Modern Paintings
MODERN STYLE
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
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Style: Modern
French Vintage Robert Mahias Painting, Versailles Fountain
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
This vintage French oil painting that depicts the one of the great water parterre at the palace of Versailles speaks to the enduring power of the place to still inspire wonder and am...
Category
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Painting by Jill Troutman
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
An interesting floral painting by Jill Troutman (Born 1939, active Mebane, North Carolina). Framed.
Category
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Abstract Cubist Composition in Oil by Henning Nielsen, Danish Artist 1970s
Located in Esbjerg, DK
Abstract oil painting in earthy colors and in period frame. It is titled Driftwood - Glasklint and was painted by the Danish artist Hening Nielsen born in 1930 sometime during the 19...
Category
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
1970 Bruno Contenotte art abstract Italian painting
Located in Brescia, IT
Artist: Bruno Contenotte
Title: Untitled (1979)
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
A striking example of Bruno Contenotte’s abstract expressionism, this 1979 work features a powerful int...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
1960 Agostino Piazza Tino da Noale Italian Art Naif Big Paint Wood
Located in Brescia, IT
Big Hand-painted panel
Agostino Piazza
Italy, 1960
Colorfull Art Naif by Agostino Piazza.
Paint on wood
Very good condiction
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Wood
A Walasse Ting Chinese Acrylics on Paper
Two Geishas and Parrots
Painting
Located in New York, NY
An Important and Large Walasse Ting Chinese Acrylics on Paper 'Two Geishas and Parrots' Painting. This painting is by Walasse Ting (1929–2010), a Chinese-American artist known for h...
Category
1980s Chinese Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Paper
EMOTIONAL TRACES OF THE PAST (21) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Emotional Traces of the Past (21)” visualizes memory as a living residue. Soft stains and pale shadows drift across the surface like recollections surfacing from beneath consciousn...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
REALMS (11) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Realms (11)” visualizes ascension from ordinary awareness to heightened perception. Vertical motion within the abstract field suggests movement through layers of consciousness, whi...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
LAYERS OF TIME (22) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Layers of Time (22)” concludes the series with a meditation on temporality. The artist imagines time not as linear but interwoven, folding back upon itself in simultaneous presence...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
COSMIC WHEEL (2) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Cosmic Wheel (2)” expresses the perpetual motion and cyclical rhythm of the universe through a center-driven composition. Emerging from a calm, almost still core, circular bands and...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
RITUAL (12) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Ritual (12)” intertwines decay and sanctity, portraying the coexistence of deterioration and sacred renewal. Faint stains and weakened areas on the surface become metaphors for fra...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
MYSTIC (3) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Mystic (3)” captures the sensation of an undefined metaphysical field—a presence that cannot be seen directly yet is deeply felt. Rather than relying on literal imagery, the artist ...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
MEDITATION (13) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Muslin
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Meditation (13)” is a visual invitation to mental stillness. Concentric rings radiate from a tranquil core, representing successive layers of thought dissolving toward silence. Th...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
ICON (4) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Icon (4)” centers around a powerful circular motif that reads as both a sacred emblem and a concentrated field of energy. From this nucleus, forms and hues gently radiate outward, e...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
A FRAGMENT FROM ANOTHER PLANET (5) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“A Fragment from Another Planet (5)” invites the viewer into an imagined landscape that feels both alien and strangely familiar. Abstract formations and layered organic textures sugg...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
DECAY (14) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Decay (14)” transforms erosion into elegance. The artist abstracts natural weathering—the crumbling of surfaces, the fading of color—into a poetic composition that celebrates imper...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
RETURN TO THE ROOTS (6) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Return to the Roots (6)” is a poetic meditation on memory, origin, and inner grounding. Its composition, organized around concentric forms and an inward pull toward the center, sugg...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
CENTRAL ENERGY (16) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Central Energy (16)” depicts an energetic pulse expanding from within—a metaphor for creation itself. Dense, saturated tones gather at the center, then diffuse outward in rhythmic ...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
