20 Famous Abstract Paintings You Should Know

20 Famous Abstract Paintings You Should Know

Abstract art, which emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a response to a quickly changing world, represented a break from the traditional arts. Through a visual language that connected on a deeper level, artists attempted to express tectonic upheavals in society, technology, and human psychology. Artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian began on a journey to convey the core of emotions, concepts, and spiritual experiences through abstraction, no longer limited by the necessity to represent recognizable themes.

Abstract art spans a wide range of genres, each with its own philosophy and method. Abstract art displays the various ways in which artists engage with their inner thoughts and the external world, from Jackson Pollock’s lively and spontaneous “action painting” to the geometric precision of the Bauhaus movement. It invites viewers to construct their own interpretations and personal connections with the artwork by confronting them with ambiguity and ambiguity of form.

Here are the 20 Famous Abstract Paintings You Should Know:

1. Composition X, by Wassily Kandinsky, 1939

Wassily Kandinsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is an abstract oil painting that Wassily Kandinsky who used to live near Paris executed in 1939. The artist used to liken abstract painting pictures to the process of music composition and used to refer his work to as “compositions”. Composition X was painted when Wassily was 73 and was the last of the ten he painted in his life.

The predominant color of Composition X is black. This suggested closure and the end of things. On the black background, there are several geometric shapes that hold hidden meanings that viewers find for themselves. Composition X is among the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, in Düsseldorf.

Read about the 20 Most Famous Impressionist Paintings.

2. Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, by Piet Mondrian, 1930

Piet Mondrian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1930, a Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian who left the Neo-Plasticism movement made the Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow painting. The painting consists of thick, black brushwork, defining the borders of colored rectangles. Other than black and white, red, blue, and yellow colors are used in this painting. Dr. Stephanie Chadwick described this painting as a means of demonstrating a commitment to relational opposites, asymmetry, and pure planes of color.

3. Painting (Blue Star), by Joan Miro, 1927

Miro is best recognized as a surrealist artist, but ‘Peinture (Etoile Bleue)’ marks his shift from figurative to abstract art. ‘Peinture (Etoile Bleue)’ led Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in London in 2012, fetching £23.5 million, a record for the artist and more than three times its previous price.

This painting is regarded as one of the most significant in Miro’s career. Notably, the blazing blue utilized in this painting can be observed in several of his subsequent works, and it even influenced painters such as Mark Rothko and Yves Klein.

4. 1934 Relief, Ben Nicholson OM, 1934

Ben Nicholson moved away from his figurative and abstract works inspired by Post-Impressionism and Cubism to experiment and create his abstract reliefs. These were inspired by the manner in which paintings might depict space. These abstract geometric sculptural reliefs have a handcrafted aspect to them, which Nicholson later painted white.

The significance of ‘1934 (Relief)’ stems from its influences, which include Piet Mondrian and sculptor Barbara Hepworth (his partner at the time). The fast shift from his previous abstract paintings to these reliefs was most likely attributed to his meeting Mondrian the year before they were created, as well as being greatly influenced by other abstractionists such as Joan Miro and Alexander Calder.

5. Convergence, by Jackson Pollock, 1952

Smithsonian Institution, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Convergence is one of the works done by American artist Jackson Pollock, who is renowned as an abstract expressionism representative. The piece was created on canvas and is 93.5 inches by 155 inches. It is an oil painting with a wide range of colors, lines, and shapes created by dripping and pouring paint onto a canvas.

Also, read about the 10 Famous Diego Rivera Paintings and The Story Behind Them.

6. Mountains and Sea, by Hellen Frankenthaler, 1952

Renowned American abstract expressionist painter Hellen made this abstract work in 1952. Mountains and Sea was done when she was 23 years old. It was her first professionally exhibited work which later became a very influential and best-known canvas even though it had been panned by critics.

7. Abstract Painting 599, by Gerhard Richter, 1986

Jindřich Nosek (NoJin), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A famously known German artist, Gerhard worked in various fields of art including photorealistic paintings, photographs, and glass works. Abstract Painting 599 is one of his most significant works and one of his favorites. In 2015, this abstract painting was sold for $46 million dollars to an anonymous buyer. This became Gerhard’s most expensive artwork.

8. White Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose), by Mark Rothko, 1950

The White Centre is one of Rothko’s characteristic multiform approach artwork, which consists of multiple blocks of layered, complementary colors on a vast canvas. From top to bottom, the painting has a yellow horizontal rectangle, a black horizontal strip, and a narrow white rectangular band, and the bottom half is lavender. The top half of the rose ground is darker, while the bottom half is lighter. It is 205.8 141 cm long.

In May 2007, this artwork was sold to the Royal Family of Qatar. It was sold for $72.84 million setting the record of the most expensive post-war artwork sold at auction.

9. Elegy to the Spanish Republic, by Robert Motherwell, 1965-67

Although Robert Motherwell was just 21 when the Spanish Civil War began, the atrocities committed throughout the conflict had a lasting impact on him. As a result, he created a series of almost 200 paintings in response. ‘Elegy to the Spanish Republic’ is a collection of commemorations of human suffering as well as “abstract, poetic symbols for the inexorable cycle of life and death.”

