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Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

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
Surrealist landscape with organic shapes
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Surrealist landscape with organic shapes Watercolor on paper, 1960-1970 Signed CE Harris lower right corner (see photo) Stamped with the artist’s estate stamp verso (see photo) Reference: Beni Kosh Collection Estate Stamp #705 Provenance: Estate of the artist A wonderful example by one of the few African American Surrealist painters. “An African-American born Charles E. Harris, the name under which he painted until the early 1960s when he took the name of Kosh. His paintings span the period 1949-71, and reflect abstract and surreal figurative subjects which include Cleveland street scenes, jazz clubs, and depictions of Christ.” Courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Art “Beni E. Kosh was born as Charles Elmer Harris, in Cleveland Ohio. He changed his name in the 1960’s, which translates to “Son of Ethiopia”. He rarely exhibited or sold his work and was affiliated with the African-American artists’ “Sho-nuff Art Group” and the Karamu House and studied under Cleveland artist Paul Travis. His style is very diverse and he experimented with Cubism, portraiture and abstractions in series. His paintings span from 1949 – 1971, and reflect abstract and surreal figurative subjects, which include Cleveland street scenes, jazz clubs, and depictions of Christ. He received little recognition during his lifetime and was only “rediscovered” literally days after his death when hundreds of his paintings were rescued by an art dealer.” (Courtesy Pennsylvania Art...
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20th Century Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

"And I, With The Wings of an Angel, Motionless in the Air..." Surrealist Drawing
Located in Houston, TX
Pastel green, blue, gray, and white abstract surrealist drawing by artist T. Moore. The piece depicts a floating book with wings against a lush and serene landscape with a distinct o...
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1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Color Pencil

Surrealist Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s Geometric Colorist Project
Located in Atlanta, GA
Stunning original project drawings, hand-painted with color pencil on translucent tracing paper by French artist, circa the 1960s. The two paintings feature a geometric study of litt...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Geometric Colorist Project Surrealist Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s
Located in Atlanta, GA
Stunning original project drawings, hand-painted with color pencil on translucent tracing paper by French artist, circa the 1960s. The two paintings feature a geometric study of litt...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Paysage linéaire by José Gerson - Gouache on paper 69x50 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
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1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Gouache, Carbon Pencil

Surrealist Geometric Colorist Project Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s
Located in Atlanta, GA
Stunning original project drawings, hand-painted with color pencil on translucent tracing paper by French artist, circa the 1960s. The two paintings feature a geometric study in color variations of a skinny man and a curvy woman...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

1960s Illegibly signed surrealist ink drawing
Located in Larchmont, NY
Unknown Artist Untitled, c. 1960s Ink on paper Sight size: 10 x 7 in. Framed: 15 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. Signed illegibly lower right: Jack Bl...?
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Artist Yellow Red
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing; part of the prize is a solo show at Hastings Contemporary, scheduled for 2024. Whilst Isabel always has a tale to tell for each of her images, you may or may not choose to go on the journey with her or you may indeed have a different story, one of your own that jumps off the page at you, that that you decide to follow. Artwork Details: The Storm, 140x140cm, collaged woodblock print, acrylic ink, acrylic paint, 2020 * Please note this artwork is on two separate pieces of paper that have been joined together. The join is not obvious when looking at the work. At the time Isabel was desperate to make the piece but did not have a large enough piece of paper in the studio, so she joined two together. Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown In Isabels own words: The Storm It started with a butterfly flapping its wings, which caused an ant to drop a leaf it was carrying, the leaf fluttered and spun, it tickled the nose of a fox returning to its den, the fox sneezed which awoke a sleeping dog, the dog barked and the fox screamed, a baby in a house began to cry. The storm clouds gathered, threatening, grey, black, blue, like swollen bruises from the blows of life. Round and round they whirled, the butterfly flapping and flipping with them. People looked out of their windows and knew that the sky was falling on their heads. The swirling vortex opened and all life was sucked away, never to be seen again. All that was left was the tiny butterfly who shrugged its tiny shoulders and flapped its wings. *Please note we are happy to ship this work rolled in an art tube. Whilst the work is on heavy duty art paper and mixed media, the artist is happy that the painting will be fine rolled in a tube. This is a more cost effective and environmentally sound method of shipping. Shipping via this method is free. Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio A certificate of authentication comes from Gallery Art 1821...
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2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut

