Fan of Red? This Abstract Art Is For You!

Feb 21, 2020

Red is the first color humans mastered, fabricated, reproduced, and broke into different shades, claims Michel Pastoureau in his seminal Red: The History of a Color. From our Paleolithic ancestors who chose red for their cave paintings to the most contemporary artists of today, red reigns over the palette. With its powerful metaphorical heave, abundant symbolic connotations, polarized associations red mesmerized abstract art(ists) as well. But, lofty ideas aside, red abstract art also harvested some hefty bucks. Researchers at the CentERlab at Tilburg University in the Netherlands studied 5,500 abstract works sold at auctions between 1994 and 2017 seeking to understand the effects of color on historical auction prices. Their study Colors, Emotions, and the Auction Value of Paintings revealed that blue- and red-hued dominated paintings sell better than any other color. More specifically, on average red paintings attract 17.28 percent higher bids and stronger intent to purchase. Yes, we hear you - red abstract art is absolutely compelling. Scroll down for our finest selection of red abstract art and add some of these red marvels to your collection.

Jeremy Annear - Breaking Contour (Red Square) II 

In Breaking Contour (Red Square) II Annear contrasts calming earth tones with soothing red laying paint into paint, wet into wet. This chromatic convergence blends primordial and ancient motives with Annear’s modern visual expression. Annear prefers oil on canvas, building images from layered shares and creating complex surface textures. He incessantly explores the relationship between the abstraction and paint, focusing on deciphering the relationship between the natural environment expressed in his earth tones and raw primary colors. Annear is an English painter who lives and works in Cornwall. 

Jeremy Annear - Breaking Contour (Red Square) II, 2018. Oil on canvas. 100 x 80 cm. 

Audrey Barcio - Untitled #7 

Untitled #7 epitomizes the legacy of Suprematism, Geometric Abstraction and Minimalism as Barcio aptly transforms nothingness and void into concrete form. However, her work extends that historical lineage -- her preplanned composition and a raw canvas with a grey and white pattern alters as she submits herself to her visual instincts and her (un)conscious intuition. She fills the Photoshop void with two nuances of reds that construct the concreteness of the composition and expose its meaning without defining it. Barcio is an American abstract artist who examines and builds on the heritage of Modernism and its intersection with the tools of the Virtual Industrial Age. She lives and works in Chicago. 

Audrey Barcio - Untitled #7, 2017. Acrylic, flash and mica on canvas. 152.4 x 127 x 3.81 cm.

Arvid Boecker - #1182 

Since 2014 Boecker creates 50x40cm oil on canvas which he divides by a longitudinal line into two fields painted by different colors. The long drying time of priming canvas results in picture families or series that mature as he applies up to 40 layers of color. The drying time is an inseparable part of the work during which he reflects on color, its effect on the viewer, how the colors interact with each other, etc. #1182 juxtaposes layers of red and orange pigment accumulated to convey a sense of depth and bittersweet emotional feeling that time is passing. Boecker is a German painter and curator, representative of Concrete Art. He lives and works in Heidelberg, Germany. 

Arvid Boecker - #1182, 2018. Oil on canvas on wooden panel. 50 x 40 x 5.5 cm. 

Anthony Frost - Surface Pressure 

Surface Pressure is a fascinating example of Frost’s vibrant, raw energy artwork. Inspired by punk aesthetics that spilled over from a rebellious music genre to visual art, Frost embraced punk’s zeal for collage which he skillfully incorporates into his paintings. He forms abstract shapes out of found materials, collage them in layers of canvas and paints the shapes with vivid colors. Freedom in its all conceptual expressions dominates his oeuvre, including his highly intuitive method similar to automatic drawing or action painting. Frost is a British painter, son of the famous Sir Terry Frost, noted for his abstract works consisting of brightly colored prints and collages. 

Anthony Frost - Surface Pressure, 2016. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 50.8 x 40.6 cm.

Daniel Göttin - 2003 Untitled 5 

2003 Untitled 5 exposes Göttin’s daring attempt to encapsulate the red in its most essential, minimalist form demonstrating the unique clarity and thoughtfulness. This clarity is not fixed but relies on his iterative, repetitive strategy that responds to the changing conditions thus examining the subjective nature of perception. Göttin fuses his for-the-wall work like this acrylic on cotton fabric and MDF with his on-the-wall work as he creates an ever-progressing wholeness of his work. Daniel Göttin is a Swiss artist whose work is divided between site-specific work and colored or painted objects for walls. He lives and works in Basel. 

