splash" studios of his contemporaries, preferring to keep his studio tidy and spotless. "Painting is a matter of precision", he said, "If a painter can't put his paint where he wants it to go, I don't see how he can call himself a painter. For me it is absolutely necessary to control the paint." When asked to reveal the technique he used to achieve the enamel-like finish typical of his paintings he answered, "That is a secret between me and my butler. Actually, most of my paintings are done by him!" But in fact behind the façade, Donati was a serious craftsman who devoted to his painting as a way of life and means of expression. From the beginning of his career, his paintings revealed a striving for perfection and continual research in problems of style and technique. His early works indicated a momentary interest in surrealism and abstract art; they were predominantly two dimensional, depending on line and strong color. But by 1958, with his painting The Lady with a Fan...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Large Antique American Modernist Abstract Framed Landscape Fauvsit Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract landscape oil painting by Charles Green Shaw (1892 - 1974). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed i...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

1970 s French Abstract Expressionist Signed Dated Large Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Expressionist circa 1970's signed and dated oil on canvas canvas: 25.5 x 32 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: very good and sound condition, age related...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mid Century Modern Green Pink Mixed Media on Canvas 48" X 36"
Located in Los Angeles, CA
One of a kind Mixed Medium on Canvas Artwork: Original abstract mixed media work on canvas, which combines new media - digital original hand painting, printed on canvas, then hand p...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas, Varnish, Archival Ink

A Wonderful Mid-Century Boxing Scene of a Standing Prize Fighter by Rudolph Pen
Located in Chicago, IL
A Wonderful Mid-Century Boxing Scene of a Standing Prize Fighter by Noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph T. Pen. This energetic sporting scene, painted in the 1960s, exemplifies the abstra...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Piscatory" Abraham P. Hankins, Modernist Composition of Fish, Abstracted Nature
Located in New York, NY
Abraham P. Hankins Piscatory, 1941 Signed and dated lower center Tempera on panel 24 x 30 inches Provenance Private Collection, New York Alexandra Avlonitis, New York (acquired from...
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Panel

Interior Still Life with Fish Bowl and Houseplants French Modernist Gouache
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Interior Still Life with Fish Bowl and Houseplants French Modernist Gouache Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Gouache on artist paper, unframed Size: 22.75 x 19.25 inches (heigh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache

1960 s Huge Modernist Oil Painting The Cock Fight
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Cock Fight French School, circa 1960's period oil on board, framed framed: 25 x 48.75 inches board: 24 x 48 inches provenance: private collection condition: very good and sound c...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