Epreuve d'artiste by José Gerson - Drawing 26x33 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
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1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Surrealist composition by José Gerson n°2 - Gouache on paper 42x62 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Gouache, Carbon Pencil

Surrealist Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Women artist Chicken Love
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
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2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen

Surrealist composition by José Gerson n°3 - Pastel on paper 45x69 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper to frame
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1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Ink, Gouache

French Form - Pencil Drawing - Abstract French German
Located in London, GB
JEAN [HANS] ARP 1886 –1966 Strasbourg, France 1886–1966 Basel, Switzerland (German/French) Title: French Form Forme Francaise, 1959 Technique: Hand Signed Pencil Drawing on Wove P...
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1950s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Composition - Original Drawing by Antoine Mayo - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Composition is an original ink and watercolor drawing on paper, realized by the artist Antoine Mayo (1905-1990) in the 1970s. Good conditions. Antoine M...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Mother Nature, Lyrical Surrealist Abstract Watercolour on Paper.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid-century lyrical surrealist abstract watercolour on paper by French artist Jean Clerté, signed and dated bottom right. Presented in mid-century frame. Jean Clerté , born in 1930 in Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe in Vienne, is a French painter, engraver, draftsman, watercolourist and sculptor . This work is a great example of his more humorous and expressive work influenced by Alechinsky from the late 1960s onwards. There is a light playfulness and yet the watercolours are more vivid than his previous palette. Jean Clerté works in series. His sequential narrations testify both to a youthful spontaneity and to a perfect mastery in the distribution of forms and images on the painted surface. The narration is not only an accumulation of juxtaposed fragments and symbols, it forms a whole, it takes on and gives meaning. In general, we can say of Clerté that he practices an “eco-art” that feeds on primary hungers: the feeling of being united with nature, the vegetable, the mineral, the aquatic. In his colourful canvases, his inks, his boxes, his objects, like a shaman on the path of his dreams, the painter Clerté mounts an assault on beasts and demons, elves and gnomes. From the Poitevin marshes to the tropical forests emerges a fauna caught in the meanders of a design that marvels at the appearance of these grotesque idols. Jean Clerté began to draw and paint at a very young age, and at the age of 15 he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Poitiers. Then in 1949, curious about the capital, he moved to Paris. Having very few financial resources, he could not continue his studies at first, worked as a model to survive, and met other artists; he was then admitted to the studio of Ossip Zadkine and, from 1952, he was also able to study engraving at Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter, an English engraver and printer living in Paris associated in the 1930s with surrealism. At the end of the 1960s, he worked alongside Pierre Alechinsky, founding member of the Cobra movement, engraving Alechinsky's originals, benefiting from his advice, and discovering acrylic as a medium. From 1976, Jean Clerté became associate professor at Hayter. Clerté had taught previously, in 1971 at the Salzburg Summer University and in 1972 he gave courses at the Paris-Sorbonne University . In 1981, he was appointed professor at the School of Decorative Arts , where he had Maïlys Seydoux-Dumas as a student and, from 1983 to 1988, he was Alechinsky's assistant professor at the Paris School of Fine Arts. His first works are part of the current of lyrical abstraction, and are nourished by impressions of nature (landscape motifs, e.g. forest fires, waterscapes), then around 1968, encouraged by Alechinsky, he rejects abstraction, and his work becomes more figurative with expressive and humorous elements. From this period his colours are more subdued, often with pastel tones, he works on series. Jean Clerté has created a world in a space where drawing, painting, objects participate in a playful figuration. From his drawings were born sculptures and sometimes mobiles (Le Moulin à dessin). If it is the artist who makes astonishing, polychrome, whimsical “toys”, it is the painter who appeals to adults through his caustic and satirical humour. His first exhibitions in France took place at the Galerie Massol , then at the Galerie Pascal...
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Mid-20th Century Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Composition - Drawing by Antoine Mayo - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Composition is an original ink and watercolor drawing on paper, realized by the artist Antoine Mayo (1905-1990) in the 1970s. Good conditions. Antoine M...
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Hodel Fantastic Surrealist Oil Painting Monotype Switzerland Signed 1969
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Hodel (Swiss, 20th Century) Fantastic Surrealist Painting • Extensively overworked monotype on stiff paper • Mixed media - Ink, oil and/or gouache on stiff paper • Signed ' HODEL' ...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Oil, Gouache

