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Abstract 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.

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Style: Abstract
Spring Music - modernist, geometric abstraction, acrylic on panel
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This modern geometric painting by Burton Kramer was inspired by music. During his storied decades-long career, Burton Kramer has achieved international recognition as one of Canada’...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Resplendence, Abstract Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A happy accident led artist Heidi Hybl to create this artwork. She stepped away from her usual landscape inspiration and explored the freedom of pure abstractio...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Merger
Located in Los Angeles, CA
De Bruycker was born in Ghent, Belgium but has lived and worked in Santa Fe, NM for the past 30 years until his passing in July 2015. In addition to oil paint, De Bruycker also uses asphalt, gesso and cobalt drier on canvas. De Bruycker took an intuitive, process-oriented approach to his work, which he described as “emotive and fluid”. His abstract color forms were created with a palette composed of what he defined as “internal emotional” colors. De Bruycker was honored with the prestigious Visual Artist Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has paintings in the permanent collections of the New Mexico Art...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Red, White and Yellow
Located in Irvine, CA
Dorothy Krakovsky’s paintings have been characterized by reviewers as reminiscent of Joan Mitchell, among other artists. The wild variation in her paintings defies labels- or a s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Chroma 38 - original figurative abstract - female form - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Calvin Lai’s Chroma 38 (Lavender), oil on cradled board, is a w...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Moved In Motion - Original Minimalist Abstract Textured Painting on Canvas
Located in Manchester, GB
Henry Woolway, Moved In Motion, 2021 Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 92 cm (48 x 36.2 in) Artwork is set in a stained red wood frame with a 5mm shadow gap Ha...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled #SP-200 by Murray Duncan – Original Contemporary Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Untitled #SP-200 by Murray Duncan Mixed media on paper Size: 32" x 40” Unframed, signed A bold mixed-media work with dynamic lines and textures. This captivating piece by Murray D...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic

Untitled XL by Ferle - Large abstract painting, blue and black, dark tones
Located in Paris, FR
Untitled XL is a unique oil on free-standing canvas painting by contemporary artist Ferle, dimensions are 280 × 200 cm (110.2 × 78.7 in). The artwork is signed, sold unframed and com...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sunswept Summer
Located in Dallas, TX
acrylic on canvas
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Contemporary abstract expressionist nature sea painting "Coastal silence"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract expressionist painting, "Coastal Silence", was created by French artist Natalya Mougenot. Bathed in the muted stillness of Mediterranean light, the piece c...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Woman Walking Dog
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Circle of Graciela Rodo Boulanger. Woman Walking Dog, ca. 1970. Oil on wood panel measuring 5 x 7 inches; 12.25 x 14.25 inches framed. Signed indistinctly upper right.
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Three Angels - Mid Century Hawaiian Symbolist Figurative Painting
Located in Soquel, CA
Symbolic Hawaiian nocturnal figurative of whispy angel figures with mountains and bridge by Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American; 1906-1947), circa 1940-45. Marguerite and her husband Frank Blasingame...
Category

1940s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Rock Candy Mountain (unique, signed Abstract Expressionist painting) framed 70s
Located in New York, NY
Ben Wilson Rock Candy Mountain, ca. 1970 Oil on masonite board (Hand Signed, titled and dated) Hand signed, titled and dated by Ben Wilson on the back Frame Included: held in artist'...
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil, Permanent Marker

Spring is in the Air - Abstract Expressionist Green Landscape Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles artist Marc Raphael's abstract expressionism paintings are influenced by New York's abstract expressionist movement. After encountering Jackson Pollock’s work for the fir...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Contemporary Miniature Natural Pigment Tantric Egg Minimalist orange blue yellow
Located in Norfolk, GB
Rahul Kumar Untitled Natural Pigment on Paper 35.5cm x 26.5cm Rahul Kumar is from a family of traditional miniature painters working in Jaipur. The atelier where his family learnt t...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Willem De Kooning Abstract on Newspaper
Located in Dallas, TX
Willem de Kooning (Dutch, 1904 - 1997) Abstract oil on Newspaper (NY Times, Friday Jan. 26, 1973). Pencil signed lower left. Provenance: - Private Collector, East Hampton New York;...
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Newsprint

