Discover contemporary watercolour art for sale on Rise Art. Whether you’re after expressive colour or elaborate detail, each of our watercolour paintings is carefully curated by Rise Art’s experts. Explore our selection of affordable watercolour artwork from emerging artists today.
Buying original watercolour paintings online is easy with works from established and emerging contemporary painters all in one place for you to browse. Not sure where to start? You can browse a variety of styles. Abstract watercolours combine the traditional painting technique with unexpected combinations of forms, textures, and colours.
Our collection of illustrative watercolour paintings takes a more whimsical approach to the medium, including bright and expressive paintings of birds and botanical studies.
Inspired by the modern art movement, our Impressionist paintings are a selection of hand-painted watercolour landscapes which capture the fleeting interplay of light and nature.
The History of Watercolour
Watercolour painting has a rich history dating back to ancient Egypt, where it was used in tomb paintings. The technique evolved in Chinese and Japanese art, where it became integral to scroll and calligraphy work. During the Renaissance, European artists like Albrecht Dürer employed watercolours for botanical illustrations and landscapes, such as his famous Great Piece of Turf (1503).
The medium gained prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries, with artists like J.M.W. Turner exploring its expressive potential. Watercolour's transparency, fluidity, and immediate blending made it popular for capturing the ephemerality of the natural world. Turner’s 1842 painting The Blue Rigi remains one of the most well-known watercolour paintings, capturing the transitory effects of light and atmospheric conditions of the Rigi, a mountain in Switzerland.
In contemporary art, painters like Ann Blockley and Lars Lerin continue the use of watercolour for expressing the sublimity of nature. Meanwhile, artists such as Mary Whyte and Chien Chung-Wei have developed their watercolour craft to create sensitive portraits of people and dynamic urban environments.
Watercolour paintings for sale on Rise Art
Our online gallery of contemporary watercolour paintings breathes new life into the traditional medium. Bulgarian artist Sylvia Baldeva is renowned for her poetic watercolour paintings of people in expressive poses. The artist creates ‘metamorphosed memories’ – atmospheric reimaginings of biographical moments. Baldeva’s delicate painting Fusionnels (2019), for example, abstracts two figures with intense pools of ink which blend together and break apart with tenderness.
Likewise, London-based artist Tou Toa blends hazy combinations of colour to imbue his artwork with a dreamlike quality. The artist uses watercolour in combination with mixed-media to create abstract planes of colour. On the other hand, pieces such as Woman Standing (2019) depict illusory figures which seem ready to fade away.
For immersive landscapes, explore the work of watercolour specialist Anne Huet-Baron. Reminiscent of J.M.W. Turner, the artist’s ephemeral paintings of water moving through mountains and forests have a sublime quality – conveying the beauty and power of nature. The striking Le Chemin des Ombres Bleues (2019) abstracts a forest stream into soaring planes of blue and green hues.
Learn more in our guide to watercolour paintings and find contemporary watercolour paintings for sale on Rise Art.
