Abstract Art

Abstract Art aims to create artworks that have no source in external visual reality. The word ‘abstract’ means to separate or withdraw something from something else. The term is applied to art that uses forms, such as geometric shapes or gestural marks, which are not intended to reflect the material world or the human psyche. However, Abstract Art is also often seen as carrying a moral dimension standing for virtues such as order, purity, simplicity and spirituality due to its intrinsically organic nature. Since the early 1900s, Abstract Art has formed a central stream of modern art.

Shapero Modern holds a varied collection of Abstract Prints and original works of art.

Our collection of Abstract artworks for sale starts with Joan Miró, one of the earliest Abstract Artists, and includes his iconic 1958 aquatint ‘Les Forestiers’. Miró used colour and form in a symbolic manner, developing intricate compositions and a wandering linear style that combined abstract elements with recurring motifs such as eyes and stars.

Moving on to Larry Poons and his dynamic splashes of colour and impasto forms, Shapero Modern stocks a range of his expressive paintings from 1970 to 2000 including ‘Boy Bandit King’, 2007. The frenetic intermingling of paint in these works creates a surprising feeling of serenity despite Poons’ painterly gesticulations of colour.

The gestural scribbles and scratches of Cy Twombly are distinctly Abstract. Shapero Modern holds Twombly’s 1978 set of seven lithographs: ‘Five Greek Poets and a Philosopher’. Famously proclaiming that ‘My line is childlike but not childish’, Twombly’s pieces are reminiscent of childhood sketches and hint at his inspiration from classical mythology and poetry. However, it is important to note that they remain non-representational.

Abstract Art is valuable to collectors because of the timelessness of its nature: it will always be applicable to the modern psyche because it is non-representational.

Our stock is multi-national and aesthetically diverse, including works by English-born Barbara Hepworth and screen-prints by Antoni Tapies of Spain.