Sun Tree. From the series Primordial Vibration
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The visual language of the power of the sun is represented through these paintings. Through painting and sculpture, Gregory Robin conveys the feeling of being present in a living, b...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Sunlit" (2023) By John McCaw, Original Expressionist Oil on Canvas Painting
Located in Denver, CO
John McCaw's (US based) "Sunlit" (2023) is a beautiful original expressionist painting, which depicts a park pathway during the sunset. A park bench rests along the path which leads...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid Century Modern abstract cityscape, unique oil painting, signed twice, Framed
Located in New York, NY
Norman Carton Mid Century Modern Cityscape, ca. 1951 Oil on canvas painting (signed twice) Signed twice: hand signed on the front and also signed on the back Unique Frame included: T...
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Adele Becker (1929-2021). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.
Category

1950s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Coastal Landscape Large Original
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Sky Composition by Gerard Guegueniat (French 1970's) signed oil painting on board, framed: 16.5 x 32.5 inches board: 15.5 x 31.5 inches provenance: private co...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Original Collage on Canvas Titled: PDP 1071ct19
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Post Dogmatist Painting on Panel, signed verso Art is 11 x 14 with frame approximately 12.5 x 15.5 Cecil Touchon Born 1956 Austin, Texas is a contemporary American collage artist, p...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Contemporary abstract expressionist nature painting paper "Mountains of Light"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract expressionist nature painting " Mountains of Light" was created by French artist Natalya Mougenot and makes part of her ongoing abstract series dedicated t...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Panama Garden, Mid-century abstract expressionist modern work
Located in Beachwood, OH
Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Panama Garden, c. 1964 acrylic on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 46 x 38 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Lotta Latte
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Lynn Sanders is an artist excited by beauty: architecture, foliage, landscapes, seascapes, interiors. She finds palettes and shapes in her environment and propels them into her work,...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic Polymer, Ink, Acrylic

Meditation - dark, minimal, cubist, abstracted landscape, acrylic on paper
Located in Bloomfield, ON
A half moon shape flies across a mountainous landscape and inky ground in this complex and contemplative work on paper by Otto Rogers. Framed dimensions 39.5 x 31 inches. Otto Donal...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

When the World Is a Monster (Contemporary Pastel Vertical Grid, Blue Pink Green)
Located in Hudson, NY
Contemporary Abstract Painting of grid in pastel blue, grey, white, green and pink "When the World is a Monster" painted by Hudson Valley, NY based painter, Anthony Finta, in 2020 40...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Enamel

Abstract in Turquoise and Rose , Large American School Oil Abstraction
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'C. Maxwell' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1975. A very substantial, American School oil abstract comprising contiguous and overlapping curvilinear ...
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"It s the Rest of the World That is Moving" (2024) by Amy Hutcheson
Located in Denver, CO
"He Opened His Hand And I Put My Stories Into It" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting on canvas, by Amy Hutcheson, that depicts an abstract painting with colorful geometric ...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Contemporary abstract still-life flowers candle acrylic painting on paper
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This expressive artwork "Vibrant blooms and light" , created by Natalya Mougenot, displays a vividly abstract bouquet of flowers in a vase that intriguingly resembles a human form, c...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

French Expressionist Abstract Original Painting Artists Studio Provenance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 14.75 x 11 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we ha...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Number 15 - Painting by Alfredo Pizzi - 2025
Located in Roma, IT
Acrylic on Canvas Medium Scale Contemporary Abstract Expressionism Exploding with dynamic energy and vivid emotion, Number 15 is a striking original work by contemporary artist Al...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Untitled" Acrylics, Pencils, Oil Pastels on Paper in Neutral Hues of Taupe
Located in New York, NY
"Untitled" 2019, 25" x 31" horizontal drawing on paper by Argentine-born artist Karina Gentinetta (featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, the...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Glaze, Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil

MELTING POT _0356
Located in Barcelona, BARCELONA
This artwork is a striking example of geometric abstract art, defined by its bold use of color and form. Dominating the composition is a large expanse of vibrant red at the top, whic...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

1947 Abstract Biomorphic Painting by Leo Cahn
Located in New York, NY
Leo Cahn Untitled, 1947 Oil on board 35 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. Framed: 42 1/2 x 30 1/2 x 2 in. Signed and dated lower left
Category