METAMORPHOSIS (7) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Metamorphosis (7)” captures an ongoing state of transformation, as if the very structure of the image is in the process of shifting from one form to another. The composition suggest...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
UNIVERSES (1) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Universes (1)” is a meditative exploration of the multiverse concept, rendered entirely with plant-based dyes on cotton canvas. Each field of color reads as an independent, self-con...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
TIME (8) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas with Iron Sulphate
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Time (8)” is one of the most explicitly conceptual works in the series, referencing Albert Einstein’s Block Spacetime Theory, in which past, present, and future coexist simultaneous...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
THE GATEWAY TO MULTIDIMENSIONALITY 20 Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“The Gateway to Multidimensionality (20)” suggests portals to unseen dimensions. Layered organic forms create depth that feels simultaneously spatial and psychological, inviting the...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
MOTION (19) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Motion (19)” captures vibration and flow—the perpetual oscillation of energy through matter. Its rhythmic, wave-like forms seem to move even in stillness, translating invisible fre...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
BALANCE (18) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Balance (18)” embodies harmony through geometric fragmentation. Subtle angular shapes distribute weight evenly across the surface, while opposing tones meet in quiet equilibrium. ...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
THE HEART OF THE EARTH (17) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“The Heart of the Earth (17)” visualizes nature as a living organism pulsing with energy. Vein-like lines converge toward a central rhythm, echoing geological and biological structu...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
COMMON GROUND (9) – Plant-Dyed Botanical Art on Cotton Canvas
Located in Spring Valley, NY
“Common Ground (9)” explores coexistence and unity through a field of subtly merging organic forms. Different tonal areas—derived from plant pigments—intertwine like ecosystems balan...
Category
2010s Turkish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
French Vintage Framed Painting of a Cross
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A petite French vintage cityscape painting on panel of a large cross in the center of an unidentified Iberian town, the artist’s colorful technique abstracts the perspective to say f...
Category
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Materials
Wood
Large Midcentury Abstract in the Style of Jackson Pollack Oil on Canvas
By (after) Jackson Pollock
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Beautiful colors dropped, poured or spilt onto an extremely large cancels which is 5 foot x 8 foot. Unsigned and guessing the age it looks to be 40 to 50 yes old. Stretcher has suppo...
Category
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Vintage Gouache
Watercolor Painting - Signed - Spain - Late 20th Century
Located in Chatham, ON
Vintage gouache and watercolor painting on paper - likely for the tourist market - signed 'Pepe' verso - unframed - Spain - circa 1970's.
Excellent vintage condition - no loss - no ...
Category
Late 20th Century Spanish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint, Paper
Framed Oil Painting on Board by Sara Skaaning
Located in New York, NY
Oil painting on board by Sara Skaaning.
Based in the Island Mon, Denmark, the visual artist Sara Skaaning starts from her surroundings that twists and transforms until completely di...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
Abstract Oil on Canvass Painting by Noted Vermont Artist Lois Foley
1981
By Lois Foley
Located in New York, NY
Abstract oil on canvass of tonal greens, pinks and yellows with back wandering line structure, signed and dated Lois Foley '81. This example is in very fine original condition, clean...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
$2,400 Sale Price
20% Off
French Vintage Framed Modern Still Life
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
Although this contemporary French oil on panel is more recent in age (circa 1998), the style and subject matter can be traced back to the French and German Expressionist painters lik...
Category
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Materials
Wood, Paint
A Vintage Painting By Italian Artist Carlo Marra "Harbor Scene Napoli" ca
1960
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A lovely small scale painting -"Harbor Scene Napoli" by Italian artist Carlo Marra. Signed on the front and back. Very nicely done, thick paint, oil on board. Beautiful gold leaf frame.
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Painting Abstract with Sand, Sign Spain, 1960
Located in La xara, VC
Exceptional Abstract painting with sand period 1960, large format approaching an spychedelic atmosphere. Painting on paper with sand mounted on frame in very good condition!
About the artist, I find a signature but i couldn t find the name! in very good condition.
Original frame with green velvet.
Sand painting, also known as "sand art...
