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Surrealist Interior 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
A Compelling, Surrealist 1946 Mid-Century Modern Still Life by Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Compelling, Surrealist 1946 Mid-Century Modern Still Life Drawing by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A visually striking, finely executed charcoal drawing o...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A Man's Home is His Castle, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A landscape watercolor painted in the realist tradition blends humor with commentary on modern life. The scene reflects on the cost of living and the conditio...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Frida Khalo's House - Whimsical Surrealist Modern House Watercolor Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor

Tilt, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A surreal pinball game unfolds as oversized marbles cascade on a fire escape outside an inner city dwelling. The complimentary colors between the building and...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

The Queen - Watercolor House Home Original Painting Whimiscal Playful Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor

New York No. 50 - Watercolor House Home Original Painting Whimiscal Playful Art
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor

New York No. 1968 - Whimsical Playful House Home Original Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor

New York No. 14 - Watercolor House Home Original Painting Whimiscal
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor

Tentacion, Surrealist Ink Drawing by J. Benito Zamora
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: J. Benito Zamora, Mexican (1951 - ) Title: Tentacion Year: 1978 Medium: Pen and Ink on Paper, signed and dated l.r. Size: 15 in. x 11.5 in. (38.1...
Category

1970s Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Visitation man, bird, spiritual theme warm colors interior space
Located in Brooklyn, NY
pastel on toned suitable for framing under glass.
Category

2010s Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Silent Song stone female bust with singing bird empty cage dark and light colors
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Soft pastel on sanded toned paper suitable for framing under glass ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

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Category

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By the Fireside
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
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The Open Window - 19th Century British Children's Book illustration by Sowerby
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JOHN GEORGE SOWERBY (1849-1914) Phoebe - The Open Window Watercolour heightened with white Unframed, in mount only 8 by 7 cm., 3 by 2 ¼ in. (mount size 25.5 by 20 cm., 10 by 8 in.) Reproduced: J G Sowerby & Thomas Crane, At Home, Marcus Ward & Co, 1881, p.42. The current work was reproduced in Sowerby and Crane’s 1881 children’s book, At Home, where is accompanied by the following verse: All the morning, all the morning, Sat she till her tasks were done; While without were birds and blossoms, And the pleasant sun. And the leaves in ev’ry rustle, And the birds in ev’ry song:- “Phoebe, Phoebe, are you coming? Phoebe, don’t be long!” Whispered thro’ the open window Gentle breezes, passing by:- “Phoebe, are you coming, Phoebe? Come before we die!” Till the clock, with joyful measure, Struck the hour when work is o’er; Crying “Ponto’” Phoebe vanished Through the open door. Whither sped out nimble Phoebe? She is in the study now; Ponto heard her with she called him, - Answered back “Bow-wow!’ “Ponto, tho’ the birds and garden, Called me all the morning thro’ I had first to do my lessons – So I think should you.” Poor old Ponto! He is longing, Longing for his game of play, And the garden – ah: but Phoebe Has a word to say. “Beg then – beg, sir – do you hear me? No, no, Ponto, that is wrong; Paws up! Steady! Ah, that’s better! Good dog, come along!” John George Sowerby was born into a prosperous Gateshead family of glass manufactures and artists. He inherited the family business, the Ellison Glass Works, one of the world’s largest producers of pressed glass, where he introduced designs inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. Initially he combined his energies at the glass works with his work as an illustrator and painter of landscapes and floral subjects with a Pre-Raphaelite intensity, strong colours and rich detail. He exhibited many of these paintings at the Royal Academy. In the 1880s he collaborated with Newcastle artist, Henry Hetherington Emmerson, on illustrations for the children’s books Afternoon Tea (1880) and The May Blossom (1881). Although were critically very well received but the publications were attacked by Kate Greenaway who considered them too close to her own work. Sowerby then went on to produce highly aesthetic illustrated books At Home (1881) and At Home Again (1883), with decorations by Thomas Crane. Gleeson White, editor of The Studio magazine stated that in Afternoon Tea Sowerby “set a new fashion for ‘aesthetic’ little quartos’ (The Studio, 1897). Roger Dixon in Belfast Publishing (Oxford University Press, 2011, p.79) considered these At Home and At Home Again to be “among the loveliest books ever produced.” Never very wise as a business man, in the early 1880s he left Ellison Glass Works being declared bankrupt in 1884. He returned to the works again as a paid employee. Sowerby’s daughter, Millicent Sowerby...
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Previously Available Items
Fools Mate
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2010s Surrealist Interior Drawings and Watercolors

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Surrealist interior drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist interior 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. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Maria C. Bernhardsson, Dwight Smith, and Stephen Basso. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and 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 interior drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 7 inches across are also available. Prices for interior 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 $375 and tops out at $2,500, while the average work sells for $490.

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