Surrealist Nude Photography
SURREALIST STYLE
In the wake of World War I’s ravaging of Europe, artists delved into the unconscious mind to confront and grapple with this reality. Poet and critic André Breton, a leader of the Surrealist movement who authored the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, called this approach “a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that resulted from centuries of rationalism.” Surrealist art emerged in the 1920s with dreamlike and uncanny imagery guided by a variety of techniques such as automatic drawing, which can be likened to a stream of consciousness, to channel psychological experiences.
Although Surrealism was a groundbreaking approach for European art, its practitioners were inspired by Indigenous art and ancient mysticism for reenvisioning how sculptures, paintings, prints, performance art and more could respond to the unsettled world around them.
Surrealist artists were also informed by the Dada movement, which originated in 1916 Zurich and embraced absurdity over the logic that had propelled modernity into violence. Some of the Surrealists had witnessed this firsthand, such as Max Ernst, who served in the trenches during World War I, and Salvador Dalí, whose otherworldly paintings and other work responded to the dawning civil war in Spain.
Other key artists associated with the revolutionary art and literary movement included Man Ray, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Frida Kahlo and Meret Oppenheim, all of whom had a distinct perspective on reimagining reality and freeing the unconscious mind from the conventions and restrictions of rational thought. Pablo Picasso showed some of his works in “La Peinture Surréaliste” — the first collective exhibition of Surrealist painting — which opened at Paris’s Galerie Pierre in November of 1925. (Although Magritte is best known as one of the visual Surrealist movement’s most talented practitioners, his famous 1943 painting, The Fifth Season, can be interpreted as a formal break from Surrealism.)
The outbreak of World War II led many in the movement to flee Europe for the Americas, further spreading Surrealism abroad. Generations of modern and contemporary artists were subsequently influenced by the richly symbolic and unearthly imagery of Surrealism, from Joseph Cornell to Arshile Gorky.
Find a collection of original Surrealist paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Surrealist
"Man 's World" Photography 27.5" x 20" inch Edition 2/15 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Man 's World" Photography 27.5" x 20" inch Edition 2/15 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist
Not framed. Ships in a tube.
Ol...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Man with Trousers
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount.
Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category
1980s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
In Voluptas Mors (Dalí)
Located in Dallas, TX
In 1951, Salvador Dali, everyone's favorite mustachioed surrealist, teamed up with Magnum photographer Philippe Halsman to create one of the most enchanting, morbid and bizarre photo...
Category
1950s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
"Place for People" Photography 27.5" x 24" inch Edition 5/15 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Place for People" Photography 27.5" x 24" inch Edition 5/15 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Prunella and Sylvie
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, known for his unflinching, heavily eroticized images of women.
Born in 1920 in Berlin, Newton’...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Polaroid
Vintage René Magritte press photograph
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Rare René Magritte press photograph published on the occasion of a 1990 Magritte exhibition held at the world famous Pace/Macgill gallery New York.
Silver-gelatin print. 8x10 inches...
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Muscular Male and Leggy Female Figure on the Roof
By Robert Funk
Located in Miami, FL
This is a self-portrait with a 1950s girly cut-out set against a dramatic tropical sky.
It's is a straight shot. The camera is on a tripod while the photographer slides over to bec...
Category
1980s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
“Has Found Out Thy Bed” (FRAMED) Photography 20x30 inch Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“Has Found Out Thy Bed” (FRAMED) Photography 20x30 inch Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
“Has Found Out Thy Bed” (2016)
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
20” X 30” inch ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
"Man 's World" Photography 35" x 28" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Man 's World" Photography 35" x 28" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist
Not framed. Ships in a tube.
Olha...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
"Place for People" Photography 35" x 28" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Place for People" Photography 35" x 28" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist
...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
"Mirror" Photography 35" x 28" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Mirror" Photography 28" x 35" inch Edition of 7 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist
Not framed. Ships in a tube.
Olha Stepa...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
"Mirror" Photography 27.5" x 20" inch Edition of 15 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Mirror" Photography 27.5" x 20" inch Edition of 15 by Olha Stepanian
Printed on Epson Professional Paper
Signed and numbered by the artist
Not framed. Ships in a tube.
Olha St...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Curvy Nude in Surreal Landscape of Red and Blue - Album Cover
Located in Miami, FL
Surreal Fantasy Album Cover Beck & Sanborn for CTI records.