Category
1960s Spanish Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Paper
$2,086 Sale Price
41% Off
The Horse in Four Seasons 4 unique silkscreen prints
Located in Eindhoven, NL
A series of 4 unique silkscreen prints showing the seasonal transitions of a natural habit and of horses lyrical scenery. Each season is silkscreened in a different monotone colour t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Paintings
Materials
Textile, Acrylic
Painting by Sven Hansson, Sweden, 1982
By Sven Hansson
Located in Stockholm, SE
Painting by Sven Hansson, Sweden, 1982.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated "Sven Hansson 1982".
Dimensions:
H: 95 cm/ 3' 1 3/8"
W: 130 cm/ 4' 3 1/8"
Provenance: The collection of t...
Category
1980s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Gery Scalzo Polyhedric Sunbeam Sicilian Poppy Landscape Painting
Located in New York, NY
Sunbeam Sicilian poppy polyhedric landcape painting signed Gery Scalzo..
Gery Scalzo’s paintings usually start from real subjects ( often natural landscapes ) that, following his ...
Category
20th Century Italian Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
Cubist Style Painting by Ebba Carstensen
Located in Kastrup, DK
Ebba Carstensen, Danish 1885-1967
Cubist style painting of studio set-up, Denmark, c. 1920.
Oil painting on canvas, framed in pine wood fr...
Category
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Bill Zuro Acrylic on Panel, Titled Cat Tails, Canadian Artist
By Bill Zuro
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
Bill Zuro, acrylic on panel, titled Cat Tails, Canadian artist, original label verso, with information and details. The panel measures 8" inches x 10" i...
Category
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Lucio Fontana "Concetto Spaziale" black, red and white oil on glass, signed 1956
Located in Rome, IT
Lucio Fontana.
Concetto Spaziale 1956
Oil and mixed media on glass.
withe, black and and red stripes on colored glass
Measures: 58 X 108 cm (72 cm x 122 with frame).
signed L. Fon...
Category
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Glass
$74,412 Sale Price
20% Off
Architectual Bridge Painting by Jon Widman
By M.C. Escher
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Endless Bridge Painting with a Nod to Artist M.C. Escher. Acrylic on Canvas in reds and grays on a dark background. Overall in nice shape. Philadelphia/ Brooklyn Artist, this pain...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
Pair of French Vintage Gilt Framed Watercolor Paintings
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A pair of vintage French watercolor paintings by Roger Caillete, one figurative and one landscape, they are set within matching gilt frames allowing them to be displayed together or ...
Category
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Materials
Giltwood, Paint, Paper
An ABSTRACT BRUTALIST Rustic Modern PAINTING on Canvas, France 2001
Located in PARIS, FR
An elegant work on canvas, of Japanese inspiration, in relief, Post-Modernist, Brutalist, Lyrical and Graphic Abstraction, aerial composition of dried blades of herbs arranged on a g...
Category
Early 2000s French Modern Paintings
Materials
Composition
Helsinki Gate Original Painting by Lynn Curlee
By Lynn Curlee
Located in New York, NY
Helsinki Gate
Original painting by Lynn Curlee
This painting was used as the image for the poster for the
1991 Hampton Classic Horse Show.
Acrylic ...
Category
1990s American Modern Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Carol Frye, Contemporary Abstract Mixed Media Painting , U.S.a., Circa 2010
Located in Chatham, ON
Carol Frye - contemporary American abstract mixed media painting - gouache, water color and pencil on card (media listed on the back - see photo) - painting mounted to black backboar...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint, Paper
Peer Lorentz Dahl, Norwegian-Danish artist. Oil on canvas. View of a church.
Located in København, Copenhagen
Peer Lorentz Dahl (1915-2005), listed Norwegian-Danish artist.
Oil on canvas.
Motif of a Norwegian church with mountains in the background and figures in the foreground.
Modernist st...
Category
1960s Norwegian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Large Oil Painting by Joyce Roybal, Three Young Musicians
Located in Miami, FL
An original oil painting on rice paper of three musicians by listed painter Joyce Roybal (born 1955). Roybal is well known for his whimsical car...