Composition - Drawing by Roberto Matta - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Composition is a wonderful Pastel drawing on paper realized in the early 1970s by the Surrealist artist Sebastián Matta (Santiago de Chile, 1911 - Civitavecchia, 2002). Not signed,...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Hesitation Blues (Black Surrealist Artist)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Hesitation Blues, 1968. Ink on paper, sheet measures 13 x 23 inches; 14 x 18 inches in archiva...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Cadaques No. 24, Surreal Figure Painting by Eduardo Arranz-Bravo
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Eduardo Arranz-Bravo, Spanish (1941 - ) Title: Cadaques No.24 Year: 1994 Medium: Mixed Media (Watercolor and Color pencil) on paper, signed and dated Size: 13.75 x 5 in. (34....
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Color Pencil

Modern Abstract Pink, Green, and Black Amorphous Shape Surrealist Landscape
Located in Houston, TX
Modern surrealist landscape drawing by contemporary Houston artist Scott Woodard. The work features an amorphous magenta shape floating in an abstract desert landscape. Signed and da...
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1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Late For The Sun
Located in Boston, MA
Artist commentary: Late summer at the beach is a special season. The sun is getting lower but it's still very warm at the beach. Light bends and reflects shapes and colors in the wa...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Mixed Media

Deep Blue Sea
Located in Boston, MA
Artist commentary: The underwater world became a significant influence on my art when I started diving. I began diving the kelp forests of California and took trips to Mexico, Hawai...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Abstract Surrealist Botanical
Located in Soquel, CA
Detailed drawing of several flowers and geometric shapes by an unknown artist (20th Century). Signed (illegible) and dated on the right side. Presented in a new double mat (grey, and...
Category

2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Felt Pen

Cadaques No. 23, Surreal Nude Painting by Eduardo Arranz-Bravo
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Eduardo Arranz-Bravo, Spanish (1941 - ) Title: Cadaques No.23 Year: 1994 Medium: Mixed Media (Watercolor and Color pencil) on paper, signed and dated Size: 14 x 5 in. (35.56 ...
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1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Color Pencil

Above and Below
Located in Boston, MA
Artist commentary: A reflection of what we see in the heavens is being repeated in the forms we see on earth. Levitation or floating is one of the principles of Surrealism. It gives...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper

Wind in the Garden
Located in Boston, MA
Artist commentary: My plants inspire me every day. The garden is a place to recharge your spirit. In this work, the wind has pressed the plants into rhythmic patterns. The patterns ...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Cobwebs and Rocks
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Cobwebs and Rocks Watercolor, 1940 Signed, dated, and copyrighted lower right Exhibited: Zimmerli Art Museum, Benjamin Benno: Retrospective Exhibition, 1988 Illustrated: Gustafson, Zimmerli Museum: Benjamin Benno: Retrospective Exhibition, 1988 Color Plate 14 copy copy of the catalog accompanies the watercolor Condition: excellent Image size: 14 3/4 x 21 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Ruth O...
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1940s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Abstract Figures and Landscape, Surreal Line Drawing Composition
Located in Soquel, CA
Dynamic surrealist line drawing of figures in an abstracted landscape by David Rosen (Canadian, 1912-2004). Signed "Rosen" in the lower right corner. Presented in a new tan mat with ...
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Late 20th Century Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, India Ink

(Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Untitled
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Year: 1973 Medium: Ink on heavy archival paper Size: 22 x 30 inches ...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