North on West Street (West Side Highway NYC Cityscape)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
De Hirsh Margules (1899-1965). North on West Street , 1939. Watercolor on Arches wove paper. Signed and dated in pencil by artist lower margin. Sheet measures 15 x 22 inches. Framed measurement: 27 x 34 inched. Incredibly vibrant and saturated color with no fading or toning of sheet. Provenance: Babcock Galleries, NYC De Hirsh Margules (1899–1965) was a Romanian-American "abstract realist" painter who crossed paths with many major American artistic and intellectual figures of the first half of the 20th century. Elaine de Kooning said that he was "[w]idely recognized as one of the most gifted and erudite watercolorists in the country". The New York Times critic Howard Devree stated in 1938 that "Margules uses color in a breath-taking manner. A keen observer, he eliminates scrupulously without distortion of his material." Devree later called Margules "one of our most daring experimentalists in the medium" Margules was also a well-known participant in the bohemian culture of New York City's Greenwich Village, where he was widely known as the "Baron" of Greenwich Village.[1] The New York Times described him as "one of Greenwich Village's best-known personalities" and "one of the best known and most buoyant characters about Greenwich Village. Early Life De Hirsh Margules was born in 1899 in the Romanian city of Iași (also known as Iasse, Jassy, or Jasse). When Margules was 10 weeks old, his family immigrated to New York City. Both of his parents were active in the Yiddish theater, His father was Yekutiel "Edward" Margules, a "renowned Jewish actor-impresario and founder of the Yiddish stage." Margules' mother, Rosa, thirty-nine years younger than his father, was an actress in the Yiddish theater and later in vaudeville. Although Margules appeared as a child actor with the Adler Family[11] and Bertha Kalich, his sister, Annette Margules, somewhat dubiously continued in family theater and vaudeville tradition, creating the blackface role of the lightly-clad Tondelayo (a part later played on film Hedy Lamarr) in Earl Carroll's 1924 Broadway exoticist hit, White Cargo. Annette herself faced stereotyping as an exotic flower: writing about her publicist Charles Bouchert stated that "Romania produces a stormy, temperamental type of woman---a type admirably fitted to portray emotion." His brother Samuel became a noted magician who appeared under the name "Rami-Sami." Samuel later became a lawyer, representing magician Horace Goldin, among others. A family portrait including a young De Hirsh, a portrait of Rosa and Annette together, and individual photos of Rosa and Edward can be found on the Museum of the City of New York website. At around age 9 or 10, Margules took art classes with the Boys Club on East Tenth Street, and his first taste of exhibition was at a student art show presented by the club. By age 11, he had won a city-wide prize (a box camera) at a children's art show presented by the department store Wanamakers. As a young teenager, Margules was already displaying a characteristic kindness and loyalty. Upon hearing that two friends (one of them was author Alexander King), were in trouble for breaking a school microscope, the nearly broke Margules gave them five dollars to repair the microscope . Margules had to approach a wealthy man that Margules had once saved on the subway from a heart attack. Margules didn't reveal the source of the five dollars to King until twenty-five years later. In his late teens, Margules studied for a couple of months in Pittsburgh with Edwin Randby, a follower of Western painter Frederic Remington. Thereafter he pursued a two-year course of studies in architecture, design and decoration at the New York Evening School of Art and Design, while working as a clerk during the day at Stern's Department Store. He was encouraged in these artistic pursuits by his neighbor, the painter Benno Greenstein (who later went by the name of Benjamin Benno). Artistic career In 1922, Margules began work as a police reporter for the City News Association of New York .Margules then considered himself something of an expert on art, and the painter Myron Lechay is said to have responded to some unsolicited analysis of his work with the remark "Since you seem to know so much about it, why don't you paint yourself?" This led to study with Lechay and a flurry of painting. Margules' first show was in 1922 at Jane Heap's Little Review Gallery. Thereafter Margules began to participate in shows with a group including Stuart Davis, Jan Matulka, Buckminster Fuller (exhibiting depictions of his "Dymaxion house") in a gallery run by art-lover and restaurateur Romany Marie on the floor above her cafe. Jane Heap, left, with Mina Loy and Ezra Pound During the 1920s, Margules traveled outside of the country a number of times. In 1922, with the intent of reaching Bali, he took a job as a "'wiper on a tramp steamer where [he] played nursemaid to the engine." He reached Rotterdam before he turned back. He would return to Rotterdam shortly thereafter. In 1927, Margules took a lengthy leave of absence from his day job as a police reporter in order to travel to Paris, where he "set up a studio in Montmartre's Place du Tertre, on the top floor of an almost deserted hotel, a shabby establishment, lacking both heat and running water." He studied at the Louvre and traveled to paint landscapes in provincial France and North Africa. Margules also joined the "Noctambulist" movement and experimented with painting and showing his artwork in low light.Jonathan Cott wrote that: the painter De Hirsch Margulies sat on the quays of the Seine and painted pictures in the dark. In fact, the first exhibition of these paintings, which could be seen only in a darkened room, took place in [ Walter Lowenfels'] Paris apartment. Elaine de Kooning remarked that studying the works of the Noctambulists confirmed Margules' "direction toward the use of primary colors for perverse effects of heavy shadow." It was also in Paris that Margules initially conceived his idea of "Time Painting", where a painting is divided into sectors, each representing a different time of day, with color choices meant to evoke that time of day. In Paris, his social circle included Lowenfels, photographer Berenice Abbott, publisher Jane Heap, composer George Anthiel, sculptor Thelma Wood, painter André Favory, writer Norman Douglas, writer and editor George Davis, composer and writer Max Ewing, and writer Michael Fraenkel. Upon his return to New York in 1929, Margules attended an exhibition of John Marin's paintings. While at the exhibition, he "launched into an eloquent explanation of Marin to two nearby women", and was overheard by an impressed Alfred Stieglitz. The famous photographer and art promoter invited Margules to dine with his wife, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and his assistant, painter Emil Zoler. Stieglitz thereafter became a friend and mentor to Margules, becoming for him "what Socrates was to his friends." Alfred Stieglitz Stieglitz introduced Margules to John Marin, who quickly became the most important painterly influence upon Margules. Elaine de Kooning later noted that Margules was "indebted to Marin and through Marin to Cézanne for his initial conceptual approach - for his constructions of scenes with no negative elements, for skies that loom with the impact of mountains." Margules himself said that Marin was his "father and ... academy." The admiration was by no means unreciprocated: Marin said that Margules was "an art lover with abounding faith and sincerity, with much intelligence and quick seeing." Stieglitz also introduced Margules to many other artistic and intellectual figures in New York. With the encouragement of Alfred Stieglitz, Margules in 1936 opened a two-room gallery at 43 West 8th Street called "Another Place." Over the following two years there were fourteen solo exhibitions by Margules and others, and the gallery was well-respected by the press. It was in this gallery that the painter James Lechay, Myron's brother, exhibited his first painting. In 1936, Margules first saw recognition by major art museums when both the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston purchased his works. In 1942, Margules gave up working as a police reporter, and apparently dedicated himself thereafter solely to an artistic vocation. "The Baron of Greenwich Village"[edit] Margules made his mark not only as an artist, but also as an outsized personality known throughout Greenwich Village and beyond. To local residents, Margules was known as the "Baron", after Baron Maurice de Hirsch, a prominent German Jewish philanthropist. Margules was easily recognizable by the beret he routinely wore over his long hair. Writer Charles Norman said that he "dressed with a flair for sloppiness." He was said to "know everybody" in Greenwich Village, to the extent that when the novelist and poet Maxwell Bodenheim was murdered, Margules was the first one the police sought to identify the body. Margules' letters show him interacting with art world figures such as Sacha Kolin, John Marin and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as with prominent figures outside the art world such as polymath Buckminster Fuller and writer Henry Miller. Most of his friends and acquaintances found Margules a generous and voluble man, given to broadly emotionally expressive gestures and acts of kindness and loyalty. In 1929, he exhibited an example of this loyalty and fellow-feeling when he appeared in court to fight what the wrongful commitment of his friend, writer and sculptor Alfred Dreyfuss, who appeared to have been a victim of an illicit attempt to block an inheritance. The Greenwich Village chronicler Charles Norman described the bone-crushing hugs that Margules would routinely bestow on his friends and acquaintances, and speaks of the "persuasive theatricality" that Margules seemed to have inherited from his actor parents. Norman also wrote about Margules' routine acts of kindness, taking in homeless artists, constantly feeding his friends and providing the salvatory loan where needed. Norman also notes that Margules was blessed with a loud and good voice, and was apt to sing an operatic air without provocation. The writer and television personality Alexander King said I think the outstanding characteristics of my friend's personality are affirmation, emphasis, and overemphasis. He chooses to express himself predominantly in superlatives and the gestures which accompany his utterances are sometimes dangerous to life and limb. Of the bystanders, I mean. King also spoke with affectionate amusement about Margules' pride in his cooking, speaking of how "if he should ever invite you to dinner, he may serve you a hamburger with onions, in his kitchen-living room, with such an air of gastronomic protocol, such mysterious hints and ogliing innuendoes, as if César Ritz and Brillat-Savarin had sneaked out, only a moment before, with his secret recipe in their pockets." Margules was such a memorable New York personality that comic book writer Alvin Schwartz imagined him at the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria in a risible yet poignant debate with Clark Kent about whether Superman had the ability to stop Hitler. Margules' entrenchment in the Greenwich Village milieu can be seen in a photograph from Fred McDarrah's "Beat Generation Album" of a January 13, 1961 writers' and poets' meeting to discuss "The Funeral of the Beat Generation", in Robert Cordier [fr]'s railroad flat at 85 Christopher Street. Among the people in the same photograph are Shel Silverstein...
Category

