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Modern Art

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
French Modernist 1970 s Oil Painting Two Nude Females Beautiful Original Work
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nudes French School, circa 1970's oil painting on board, framed measures: 25.5 x 16 inches provenance: private French collection Beautiful French oil painting depicting two female ...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil

20th Century French Modernist Gouche Painting Nude Lady Abstract Portrait
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
by Paul-Louis Bolot (French 1918-2003) signed & dated 1976 original gouache painting on thick paper/ card unframed condition: very good and sound; the edges have a few curls and scuf...
Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Gouache

Nude Portrait Oversize C print
Located in London, GB
'Nude Portrait' by Boyan Dimitrov beautiful 30x20" inches / 76 x 51 cm C-type print warm sepia toned. Nude female, reclining. Certificate of authenticity provided. EDGE PRINTS s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

C Print, Black and White

Untitled, Modern Watercolor by Jane Bazinet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jane Bazinet, American - Untitled, Year: 1980, Medium: Watercolor, signed, Size: 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm), Frame Size: 32 x 42 inches
Category

1980s Modern Art

Materials

Watercolor

Kandinsky, Tableau avec formes blanches, Derrière le miroir (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From Derrière le miroir, N° 133-134, 1962. Published by...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Horse Ride, Hawaii
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Horse Ride, Hawaii" c.1985, is an original color lithograph on paper by noted French artist Guy Buffet, 1943-2023. It is hand signed and numbered 065/300 in pencil by t...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Shaken Not Stirred 1968
Located in London, GB
'Shaken Not Stirred' by Peter Ruck 1968 Silver Gelatin Print English actor Roger Moore, downs a Martini, 17th July 1968. Moore has recently been awarded his second Bravo Otto award...
Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Erotic Drawing n. 17 - 1930s - Marcel Vertès - Ink - Modern
Located in Roma, IT
Erotic Drawing n. 17 is an original black China ink drawing on "British" ivory-colored paper. Hand-signed "Vertés" in black China ink on the lower righ...
Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Ink

Sun Beams Into Grand Central Station (1930) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
Located in London, GB
Sun Beams Into Grand Central Station (1930) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Hal Morey/Getty Images) Beams of sunlight streaming through the windows ...
Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Silver Gelatin

Rod Stewart in Silk – Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, 1976 Limited Edition
Located in London, GB
Rod Stewart in Silk – Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, 1976 Limited Edition Limited Edition David Steen Estate Print Limited Edition: All prints are limited editions, no further prints are produced once sold Paper Size: 54 x 38.5 Image size 50 x 34.5 inches Limited to 10 only this size All prints are bespoke and printed to order stamped and numbered by the Estate David Steen recalls: “When Britt Ekland (whom I had known and photographed over the years) moved in with Rod Stewart they invited me to stay with them at their house in Beverley Hills to do some shots of Rod who had several major recordings due out at that time. The house was a treasure-trove of clothes and the sort of beautiful objects that made perfect props. Britt had always been an avid collector of stylish, decorative bits and pieces; Rod had money to spend and took to this new lifestyle with enthusiasm. Suddenly he was becoming glamorised by Britt and they became the couple to watch. From a photographer’s point of view it worked well; masses of clothes (white suits, silk pyjamas...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

C Print, Color

Jack Mitchell Nude of dancer Zane Wilson, 1972
Located in Glenford, NY
Jack Mitchell mid-20th Century beautiful nude of ballet dancer Zane Wilson in 1972. Zane Wilson was a spectacular principal dancer with the legendar...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Umbrian Street; An Assisi Street
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on cream laid watermarked FJ Head paper with a deckle edge, 10 1/4 x 5 3/8 inches (262 x 137 mm); sheet 18 1/8 x 10 1/4 inches (457 x 260 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, d...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching, Laid Paper

Pablo Picasso, The Cape Game, from To the Bulls with Picasso, 1961
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Jeu de la cape (The Cape Game), from the album A Los Toros Avec Picasso (To the Bulls with Picasso), originates from th...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Orange Grove Landscape
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Orange Grove Landscape, 1941, gouache on illustration board, 14 inches x 18 inches (image), 22 x 26 inches (framed) signed and dated lower right, newly framed with museum glazing ...
Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Gouache, Board

Pearl Jam by Kevin Westenberg Signed Limited Edition
Located in London, GB
Pearl Jam by Kevin Westenberg Signed Limited Edition Kevin Westenberg is famed for his creation of provocative and electrifying images of world-class musicians, artists and movie s...
Category