10. Leda and the Swan, by Cy Twombly, 1962

This artwork by Cy was unseen for more than thirty years. It came to auction as the most anticipated art of the season in 2017. Leda and the Swan were sold for more than $52 million. This piece of artwork was inspired during Cy’s time in Rome. The overall affinity to events of classical antiquity also inspired Cy.

Read about the 20 Famous Landscape Paintings That Will Take Your Breath Away.

11. Juin-Octobre 1985, Zao Wou-Ki, 1985

Zao Wou-Ki’s abstract works have seen a spike in popularity in recent decades, making him one of the few Chinese artists whose career has reached worldwide proportions. At Sotheby’s Modern Art Evening Sale on September 30, 2018, Zao’s ‘Juin-Octobre 1985’ was predicted to sell for $45 million, but eventually sold for $65 million.

12. Autumn, May 1, 1978, by Chu Teh-Chun

This artwork depicts a brilliant balance of contrast between dark and light. Autumn May 1 helped Chu convey strong elements of Chinese aesthetics. Chu relocated to Paris in the 1950s, when he transitioned from figuration to abstraction.

During this shift, he combined classical Chinese calligraphy strokes with Western color palettes. This artistic progression won him success, and he became the first ethnic Chinese person to be invited to France’s Academy of Fine Arts.

13. Small Flies and Other Wings, by Christine Ay Tjoe, 2013

“Small Flies and Other Wings’ high estimate at Phillip’s 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale in 2017 was $154,120. It was later sold for more than 700% of its estimate, with a hammer price of $1.25 million.

Ay Tjoe, one of Indonesia’s most notable artists, creates works that are abstract in nature. This comprises her mental world of thoughts, sad struggle, grief, and happiness, all of which manifest in her practice and on her dynamic canvases.

14. Altarpiece nº1-3, by Hilma Af Klint, 1915

Rhododendrites, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hilma was a very secretive artist who made a request that her work should be kept secret for at least twenty years after her death. This made her not get known as an abstract artist but was later hailed for her magnificent work later. She produced over 1,200 paintings that ventured more into abstraction and spiritual philosophical ideas.

The Altarpiece series was created as the last piece for the Temple Paintings. These works are almost schematics and abstractions from Af Klint’s concepts, portraying Af Klint’s interpretations of an unseen universe and its invisible energies, which she has continuously used in her practice.

15. Scorn, by Tomoo Gokita, 2011

The abstract works by Tomoo perfectly meld with the figurative ideas he always has. In 2014 at his first solo museum exhibition at Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, Scorn’s artwork was highly praised. It was cited to be a standout and strongest painting of the show.

Also, read about the 20 Famous Paintings of Women.

16. Tableau I, by Piet Mondrian, 1921

Sailko, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mondrian’s art style evolved dramatically during his engagement in both the Abstract and De Stijl movements until it was eventually condensed into simple and plain geometric motifs. His 1921 abstract painting, Tableau I, exemplifies Mondrian’s approach and is one of his most famous Abstract paintings.

17. Senecia, by Paul Klee, 1922

Klee depicted what looks to be a human head divided into several rectangles of orange, yellow, red, and white in Senecio, also known as Head of a Man Going Senile. The many colored squares are believed to mimic a type of mask or patches commonly worn by a harlequin, which is further emphasized by the title’s connection to artist-performer Senecio.

18. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, by Pablo Picasso, 1932

Argentina. Revista Vea y Lea, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This 1932 oil on canvas painting by Pablo majorly features his mistress Marie-Therese Walter. For nearly six decades, the artwork was in the personal collection of Los Angeles art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody. It sold at auction for US$106.5 million, the third-highest price for an auctioned piece of art at the time.

19. Windows Open Simultaneously, by Robert Delaunay, 1912

Robert Delaunay, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“Windows open simultaneously” is one of twenty-two paintings in Robert Delauney’s “Windows” series. In response to a question regarding this painting in 1913, Delaunay stated, “Line is the limitation; color gives depth, not perspectival, not successive but simultaneous depth—as well as form and depth.”

Robert’s line work performs an excellent job of disguising the Eiffel Tower in front of the spectator while simultaneously hinting that the city in the frame is Paris. The abstract artwork’s fragmented pattern not only gives it personality but also makes it one of the most famous cubist compositions. It is currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

20. Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), by Wassily Kandinsky, 1913

Wassily Kandinsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This abstract masterpiece was made by Wassily Kandinsky just before World War I. Wassily brilliantly employed color contrast to depict two ships engaged in battle in this abstract artwork.

“Improvisation 31” expresses the artist’s aspiration for humanity to turn away from strife and suffering and towards something pleasant. The use of white in the background and on the clouds emphasizes this idea. Furthermore, the vibrant yellow symbolizing cannon fire and the deep blue representing waves lend a dreamy effect to the abstract artwork.

Read about the Top 20 Paintings to See in the Louvre Museum.