This image is signed, dated and numbered 3/15 lower right recto. Other sizes are available. The work is unframed and print...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
“Thou Art Sick” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition 2/5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“Thou Art Sick” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition 2/5 by Brian Ziff
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
Brian Ziff's "High Risk" series is part of a larger ex...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
Nude Man Spouting in the Desert - Gay Interest- Born from Mother Earth
Located in Miami, FL
We are all born from Mother Earth. Mimicking a plant or tree, a muscular man standing on his head emerges upward from the desert ground with is legs spread out like branches. Seen f...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Doubleend: framed abstract black & white photo collage w/ nude, clock, clouds
By Jenny Lynn
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
"Doubleend" is a black & white framed silver gelatin collage photograph in a surrealist style with images of nude, clock, clouds, and other abstract elements from artist Jenny Lynn's...
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Formation (Male nude bodies are integral to Autumn foliage))
Located in New Orleans, LA
Formation is from a limited edition of 12. It is signed in pencil on back, Nude males are the falling leaves in this autumnal wonderland.
A new book on the artist will be published in Spring.
London-based Photographer and Graphic designer Omer Ga...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
C Print
Bon Fire Night Circle (13 totally nude men arrayed in a circle in the desert)
Located in New Orleans, LA
13 nude guys form a circle in the desert. This is number 1 from a limited edition of 12. The work is signed on the back. A book of the artists work will be published in early Spring
London-based Photographer and Graphic designer Omer Ga...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
C Print
Bon Fire Night (Body Terrain)
Located in New Orleans, LA
This is number 1 from a limited edition of 12.
London-based Photographer and Graphic designer Omer Ga'ash, graduated from Bezalel Academy of Art and De...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
C Print
Muscular Nude Man on Dreamy Surreal Road to Destiny
Located in Miami, FL
A hunched-over nude man on an endless sunset road conjures up big themes. Time, distance, life, death, rebirth, and infinity are weaved together in a purposely enigmatic and dreamli...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Roots I (the nude male body becomes part of the terrain - nude texture)
Located in New Orleans, LA
This is number 1 from a limited edition of 12. It is signed on the back of the image. A new book on the artist's work will be released this Spring
London-based Photographer and Graphic designer Omer Ga...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
C Print
Bowling Fantasy
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, studio stamp (verso), 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount.
Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Nude on the Stairs
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, studio stamp (verso), 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount.
Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
1950s Girly Pin-Up Hangs out on Miami Beach in the 1970s
By Robert Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Besides being a pioneering staged photograph, the composition is unique as well. A five-inch cutout appears to be monumental. The subject fills the pictorial space from the bottom to the top. It dominates the vast beachscape and dwarfs the life-size figures to the lower right. By photographing a reproduction of a person on paper, Funk pushes the boundaries of portraiture in 1977. Robert Funk is a pioneer of Staged Photography. The work is signed, numbered 3/15, dated, and titled lr. printed later, unframed, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Robert Funk is a pioneer of toy, doll, miniature, plastic thingies and staged photography. He also photographs his own paintings. Most of his work is done on location. He does not use photoshop to strip in images. He doesn’t take photographs he creates photographs and has works dating from 1973. He was widely published in the 1970's and early 1980's. As an undergrad in painting, he studied with first-generation abstract expressionist Robert Richenburg...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Art Deco Paris - Eiffel tower Place du Trocadéro Statues " Slave to Love" Gold
Located in Miami, FL
Reminiscent of the dreamy elegance of a bygone era, Mitchell Funk transforms a tourist location into the quintessence of timeless Paris chic. To achieve this the photographer had to rid the Trocadero of toursits. Next came choosing the right camera angle and lighting the scene dramatically. The photo recalls Brian Ferry...
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Plastic Beach
Located in New York, NY
A fan of photography since her early childhood, Mizrakli graduated from Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Interior Decoration Department, and continued her higher education in London,...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Art Deco Paris - Eiffel tower Place du Trocadéro Statues " Slave to Love" Gold
Located in Miami, FL
Reminiscent of the dreamy elegance of a bygone era, Mitchell Funk transforms a tourist location into the quintessence of timeless Paris chic. To achieve this the photographer had to rid the Trocadero of toursits. Next came choosing the right camera angle and lighting the scene dramatically. The photo recalls Brian Ferry...
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Collection of 54 posters featuring MAC body painting
Located in New York, NY
2003
30 x 42 inches each
54 C-Print posters in original case
All in excellent condition, original case, unframed.
A collection of 54 designs by a variety of well-known creatives, realized on bodies by M.A.C cosmetics' artists. This set of posters is the origin from which the M.A.C deck cards was created. Extremely rare to come by. Inspired by the irreverent imaging of M.A.C Cosmetics, the creative teams of M.A.C and Assouline got some of the most renowned designers, musicians, and artists to create unique body designs that became a provocative set of images. All the designs submitted were not only original and creative but reflected the individual personalities of the well-known participants. Models and artists donated their time and subjected themselves to long hours of nude body paintings, re-creating the images that photographer Richard Lohr has captured with his camera.