1990s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Mercado de la Soledad, Cubist Etching by Alfredo Zalce
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alfredo Zalce, Mexican (1908 - 2003) Title: Mercado de la Soledad Year: 1990 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100 Image Size: 8.25 x 25 inches Size: 16...
Category

1990s Modern Art

Materials

Etching

Steel Garden Wall - "Dandelion clock_2" - Modern Outdoor Ornament - 75×195 cm
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Beautiful contemporary oxidized sheet steel Garden Wall or privacy screen. Customization possible. With this garden wall you'll conjure up an atmospheric ambience in your garden. Id...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Art

Materials

Steel

Sardinian Holiday Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
Located in London, GB
Sardinian Holiday Selvaggia Borromeo enjoys a yachting holiday on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, 1967. Gorgeous print measuring 40 x 30 inches / ca 101 x 76 cm's. Estate Stamp...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Color, Archival Pigment

Set of 2 Aventure d une libertine Photographs. From The Secret Album Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
This series is born from a personal experience. The model's husband told Uwe Ommer an idea: he wanted to watch his wife with other men hiding behind the curtains. This is how the ser...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Color

Joan Miro Litografia original II Lithograph 1975
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This original lithograph by Joan Miró, titled "Litografia Original II," is a first printing published in "Joan Miró Lithographs Volume II" in 1975 by Maeght Editeur in Paris. This p...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Woodstock, Modern Lithograph by Lloyd Lozes Goff
Located in Long Island City, NY
Lloyd Lozes Goff, American (1918 - 1982) - Woodstock, Year: circa 1979, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 250, AP 30, Image Size: 19 x 23 inches, Size: ...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

French Country Road with Large Tree and Distant Farmhouses Pastel Drawing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: French Country Road with Large Tree and Distant Farmhouses Pastel Drawing Guy Nicod (French 1923 - 2021) Oil pastel on artist paper Size: 19.75 x 23.5 inches (height x width)...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Oil Pastel

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

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Reuben Nakian, "Leda and the Swan-3", hand signed etching
Located in Chatsworth, CA
Reuben Nakian Leda and the Swan-3 1979 Original etching Hand Signed by the artist in pencil Numbered 30/75 from the edition of 75 Paper Size: 20 x 26 inches Image Size: 13.5 x 16.5 ...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Etching

School Children, L Ile Saint Louis, Paris — Mid-Century Photogravure
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Rémy Duval, 'School Children, L'ile Saint Louis, Paris', photogravure, 1946. A fine, richly-inked impression in warm black ink, on cream wove B.F.K. Rives p...
Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Photogravure

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 Art

Materials

Resin, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel

Erwin Blumenfeld, The Devil s Cross, from Electa Editrice, 1981 (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite heliogravure after Erwin Blumenfeld (1897–1969), titled The Devil's Cross, originates from the 1981 folio Erwin Blumenfeld, Electa Editrice Portfolios. Published by Gr...
Category

1980s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Marilyn Monroe, unique print of 1988 from original negative
Located in Cologne, DE
Ed Feingersh photographed Marilyn Monroe for Redbook magazine in March 1955 for a story which would follow Monroe through her daily routine, the photography to be candid and shot wit...
Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

French Stately Home (1956) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
Located in London, GB
French Stately Home (1956) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) The Comte de Paris, pretender to the French throne, with his wife the Comtesse and their children at the...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Color, Archival Pigment

Pool Patterns, Nautical Abstract Seascape Triptych, Blue Cyanotype Print
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted limited edition of a cyanotype. This beautiful triptych is called "Fresh California Pool patterns", which shows the semi-abstract movements of light reflecting in a California swimming pool. Details: + Edition Size: only 20 + Medium: Cyanotype Print on Watercolor Paper + Stamped and Certificate of Authenticity provided. + Measurements : 100x210 cm (40 x 84 in.) Each paper measures 100cm x 70cm (about 40 in. x 28 in.) each. , a standard frame size. + All cyanotype prints...
Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled Double Page Illustration for DLM
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Double Page Illustration for DLM Color lithograph, 1968 Unsigned as issued in DLM Published in Derriere le Miroir (Behind the Mirror), calle...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Pastel Figure Study of a Kneeling Male Nude Model
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Pastel Figure Study of a Kneeling Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed, early 1930...
Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Figure Endormie dans un Intérieur (Interior with Sleeping Figure) /// Matisse
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954) Title: "Figure Endormie dans un Intérieur (Interior with Sleeping Figure)" *Signed and numbered by Matisse in pencil lower right Year: 1929 ...
Category