Daniel Göttin - 2003 Untitled 5, 2003. Acrylic on cotton fabric on MDF. 40 x 36 cm.

Jill Moser - Soft Assembly 3 

This monoprint piece reveals Moser’s continual exploration into the depths of the history of written language. Moser’s profound fascination with visual and indexical language culminates in lyrical, gestural and calligraphic marks that are both self-referential and revelatory. Soft Assembly 3 is a delicate example of matching extensive and vigorous brushstrokes with fine line works. Wide ataractic red brushstrokes are coupled with forceful red looping curves and spaces of smoky evanescence as she creates a unique place for performative contemplation. Moser is an American abstract artist whose work explores the intersection of painting, writing, and animated image. She lives and works in New York City.

Jill Moser - Soft Assembly 3, 2003. Monoprint. 76.2 x 121.92 cm.

Ulla Pedersen - Cut-Up Paper II.4 

Pedersen’s distinct limited color palette is dominated by an offbeat red and her minimal, hard-edge and semi-geometric shapes on calming solid color. The harmony and tension of Cut-Up Paper II.4 arise from the contrasting colors, patterns, geometric and organic shapes. Pedersen is inspired by the persuasiveness of formal aesthetic elements and the relationships that emerge and evolve when elements like color, form, shape, and pattern are blended, shifted and layered. Pedersen is a Danish abstract artist. Her work is a minimal and concrete exploration of color, materiality, form, and balance. 

Ulla Pedersen - Cut-Up Paper II.4, 2016. Acrylic on paper. 30 x 30 cm.

Claude Tétot - Untitled 10 

This vivid, lucid oil and acrylic on paper piece captures Tétot’s sophisticated visual language of complementary contradictions -- negative space becomes an expression of form; solid areas of color are balanced by precise patterns; hard-edge lines and grids are juxtaposed alongside expressionistic elements. Untitled 10 epitomize these enigmatic unities expressed through the apparent disharmonies -- vibrant and diverging -- translating chaos into order and vice versa. Tétot finds beauty in the discrepancy of the obvious, in the discord of the given. Tétot is a French abstract artist whose work expresses harmony in disharmony by exploring the enigmatic unity that can exist between seemingly disparate elements. He lives and works in Savins, France. 

Claude Tétot - Untitled 10, 2018. Oil and acrylic on paper. 70 x 100 cm.

Audrey Stone - Full Flush 

Full Flash borrows from the ideas of the painting Flush but chromatically streamlines solely on red exploring all the connotations and metaphorical ambiguity captured in red. Stone exploits our culturally rich associations that correlate red with both passion, anger and/or authority. Her exploration unfolds on an intimate scale, layer after layer, as the raw surface becomes replaced by the new qualities of reduced color and more complex composition. Stone is an American abstract artist who explores color, line, materiality, and process across multiple mediums and surfaces. She lives and works in Brooklyn. Anya Spielman -- Flame Flame illustrates the compelling and forthright metaphorical power that red encapsulates. The semantic weight of the red defines the whole composition and induces the meaning of almost-collateral pink, pale creams, and yellows. This creates a splitting tension that presents reoccurring twofold images: a tension between knowing and not knowing, being seen and unseen and humanity and inhumanity. Spielman is an American abstract painter whose work explores the constellation of binary forces and forms. She lives and works in the Los Angeles area.

Audrey Stone - Full Flush, 2015. Flashe and acrylic on linen. 43.2 x 43.2 cm.

Anya Spielman - Flame

Flame illustrates the compelling and forthright metaphorical power that red encapsulates. The semantic weight of the red defines the whole composition and induces the meaning of almost-collateral pink, pale creams, and yellows. This creates a splitting tension that presents reoccurring twofold images: a tension between knowing and not knowing, being seen and unseen and humanity and inhumanity. Spielman is an American abstract painter whose work explores the constellation of binary forces and forms. She lives and works in the Los Angeles area.

Anya Spielman - Flame, 2015. Oil on paper. 17.8 x 17.8 cm.

Discover More Red Abstract Artworks!

Featured image: Jeremy Annear  - Breaking Contour (Red Square) II, 2018, installation view.
By Jovana Vuković