View on Cherry Hill, Barbados
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: View on Cherry Hill, Barbados Year: 1971 Medium: Pencil on heavy archival paper Size: 29 x 41 inches Condition: Good ...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

(Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Untitled
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Year: 1973 Medium: Ink on heavy archival paper Size: 22 x 30 inches ...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

(Scottish Rockscape) Untitled
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Scottish Rockscape) Year: 1973 Medium: Ink on heavy archival paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Good Provenance: Estate of Ian Horn...
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1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Les Voiles by Léopold Survage - Abstract watercolour
Located in London, GB
Les Voiles by Léopold Survage (1987-1968) Watercolour on paper 23 x 38 cm (9 x 15 inches) Monogrammed, stamped and dated lower right Executed in 1945 ...
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1940s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

(Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Untitled
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Apocalyptic Tropical Landscape) Year: 1973 Medium: Ink on heavy archival paper Size: 22 x 30 inches ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Last News - Original Mixed Media by Sergio Barletta - 1981
Located in Roma, IT
Last News is an original Collage and pen realized in 1981 by Italian Artist Sergio Barletta. Hand-signed on the lower right and dated on the lower left and titled on the lower cent...
Category

1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Pen

Figure - Original Mixed Media by Sergio Barletta - 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Figure is an original drawing in mixed media, ink and tempera on cardboard, realized by Sergio Barletta. In good conditions except for some decoloration along the margins. Applied ...
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1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Ink, Tempera

Jimbo Jump - Original Mixed Media by Sergio Barletta - 1992
Located in Roma, IT
Jimbo Jump is an original painting artwork in mixed media, ink and tempera realized by Sergio Barletta in 1992. Hand-signed on the lower right. Titled on the lower center, dated on ...
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Ink, Tempera

Journey #28 (monochrome red pen drawing wood detailed oriental dansaekhwa korea)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Cheoluy Kim’s practice examines the blurred frontier between perceived reality and fantasy. His work is informed by a childhood growing up on the border of North and South Korea in Gosung. There, he grew fascinated by all the fauna and flora he observed from his village surrounded by mountains, as well as the air balloons carrying political propaganda. He witnessed everything in the sky. This instilled a deeply rooted reflex to imagine a fantastical world beyond the physical frontiers he was bound by. Cheolyu Kim studied and obtained his master in sculpture, although, his current practice is entirely devoted to pen drawing on either paper or wood. Either bicolored or monochrome, the artist's typically limited chromatic palette gives room for an intense focus on detailed compositions, tonal gradients, and multiple perspectives. Kim’s background in sculpture is evident in the carved-like volumes of the elements in his drawings. Fine moire and cross-hatching are used for textures and shading in the drawn sections while the paper or wood is left fully exposed in other areas. Imaginary fauna and flora abound which contributes to a rather biomorphic aura to his work. All the while, indigenous, modern and futuristic architectural structures are erected and confuse any sense of fixed temporality. Rather, it projects us into a phantasmagorical universe where past, present and future collapse into one. Some perspectives are even skewed disrupting our contemplation. Totemic poles, origami-shaped creatures, and aquatic vegetation coexist fluidly in Kim’s oniric visions. His fine-detailed patterned dreamscapes engage the viewer actively; we are called upon to discover how do all the various entities interact over the multiple receding planes building up to Cheolyu's surrealist ecosystems. keywords; pencil, rings, circles, moire, highly detailed, geometric abstraction, intentionally exposed support, line form and color, monochrome, drawing on paper, curvilinear forms, Korean art, dynamism, contemporary minimalism, graphism, repetition, engaged with traditional Korean art...
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2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pen

South, Texas Landscape Surrealist Drawing of a Cigar and a Crop Duster
Located in Houston, TX
Surrealist landscape of South Texas. The subject matter is a cigar that is suppose to look like a bull with a crop duster in the background. The drawing is done in graphite with brig...
Category

1980s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Graphite

Abstract Composition - Penmarker on Paper by Michel Cadoret
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract composition is an original artwork realized by Michel Cadoret. Penmarker on paper. The monogram of the artist is on the lower right corner. ...
Category