Category
20th Century Italian Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
$1,700 Sale Price
32% Off
MARINA LOAN - "Strawberry Jug" - Watercolor Painting - Unframed - 21st Century
Located in Chatham, ON
MARINA LOAN - "Strawberry Jug" - Watercolor painting on paper/card - signed lower left and verso - unframed - Canada (?) - 20th/21st century.
Excellent vintage condition - no loss -...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint, Paper
Bustamante School, Surrealist Painting Women in Landscape, Mexico C. 1980s
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Bustamante School, Surrealist Painting Women in Landscape, Mexico C. 1980s
This captivating Surrealist oil painting, of the Bustamante School, was painted in Mexico circa the 1980s...
Category
20th Century Mexican Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
Moody Original Painting “Spring Thaw” by Thomas George
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Ethereal abstract in greys, white, and brown having overlapping textures and shapes in an earthy mix. By Princeton famous artist Thomas George.
Thomas George (1918-2014) was an in...
Category
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
$1,320 Sale Price
20% Off
Nathan Oliveira abstract oil painting on canvas signed , dated
By Nathan Oliveira
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This is a master abstract oil painting by the well known artist Nathan Oliveira . This work was originally purchased by the original owner Joyce Freedman in Bel Air , California from...
Category
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
CONNOR - Vintage Semi Nude Acrylic Painting on Canvas - Signed - Circa 1994
Located in Chatham, ON
CONNOR - Vintage semi nude acrylic painting on canvas - signed and dated lower right - circa 1994.
Excellent vintage condition - minor paint loss - no damage - no restoration - sign...
Category
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
French Surrealist Oil Painting Signed Jamotte, 1964
Located in Houston, TX
Fantastic French surrealist oil painting on canvas, signed Jamotte, 1964, Riquewihr, France (A famous artist colony in the Alsace region). This Frenc...
Category
1960s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
Still life Fruit Bowl by John Humphrey Spender (1910 - 2005) Circa 1950
By John Humphrey Spender 1
Located in CA, CA
A reflective Still life scene by John Humphrey Spender (1910 - 2005) in ink and conté crayon.
This particular image reflects Spender’s precise and thoughtful approach, using a muted...
Category
1950s English Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint, Crayon
Large Abstract painting, oil on canvas, Yugoslavia 1980s
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a striking abstract painting, oil on canvas. It features thick, impasto layers of predominantly white and red paint with blue accents, characteristic of...
Category
1980s Serbian Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
French Vintage Framed Portrait
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
French vintage (late 20th century) framed oil portrait on panel of a lady in three-quarter view, wearing a pensive expression and colorful intarsia sweater. Signed on the front, fram...
Category
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
Vintage Abstract Painting on Canvas, Pastel Colors, Signed, 1980s
Located in Trenton, NJ
An evocative vintage abstract painting signed by S. Harrington, dating to the 1980s. The work embodies the spirit of postmodern abstraction, where form and color merge to create both...
Category
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
$316 Sale Price
20% Off
Richard Mann Monumental Psychedelic Painting 1975
By Richard Mann
Located in Chicago, IL
Richard Mann Monumental Psychedelic Painting 1975Dimensions:96" wide48" high2" deepRichard Mann’s art showcases the exquisite beauty of pure color and form. His paintings and sculptu...
Category
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Materials
Masonite
Shells and Glass Goblets, Still Life with Reflective Objects, Oil on Panel
Located in Chicago, IL
The simplicity of Helen Oh's still life paintings is deceptive. Upon closer look, the viewer sees the faint shadows cast onto the reflective surface of the table along with the delic...
Category
2010s American Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
American Post-War Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Queens, NY
American Post-War Design abstract art, oil painting with shades of pale green and blue in a pine frame.
Category
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Materials
Paint
Modern paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Modern paintings for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage paintings created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include wall decorations, folk art, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with fabric, canvas and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Modern paintings made in a specific country, there are North America, Europe, and United States pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original paintings, popular names associated with this style include Richard A. Hirsch, Harry Hilson, Cecilia Setterdahl, and Peter Keil. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for paintings differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $25 and tops out at $166,872 while the average work can sell for $2,187.