1920s Modern Art

Materials

Etching, Intaglio

Lost Shadow original limited edition serigraph by Chase Chen
Located in Paonia, CO
Lost Shadow by Chinese American artist Chase Chen depicts a country path that follows a receding fence line in a green field and a blue sky filled with scattered clouds. A limited edition [345/350] signed serigraph in excellent condition. Paper size 36 x 29 image 30.50 x 24. Born into a family of doctors and growing up during the cultural revolution Chinese...
Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Screen

"Hungry Elephant" by Fox Photos
Located in London, GB
"Hungry Elephant" by Fox Photos An elephant named Mae West accepts an apple from a passing tram driver while taking her morning exercise along Gray's ...
Category

1930s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White

Pablo Picasso, La Petite Corrida, lithograph
Located in Chatsworth, CA
This piece is a lithograph in colors (after)Pablo Picasso, done in 1957. Picasso created this piece for the special issue of the art publication XXe Sicle Review No. 10, entitled "Ho...
Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Jack Mitchell Actors in White Underwear
Located in Glenford, NY
Jack Mitchell mid-20th Century photograph of Broadway and movie actors Ken Kliban, George Reeder and Horton Willis in their classic white underwear. Highly...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Abstract Cubist Diptych of Human Figures, Sitting with Each Other, Black, Blue
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is a beautiful painting by Alberto de Blobs (Barcleona, 1982). Alberto is a talented painter whose elaborate mixture of figurative and free form ...
Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Rooftops Power Lines, Five Diamond: Abstract Cityscape Painting of Hudson NY
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstract cityscape painting of Hudson, NY rooftops with accents of pink, magenta, green, yellow and teal "Rooftops Power Lines and Five & Diamond," by Hudson, NY based artist, Ricardo Mulero 12 x 6 inch oil on wood panel, Painted in 2021 Excellent condition, ready to hang as is Signed, lower left Ricardo Mulero is fascinated with capturing the brilliance of light and the contrast of natural beauty with utilitarian landscapes. Here, he abstracted the city skyline of Hudson, NY. Buildings and rooftops in shades of magenta, teal, and green are segmented in the foreground and cropped with black power lines. A soft yellow sky is layered with thin strokes of gesturally applied pale blue paint, furthering abstracting the city landscape. The piece is in excellent condition and ready to hang as is. The sides are painted a very dark, warm magenta so framing is not necessary. About the Artist: Growing up in Puerto Rico, I observed how people and nature could co-exist in harmony. Today, that principle guides my design and artistic work. My paintings are expressions that draw upon my life experiences, traditions, and surroundings. These unique environments inspire my oil paintings: Puerto Rico, where I grew up, New York City, Fire Island Pines...
Category

2010s Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Original MEXICO, Pais de Maravillas vintage travel poster, linen backed.
Located in Spokane, WA
Original "Mexico, País de Maravillas" Linen-Backed Vintage Poster, c. 1950s. Grade A- condition. Immerse yourself in the vibrant charm of mid-c...
Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Offset

Shaken Not Stirred 1968
Located in London, GB
'Shaken Not Stirred' by Peter Ruck 1968 Silver Gelatin Print English actor Roger Moore, downs a Martini, 17th July 1968. Moore has recently been awarded his second Bravo Otto award...
Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

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 Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sugarbush Skiing 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
Located in London, GB
Sugarbush Skiing 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiing at Sugarbush, a mountain resort in Vermont, April 1960. 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collecti...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Kate Moss - Limited Edition Mick Rock Estate Print
Located in London, GB
Kate Moss - Limited Edition Mick Rock Estate Print Kate Moss in a Lou Reed vest, 2002 (photo Mick Rock). All prints are numbered by the Estate. Edition s...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Julie London - Portrait Julie London Jazz Singer Beverly Hills Hotel Hollywood
Located in Brighton, GB
Julie London - Portrait Julie London Jazz Singer Beverly Hills Hotel Hollywood by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. J...
Category

20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital

Chinese Vase - Oil Painting by Zhang Wei Guang - 2004
Located in Roma, IT
Chinese Vase is an original oil painting realized in 2004 by Zhang Wei Guang (Mirror). Oil painting on canvas. Hand-signed and dated on the lower right corner. Excellent conditi...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Oil

1979 Joan Miró Offset Lithograph, Modern Print, Unframed Edition
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This limited edition five-color offset lithograph by Joan Miró was created for an exhibition of his work held at Pace Columbus in Columbus, Ohio, in 1979...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Offset