1950s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Permanent Marker

Untitled - Early Surrealist Pencil Drawing by Roberto Matta - 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Surrealist Drawing is an exceptional pencil drawing by the artist Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren, who signed on the lower right of the paper “Matta”. The artwork is in ver...
Category

1950s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

"Gehl Dairy Farm, " Original Mixed Media Surrealist signed by David Barnett
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Gehl Dairy Farm" is an original mixed media piece by David Barnett and his daughter, Sarah Barnett, signed and dated in the lower right. Begun in 1997 and ...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

lot of four surrealist inks - ink on paper, 10.5x30.5 cm., framed
Located in Nice, FR
Lot of four ink drawings by the german surrealist painter Sven Hauptmann. all signed. framed
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Surrealist Drawing of a Broom in the Style of Avigdor Arikha
Located in Houston, TX
Surrealist drawing of an old fashion straw broom. The work is similar to the known artist Avigdor Arikna's etching after real-life objects. The work is not...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

"Poppy Winged Hybrid Butterfly and Giant Gold Lily, " Mixed Media, David Barnett
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Poppy Winged Hybrid Butterfly and Giant Gold Lily" is an original mixed media piece by David Barnett, signed in the lower right. It incorporates giclee printing, watercolor, iridesc...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Watercolor, Foam Board, Giclée

Mouvement Spatiale, 1962 - crayon, 80x130 cm., framed.
Located in Nice, FR
He was born in Paris, the son of a conversation though open-minded middle-class family. His father runs the family business of optical equipment but he's also a theatre lover, an author and a poet. He gives his son a strict education and the boy will feel closer to his mother. Pierre De Maria will become a honest, straightforward man, uncompromising to himself and the others. He is very particular about his appearance and, as a child of the "Belle époque" takes up to a kind of dandysm. A cousin of his, Jacques Camoreyt (a pupil of Albert Maignan) teaches him how to master pictorial techniques along with the rather academic education in Arts he is going through. From 1907 to 1914 he is a student at the Lycée Condorcet, first graduates in science and languages, then at the Engineering College just before World War 1. The sight of atrocities will leave a deep scar in his memory. He has a miraculous escape from the war and finds a job in the family firm. He soon realizes he hates everything related to engineering and decides to launch on into painting. He works as a scene painter with Ronsin and Laverdet workshop and on stage with "avant-garde" drama companies. In the same time, he shows his work at the "Salon d'Automne" in 1923 an gets a honour prize in the modern painting department. In 1925 he takes up to boxing and creates some polychromatic facades with Djo Bourgeois, then gets into the Art Deco trend as an architect and a decorator. Henri-Pierre Roché, a writer (Jules et Jim) a painter and an art collector close to the cubists has already discovered talents ( Brancusi, Wols…) and takes an in interest in Pierre De Maria. Autoportrait Environ 1960 In 1926 (the "Années Folles "in Paris) Pierre De Maria meets Marcel Duchamp, Brancusi and the surrealist gang he enjoys but never joins. « They were friends and I was curious but I never liked the hint of complaisance I saw in their work. » He then starts some technical research an collages as shown in his first exhibition of "pasted gouaches" in Princess'Murat 's gallery in Paris. (« Fermé la nuit ») « I never thought I'd make money with my paintings. I took to painting as I would have taken holy orders » He works as a journalist for Marianne and Vu magazines (1932-1933) and writes a detailed report about the Maelström in Norway and the soviet Movies. He has the opportunity to meet Eisenstein and Poudovkine in Sovietic Russia and thinks of making a name for himself in the Movie industry. In 1939 Pierre De Maria meets Germaine Pellegrino who becomes his wife a year later. They'll have two sons : Jacques born 1942 and François born 1943. The family settle in Geneva at the end of 1943. During those years he writes an unpublished autobiographical novel («Tir à volonté») as well as a collection of thoughts about various topics such as war. He also writes poems and a play (as his father had done) «Cornelius'death», in a rather humorous manner. « He who conveys the opinion of fools makes certain to get the majority of votes ». In 1944 he is back in Paris, leaving his wife. He'll settle in Nice in 1953 and starts there his mechanical period with the recurrent theme of machinery in his painting. In 1958 he has his second exhibition in Paris (JC de Chaudun's gallery) and shows a series of lino-engravings done after some drawings of his: he then begins being acknowledged by his contemporaries, his fellow-painters and the Parisian artistic circle. Jacques Prévert even dedicated him a poem. («Les Machinoutis») Henri Pierre Roché, Henri-Pieyre de Mandiargues, Yves Taillandier contribute to the catalogue, well received by the press. In the meantime, he has his works exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon de Mai, and the Salon Comparaison. In 1963, Flemish wood-engraver Frans Masereel, and Professor Gowa, the curator of the Offenbach Fine Arts, both introduce Pierre De Maria successfully in Germany, allowing him to become famous abroad. The Homo Atomicus Exhibition gathers 45 paintings, recounting the artist'progress over the past ten years. He's then nicknamed the «Atomic age Hyperonymus Bosch» ! In 1964, Greek gallery owner Iris Clert finds him out and helps him into a new career. He is then 68. Iris Clert, as a specialist in Contemporary Art has contributed to the coming out of the New Realism movement through her most spectacular and mediatical exhibitions. She takes a fancy to Pierre De Maria 's work : « The visit of his studio turned my love at first sight into a cutainty : he uses the technique from the Ancients to express Future. » Afterwards, both get into intense collaboration so that the painter is allowed to use the gallery owner's european and international net. In 1966, his work's dedicated a research published in Connaissance des Arts Magazine n° 70 : » A foreground study of Pierre De Maria in this month issue ». Later an article in International Art. In 1969 he turns 73 and he can see his first retrospective exhibition in Nice at the Ponchettes Gallery (about 60 paintings). At 76, he meets artist Hélène Bottet, from then on allowing humour to take over violence in his art. Machines don't frighten him anymore, he's now able to mock them even through they remain at the core of his paintings, in spite of the mechanical Art...
Category