1930s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Rag Paper

Under The Sea Series Nº 24. Úbeda. Oil fantasy underwater green landscape
Located in Segovia, ES
Under The Sea Series Nº 24. Oil on paper. Fantasy underwater abstract landscape. Green color. Transparencies effect. Measurements: (H) 30 cm. / 1...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Vintage American Modernist Stark Red House Landscape Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring 23 by 38 inches overall and 15 by 30 painting alone. In excellent original condition. Hands...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Inscription, Dyptich, Acrylic, Canvas, Red, Orange, Blue Indian Artist-In Stock
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Amitabh Sengupta - Inscription (Dyptich) Acrylic on Canvas, 72 x 36 inches (Unframed Size) , 2008 ( Unframed & Delivered ) Style : In Amitabh Sengupta's works TIME is depicted in va...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Important Early Painting by Spokane, WA Artist Robert Gilmore, Titled Metropolis
Located in Chicago, IL
Important, large early (1963) painting by Spokane, WA artist Robert David Gilmore, titled "Metropolis". The painting depicts the interstate highway system. Artwork size: 46...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Important Regionalist WPA Modern Framed And Signed Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Modernist landscape oil painting by Suzanne Schweig Langsdorf Martyl (1917/18 - 2013). Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Measuring 28 by 32 inches overall and 20 by 24 painting alone.
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Vintage American School Framed Modernist Fauvist Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Abstracted Cape Cod Landscape Original Modernist Pastel Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist landscape pastel painting. Pastel on board. Framed in plexi box.
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Reed 22 November 09:54 - Modern Nature Oil Painting, Abstract, Minimalism
Located in Salzburg, AT
Robert Motelski's paintings are exceptional visions of nature, visions of space which surrounds us. They tell about being, fate and passing. They depend on the season of year, the ti...
Category

2010s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dichotomy, mid-century figural abstract green oil painting
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Dichotomy, 1962 Oil on paper Signed and dated upper left 20 x 25 inches Mid-century figural abstract green painting of woman swimming ...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

"So What How?" - Abstract Expressionist Earth Tone Abstract in Oil on Canvas
By John O. Thomson
Located in Soquel, CA
"So What How?" - Abstract Expressionist Earth Tone Abstract in Oil on Canvas Expressive abstract work in earth tones by Monterey Bay artist and gallery owner John O. Thomson (Americ...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

20th Century French Modernist Signed Oil Provence Landscape, framed
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, late 20th century, signed Title: Provencal Landscape Medium: oil on canvas, framed Framed: 28.5 x 22.5 Canvas : 24 x 19 inches Provenance: privat...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Modern abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern abstract 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 abstract 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, red, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Stanley Bate, Christel Haag, Clarence Holbrook Carter, and Carmen Gutierrez. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil 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 Modern abstract paintings, so small editions measuring 18 inches across are also available. Prices for abstract 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 $380 and tops out at $175,000, while the average work sells for $2,970.

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