1940s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Wraiths Petals" (abstract, dark, floral, landscape, black, pink, green, canvas)
Located in Paris, IDF
WRAITHS, PETALS 2024 Paris, France "Wraiths, Petals" is a dark, atmospheric painting that blends organic forms with abstraction. Created using a mix of oil paint, oil stick, acrylic...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon, Dye, Cotton Canvas, Ink, Oil, Acrylic

Abstraktes Bild 758-2
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Abstraktes Bild 758-2" is an oil on canvas painting by Gerhard Richter. The framed size is 28 1/4 x 36 x 2 1/2 inches. The work is signed verso, "Richter 1992". "Abstraktes Bilds" ...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Peach Glow - Vibrant Modern Abstract Textured Nature-Inspired Mixed Media Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Lee Herring is a contemporary painter specializing in vibrant, textured, and abstract landscapes that convey fleeting moments. Herring's energetic artworks are inspired by everyday m...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Varnish, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Pink pale and black, Painting, Acrylic on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This work represents a dynamic dialogue between opposites: softness and depth, light and darkness. I used acrylics to explore the tension and balance that can coexist between colors ...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Ozymandias (unique, signed Abstract Expressionist painting by renowned painter)
Located in New York, NY
Ben Wilson Ozymandias, 1989 Oil on masonite board Boldly signed by Ben Wilson on the back 36 × 48 inches Unframed Provenance: acquired from the Estate of Ben Wilson This work is titled "Ozymandias" after the famous sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). Shelley's poem is one of the most poignant meditations on the fleeting nature of human power and the inevitability of decline. The poem serves as a reminder that time erodes even the most imposing empires and leaders and that the pursuit of lasting fame and control is ultimately futile. Depending on how one views Ben Wilson's Abstract Expressionist painting of "Ozymandias" -- some of the imagery might reveal the head of an angry king and a sickle. Shelley's poem Ozymandias reads: I met a traveler from an antique land...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

"Kaori VII" - colorful impressionistic painting with flowers on canvas 3d neon
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness." - Eckhart Tolle Let your g...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic

LEROY - FRENCH CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT CUBIST PAINTING WITH COLLAGE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: R. Leroy (French b. 1932) Title: Abstract/ Cubist Composition Medium: mixed media - material and oil on canvas, unframed Size: painting: 21.25 x 28.75 inches...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Garden
Located in Zofingen, AG
An abstract landscape of a summer garden. A vibrant mix of flowers and grasses, blue skies, and a dark forest in the distance. This is the kind of beauty we often pass by without not...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Original-Summer Night-British School-UK Awarded Artist-impressionist-abstract
Located in London, GB
This painting captures a view from the east end of the garden, looking towards the west gate where old giant trees frame wildflower areas on both sides. Shizico Yi used the colour bl...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Relief Blue 27 - Large Blue Abstract Relief Pallet Knife Ocean Texture Painting
Located in Zofingen, AG
Elevate your space with this large original, gradient of blue, abstract painting! Made on stretched heavy canvas, the edges are painted for a polished look. The glossy varnish not on...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Varnish, Acrylic

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 Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Atonal
Located in Sheffield, MA
Emory Ladanyi Hungarian, 1902-1986 Atonal Oil on canvas 38 ¼ by 46 in, w/ frame 39 ½ by 47 ½ in Signed lower right Born November 8, 1902 in Kecskemet, Hungary, the child of Mihaly ...
Category

1960s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil

Sunset over Velden, Holland , French Expressionist Landscape, Benezit
By Henri Plas
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left "H. Plas" (French, born 1933) and dated 1971; inscribed verso "Champs de Velden" (Fields of Velden). A substantial Expressionist oil landscape showing a lyrical vi...
Category

1970s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Original Collage on Paper (Framed) Titled: Fs 3197 ct12
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Final Framed dimension: 18 x 22.5 collage art only: 9 x 6 full paper size: 15 x 19 Cecil Touchon Born 1956 Austin, Texas is a contemporary American collage artist, painter, publishe...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Laid Paper, Magazine Paper