1960s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon

"Your New Home, " Abstract Surrealist Landscape Oil Pastel by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Your New Home" is an original oil pastel drawing on illustration board by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece lower right. It features abstract, surreal, and biomorphic obj...
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel, Illustration Board

Foot Musik
Located in Malmo, SE
Artwork size: 56 x 58 cm. Frame size: 76 x 78 cm. Free shipment worldwide. Archive number (P90/36) Acquired directly from the artist. “The heart is an eye,” writes Nobel laureate Octavio Paz in an essay on Matta’s paintings. Matta creates a world coloured both by a sunny faith in the future and by visions of impending doom. Roberto Sebastian Echaurren Antonio Matta, who died aged 91 on 23 November 2002, was born in Santiago, Chile, on 11 November 1911 into a family with Spanish, French and Basque roots, and raised in an atmosphere of religiosity. By the age of 21 he had graduated and begun work as an architect, but his leisure time he devoted to sketching and painting. In 1933 he travelled to Europe for the first time, visiting Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy and other countries, and subsequently taking the initiative to collaborate with the architect, Le Corbusier. As time passed, however, Matta’s enthusiasm for a career in architecture waned, and he began to devote himself full-time to art, making early acquaintances with surrealists such as Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, André Breton and others. Between 1939 and 1948 Matta, like many of his artistic contemporaries, lived in self-imposed exile in the USA, but, after almost 10 years’ absence from Europe, he returned to make first Rome and then, a few years later, Paris his home. Throughout most of the rest of his life Matta commuted between his studio in Paris and his creative refuge in the monastery outside Rome. And it is here, in Italy, that he produced his greatest paintings. Matta’s first retrospective in Sweden was organised in 1956 when his works were exhibited in what was then Galerie Colibri – run by, among others, the artist C O Hultén at number 36 Södra Förstadsgatan in Malmö, Sweden. This was also the time when Matta began to collaborate with poets and other artists in Sweden. He produced the illustrations for Lasse Söderberg’s first anthology of poems, Akrobaterna (“The Acrobats”), published in 1955, and was also responsible for the cover of the Swedish art and literary magazine Salamander. In 1959 the first museum exhibition of Matta’s work in Europe was arranged at the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna Museet) in Stockholm. Held under the aegis of Pontus Hultén, it was entitled “Fifteen Forms of Doubt” and included 15 or so gigantic paintings...
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media