The overall shipping weight of the lot is 170 lbs each.
The lot will be shipped in the original case - 12 x 34 x 46 in.
The list of people featured in these images is what makes the collection truly special, some of them are precicely the people you would never expect to see in body paint:
Moheib Fashion Designer
Tylet Hays Artist
James Gager Creative Director Mac Cosmetics
Pink Musician
Richard Lohr Photographer
Collete Dinnigan Fashion Designer
Angela Adams...
Category
Late 20th Century Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
C Print
Athletic Male Nude on Endless Surreal Arizona Road
Located in Miami, FL
Athletic male nude about to launch out onto the open road of life. Shot on location Near Taos, New Mexico, 4 of an edition of 15, Signed, dated and n...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Ink
Art Deco Paris - Place du Trocadéro Statues " Slave to Love"
Located in Miami, FL
Reminiscent of the dreamy elegance of a bygone era, Mitchell Funk transforms a tourist location into the quintessence of timeless Paris chic. To achieve this the photographer had to rid the Trocadero of toursits. Next came choosing the right camera angle and lighting the scene dramatically. The photo recalls Brian Ferry...
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Nude man on Endless Surreal Road
Located in Miami, FL
Shot on location Near Taos, New Mexico, 4 of an edition of 15, Signed, dated and number lower right recto, Other sizes available unframed, printed later. Printed on Hahnemühle ...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Nude man on Endless Surreal Arizona Road to Infinity
Located in Miami, FL
Shot on location Near Taos, New Mexico, 4 of an edition of 15, Signed, dated and number lower right recto, Other sizes available, unframed, printed later. Printed on Hahnemüh...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Inkjet
"Anima Rêveuse" Original Fine Art Photography Edition 2/3 by Alina Karo
By Alina Karo
Located in Culver City, CA
"Anima Rêveuse"
Aluminum
51” x 40”
Edition 2/3
Comes with COA
VOLLIPSIS series by Alina Karo
The title of the show, Vollipsis, bears a hint of mystery. By merging the meanings ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Metal
“That Flies in the Night” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“That Flies in the Night” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
“That Flies in the Night” (2016)
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
30” X 20” in...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Rag Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
“And His Dark Secret Love” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“And His Dark Secret Love” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
“And His Dark Secret Love” (2016)
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
30” X 20” i...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
“In the Howling Storm” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“In the Howling Storm” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
Brian Ziff's...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
Brian Ziff “O, Rose” (FRAMED) Photography 40" x 40"in Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
Brian Ziff “O, Rose” (FRAMED) Photography 40" x 40"in Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff
“O, Rose” (2016)
Limited edition of 5 produced using Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine F...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Rag Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
Surreal Yellow Nude with Eye
Located in Miami, FL
Extreme close up of a eye combined with a full figure nude in a tight and graphic composition. It's an early in-camera multiple exposure using Ektachrome infra red film during the pr...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Inkjet
“Of Crimson Joy” (FRAMED) Photography 20" x 30" in Edition of 1/5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“Of Crimson Joy” (FRAMED) Photography 20" x 30" in Edition of 1/5 by Brian Ziff
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
Brian Ziff's "High Risk" series is part of ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Rag Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
“Does Thy Life Destroy” (FRAMED) Photography 30 x 20 inch Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
By Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“Does Thy Life Destroy” (FRAMED) Photography 30 x 20 inch Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
“Does Thy Life Destroy” (2016)
Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag
30” X 20” inc...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Rag Paper, Archival Ink, Giclée
Semi Nude Men, Muscle Beach Miami Beach
Located in Miami, FL
Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, Edition 2 of 15 Unframed. Other size available
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Statue of Liberty Mooning
Located in Dallas, TX
Signed and dated.
Category
20th Century Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Seraphim
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram, Archival P...
Can O' Nudes
Located in Dallas, TX
Signed and dated in black ink on print margin by Alfred Gescheidt
Gelatin silver print, 11 x 9 in.
Category
20th Century Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Man Playing his Favorite Instrument
Located in Dallas, TX
Signed and dated.
Category
1950s Surrealist Nude Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Surrealist nude photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist nude photography available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add nude photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mitchell Funk, Brian Ziff, Alfred Gescheidt, and Arthur Tress. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Archival Ink and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Surrealist nude photography, so small editions measuring 7.49 inches across are also available. Prices for nude photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $321 and tops out at $18,400, while the average work sells for $1,750.