" Anticipation" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dan McCaw's (US based) "Anticipation" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts an abstracted figure seated within a brown interior. Artist Statement: Born: 1942 A solid...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Fish Cave Oil Painting Underwater Original Art Impasto
Located in Zofingen, AG
Hawaii Fish Cave Painting This stunning oil painting on canvas depicts a mesmerizing underwater scene, featuring a school of vibrant colorful fish swimming in a cave. The artist, Olg...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Patricia Zippin "Study for Anaganaga 2/6" 1980s Abstract Painting
Located in Arp, TX
Patricia Zippin Study For Anaganaga 2/6 1980s Mixed Media 30"x 23", unframed Signed in pencil bottom right and titled bottom left and signed and titled in pencil on reverse Patricia...
Category

1980s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Encaustic, Acrylic, Pencil

#259, Abstract, Photography, Painting, Expressionism
Located in München, BY
Unique piece More sizes and an Essay from Lyle Rexer about this series on request. Joachim Schmeisser’s work rescues photography from the centuries-old straightjacket of realism to...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Pigment

Oh God, I m confused
Located in Zofingen, AG
In the context of Jungian analysis, the fish is a profound archetypal symbol of the unconscious, transformation, and inner search. In this work, the intertwining fish figures evoke t...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Untitled oil on canvas, signed and dated 1988 by American artist Giorgio Cavallon (1904-1989) on the reverse. Cavallon was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and a ...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil

1960 s French Large Oil Layers of Expression Textured Abstract Red Yellows
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Abstract Expressionist Composition by Gilbert Pelissier (French born 1924) signed, inscribed verso dated 1963-1965 oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas size: 39 x 20 inches condit...
Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Blue Mood. Horizontal, Abstract expressionist works , flowers, interior
Located in Oslo, NO
"In my passionate creation, acrylic paints merge into a vibrant kaleidoscope of emotions.", said Anna Shesterikova about this artwork. "Inspired by Expressionism and Impressionism, I...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Abstract Impressionist seaside nature oil painting on paper "The French coast"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary abstract impressionist painting with touches of expressionism, "The French Coast" is a delicate and emotive creation by French artist Natalya Mougenot. Part of a su...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Paper

Sandbank, abstract art, landscape art, seascape art, original painting
Located in Deddington, GB
Jon Rowland: 'As the tide recedes sometimes it leaves small sand spits. The Scottish coast offers opportunities to make a quick sketch that can be worked on in the studio.' Discover new paintings by Jon Rowland and his abstract expressionism with Wychwood Art. Each work has been carefully selected by Deborah Allan our Chief Art Curator. Wychwood Art have exhibited Jon Rowland in London during a pop-up exhibition of theirs at the Darren Baker Gallery. His paintings have been displayed at the Royal Academy and at the Berthold and Darren Baker Gallery in London. He has also exhibited in group exhibitions at Linacre and Green Colleges, at Swann Gallery in Woodstock, and with Wychwood Art at Battersea Art Fair. He was one of six contemporary artists who took part in an exhibition of views of Blenheim Palace, juxtaposing the original visions with today's, as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Capability Brown's birth. Solo exhibitions have been at the Said Business School, Wolfson College in Central Oxford, and most recently at the Sewell Centre Art Gallery and Cornerstone Art Centre in Oxfordshire, and the Boiler Room Gallery in Central Oxford. Through Wychwood Art, he has carried out several large scale commissions for private clients. Jon comments: Painting is a journey. One starts at one place - the blank canvas, and hopefully ends at a resolution. Sometimes one gets lost. My aim in this journey is to create original, contemporary art that is grounded in place. Chance and opportunity are the travelling companions; but the art is to know when the journey is complete. I tend to work in series, with references to locations that are abstracted, reflecting on themes of colour, movement and space. In some themes I use concepts...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Retrato, Contemporary Art, Abstract Painting, 21st Century
Located in Mexico City, MX
Contemporary Art, Abstract Painting Acrylic on canvas 220 x 210 cm Signed FREE SHIPPING ROLLED UP About the artist Enrique Pichardo (Mexico City, 1973) graduated from Escuela Naci...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic 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 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, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Giorgio Lo Fermo, Sumit Mehndiratta, Nestor Toro, and Cindy Shaoul. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Synthetic Resin 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.

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