Foot Musik
Located in Malmo, SE
Frame size 76x78 cm. Free shipment worldwide. Acquired directly from the artist. Archive number (P90/41) “The heart is an eye,” writes Nobel laureate Octavio Paz in an essay on Matta’s paintings. Matta creates a world coloured both by a sunny faith in the future and by visions of impending doom. Roberto Sebastian Echaurren Antonio Matta, who died aged 91 on 23 November 2002, was born in Santiago, Chile, on 11 November 1911 into a family with Spanish, French and Basque roots, and raised in an atmosphere of religiosity. By the age of 21 he had graduated and begun work as an architect, but his leisure time he devoted to sketching and painting. In 1933 he travelled to Europe for the first time, visiting Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy and other countries, and subsequently taking the initiative to collaborate with the architect, Le Corbusier. As time passed, however, Matta’s enthusiasm for a career in architecture waned, and he began to devote himself full-time to art, making early acquaintances with surrealists such as Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, André Breton and others. Between 1939 and 1948 Matta, like many of his artistic contemporaries, lived in self-imposed exile in the USA, but, after almost 10 years’ absence from Europe, he returned to make first Rome and then, a few years later, Paris his home. Throughout most of the rest of his life Matta commuted between his studio in Paris and his creative refuge in the monastery outside Rome. And it is here, in Italy, that he produced his greatest paintings. Matta’s first retrospective in Sweden was organised in 1956 when his works were exhibited in what was then Galerie Colibri – run by, among others, the artist C O Hultén...
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache, Mixed Media

Surrealist Composition, 1987 - gouache, 50x65 cm, framed
By Pierre de Berroeta
Located in Nice, FR
Gouache on paper, signed lower right (1914 – 2004) Né à Paris, Pierre DE BERROETA entre à l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris en 1933. Ses œuvres s’inscrivent alors...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Lincoln's Bullet as a Meteorite
Located in New York, NY
Dionisios Fragias is a New York -based artist born on the Greek island of Kefalonia and raised in New York City. He is the protege of the artist Jeff Koons whose years-long mentorshi...
Category

2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Steel, Stainless Steel

Blind Guide
Located in New York, NY
2015 Watercolor on paper 11 x 14 5/8 in. (27.9 x 37.1 cm) Unique Signed, titled, and dated on the reverse
Category

2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Untitled
Located in Ljubljana, SI
Untitled. Original watercolor, 2002. Ljubomir Ljuba Popović was a Serbian surrealist painter, who lived and worked in Paris. He is known for his fantastical scenes with disturbing, o...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled
Located in Ljubljana, SI
Untitled. Original watercolor, 2002. Ljubomir Ljuba Popović was a Serbian surrealist painter, who lived and worked in Paris. He is known for his fantastical scenes with disturbing, o...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled
Located in Ljubljana, SI
Untitled. Original watercolor, 2002. Ljubomir Ljuba Popović was a Serbian surrealist painter, who lived and worked in Paris. He is known for his fantastical scenes with disturbing, o...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

"Early Morning Light, " Oil on Paper - Abstract Surrealist
Located in Houston, TX
Primal energy leaps from the depths of the universe, as the first rays of daylight break through the dark. Artwork Details: Ithipol Thangchalok "Early Morning Light" 1998 Oil on Pa...
Category

1990s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil

Tranquility
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Surrealism has been my passion since a young age. The concept of being able to manifest my visions into a space where it can be seen and interacted with has always been fascinating...
Category

2010s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Surrealist abstract drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist abstract drawings and watercolors 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 abstract drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, green, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Cheolyu Kim, Benjamin G. Benno, Ian Hornak, and Roberto Matta. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint 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 abstract drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are also available. Prices for abstract drawings and watercolors 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 $187 and tops out at $50,000, while the average work sells for $1,800.

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