Robert Mapplethorpe, Poppy Flower Porcelain Plate
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: after Robert Mapplethorpe, American (1946 - 1989) Title: Calla Lily Date: circa 2000 Medium: Porcelain Plate, printed signature verso Edition Size: 500 Diameter: 8.25 inches ...
Category

Early 2000s Modern Art

Materials

Porcelain

Supergiant - C3PO Star Wars Archival Pigment Print - Framed in gold gilt
Located in London, GB
Super Giant Oversize - C3PO Star Wars Archival Pigment Print 1977 by Geoff Wilkinson / Mirror Trinity Group Archive size : 71 x 45.5" inches / 180 x 116 cm paper size print type ...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Original You buy em We ll fly em! Defense Bonds vintage WW2 poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original vintage poster: "You buy 'em We'll fly 'em!" Artists: J. Walter Wilkinson and his son Walter G. Wilkinson. (1917 - 1971). Linen backed with original WW2 U.S. military with original issued fold marks restored. Excellent condition. Touchup pinhole in the four corners. Excellent colors. Ready to frame. A flying ace pilot smiles and gives the thumbs up to the viewer to promote war bonds, saying, "You Buy 'Em, We'll Fly' Em" in this 1942 WWII poster by J. Walter Wilkinson and his son Walter G. Wilkinson. The artwork features a squadron of Douglas SBD Dauntless, which the US Navy used as scout planes and dive bombers. The seal at the bottom of the poster reads, "The More Bonds You Buy- The More Planes Will Fly." This poster is one in a series of six created by the award-winning father-son team for the United States Treasury Department. J. Walter Wilkinson (1892-1988) and his son Walter G. Wilkinson (1917-1971) created several posters for the United States Department of Treasury during the Second World War. J. Walter Wilkinson was an academic painter who studied in Italy and worked for advertising agencies in Philadelphia. He specialized in outdoor landscapes and created many commercial artworks for advertising campaigns, including Ivory Soap, Pabst Beer...
Category

1940s Modern Art

Materials

Offset

Composition with Stars - Original lithograph (Mourlot #332)
Located in Paris, IDF
Joan MIRO Composition with Stars Original lithograph (printed in Mourlot workshop) Printed signature in the plate On Arches vellum 25 x 19 cm (c. 10 x 8 inch) Edited by Mourlot in 1...
Category

1960s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph

Via Veneto - Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
Located in London, GB
Via Veneto - Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) American playwright Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1983) and a lady friend standing on the Via Ve...
Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Virginia Hills American Female Modernist Abstract Signed Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist abstract signed oil painting by Anne Sharp. Oil on canvas. Signed.
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Canvas, 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 Art

Materials

Watercolor, Rag Paper

Sawamura Tosho - Woodcut Print by Utagawa Kunisada - 1862
Located in Roma, IT
Sawamura Tosho is an original modern artwork realized by Utagawa Kunisada in 1862. Woodcut print Oban from a tryptich Signature Kio Toyokuni ga (77 Toyokuni). Publisher: Soshuya. ...
Category

19th Century Modern Art

Materials

Woodcut

Maurice Utrillo, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, from Paris Capital, 1955
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955), titled Saint-Germain-des-Pres (Saint-Germain-des-Pres), from the album Paris Capitale (Paris Capital), originates from the 1...
Category

1950s Modern Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

Horse with Rider Looking at the Stars
Located in New York, NY
Juárez, a renowned self-taught Mexican sculptor, displays his expressive depiction of animals and humans in our Caballo con Jinete Viendo las Estrellas (Horse with Rider Seeing the S...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Bronze

La Concha Beach Club Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in London, GB
'La Concha Beach Club' Bathers at La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975. This is a simply stunning Slim. The palm fringed green...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Clinton Hill, (Nude #2), 1950, drawing, figure/abstraction
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images, but figures are unusual in his work. This is from a very early period. From 1949 to 1951 he attended the Brooklyn...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Art

Materials

Gouache

The Chess Match
Located in London, GB
'The Chess Match', oil on cardstock paper, by Raymond Debiève (1973). Rich colours, bold, painterly brush strokes and an unusual subject for a work of art, Debiève has created this s...
Category

1970s Modern Art

Materials

Oil, Board

The Chess Match
The Chess Match
$1,349 Sale Price
30% Off

Modern art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, orange, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Kevin Westenberg, Stuart Möller, Destro, and Christel Haag. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Paper 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 art, so small editions measuring 0.4 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $33 and tops out at $390,000, while the average work sells for $1,912.

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