Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
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.
1930s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
1950s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Crayon, Pastel
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
1990s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Permanent Marker
1950s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
1940s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
1960s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Color Pencil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Engraving, Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Color Pencil
1930s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Oil Pastel, Pastel, Pencil, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pigment, Linen, Printer's Ink, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1960s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Graphite
1950s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Rag Paper
Late 20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Crayon, Wax Crayon, Wax, Pen
Late 20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache
1970s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Archival Paper, Acrylic, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
1960s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Graphite
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pencil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pen, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pencil, Graphite
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1950s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1970s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Color Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Foam Board, Pencil, Graphite
Early 20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Graphite
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, India Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1970s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1960s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
Early 2000s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
1950s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Wax Crayon
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
1960s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Gouache
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pigment, Linen, Printer's Ink, Mixed Media
1980s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Acrylic
1930s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
20th Century Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Graphite