Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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
Decomposition, Surrealist Pencil Drawing by Charles Pfahl
Located in Long Island City, NY
Charles Pfahl, American (1946 - 2013) - Decomposition, Medium: Pencil drawing, signed in pencil lower right, Image Size: 8 x 8 inches, Frame Size: 19.75 x 21.25 inches
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite
Surreal intimate scene, green and blue, boat and fashion magazine
Located in Carballo, ES
Ventura A. Pérez (1992) is one of the most seductive artists on the contemporary Spanish scene. After earning a doctorate in contemporary art from the University of Vigo, he moved to...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Land's End (Black Surrealist Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Land’s End, 1971
Ink on paper, 3.25 × 5 inches
Signed and dated.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Ali...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Paysage de l'infini by José Gerson - Drawing 50x70 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Color Pencil
$240 Sale Price
20% Off
Ancestor Worship (Black Surrealist Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Ancestor Worship, 1971.
Pen and ink drawing.
4 w. x 6 h. inches,
Signed and dated lower right.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on Jul...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Readiness (Black Surrealist Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Readiness, 1971.
Pen and ink drawing.
4 w. x 6 h. inches,
Signed and dated lower right.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 19...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Lying Down Watching The Sun Go Down - Colorful Whimsical Figurative Art on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian painter Silvia Pavarini is known for her distinctly feminine artworks that resonate with the quiet whispers of nature. Each piece she creates embodies an ongoing dialogue wit...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
Dante and Beatrice - Original WATERCOLOR, Signed (Descharnes #d6970_1951)
Located in Paris, IDF
Salvador Dali
Divine Comedy : Dante and Beatrice, 1952
Original watercolor
Signed in lower center
Dated 1952
On vellum lined on thin board 42 x 30 cm (c. 17 x 12in)
REFERENCES :
Th...
Category
1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Lying in Thoughts - Original Colorful Whimsical Figurative Surreal Art on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian painter Silvia Pavarini is known for her distinctly feminine artworks that resonate with the quiet whispers of nature. Each piece she creates embodies an ongoing dialogue wit...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
"Foxglove" (2024) By Ania Mohrbacher, Original Fantasy Watercolor Painting
Located in Denver, CO
"Foxglove" (2024) Is an original watercolor fantasy painting, which depicts a young witch and her black cat in the center of a clearing in a forest, rife with magical flora and fauna...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Que Font Ces Gens - Ink Drawing by Salvador Dalì - 1945
Located in Roma, IT
Que font ces gens is a beautiful modern artwork realized by Salvador Dalì in 1945.
China Ink Drawing on paper.
Original outstanding drawing realized to illustrate the book "The Labyrinth" by Maurice Sandoz, published in 1945.
Signed and dated on the lower right recto.
Executed on thick cream wove paper, not laid down and taped to the mount along the upper edge. The upper, right and lower edges are slightly unevenly cut. There are two pinholes towards the upper right and upper left corners. The sheet is time stained and there is a spot of foxing beneath the lower edge of the drawing. There are some remnants from previous mounting at the upper two corners not visible when framed. There are handling marks to the perimeter of the sheet. The ink is strong and well preserved.
The artwork is accompanied by authentication of Robert P. Descharnes, Paris 2003, reference archive: D-3461.
Prov. Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Sale...
Category
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Original Drawing Salom, Herod & Head John Baptist Secret Life of Salvador Dali
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali
TITLE: Salom, Herod, and The Head of John The Baptist Original Drawing in "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" Book
MEDIUM: Original Drawing
SIGNED: Hand Signe...
Category
1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Contemporary colored pencil drawing. Untitled
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Oil Pastel, Pencil, petal flowers, Color and Ink on Paper.
I use natural dyes of flowers, herbs, leaves, bark of trees as the first process of drawing, then on this surface I draw t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Ink, Color Pencil
Anthem (Black Surrealist Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Anthem, 1972.
Ink on Paper, 4.75 × 7 inches.
Signed and dated.
Measuring 12 × 16 inches in acid-free matting.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
Face and Flowers
By Leonor Fini
Located in Columbia, MO
Leonor Fini was born in Argentina in 1907 but travelled and lived in Europe with her mother from a young age. By 1931, she was in Paris, in the full swing of the Surrealist movement....
Category
20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Etching
"Crystal Study" (2024) By Babs Webb, Original Fantasy Graphite Illustration
Located in Denver, CO
"Crystal Study" is a powdered graphite illustration, detailed with acrylic created by the talented fantasy artist Babs Webb. Depicted in this piece is a standard crystal formation, f...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Archival Paper, Graphite
A Fabulous, Surrealist 1946 Mid-Century Modern Abstract Portrait of a Young Man
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fabulous, Surrealist 1946 Mid-Century Modern Abstract Portrait of a Young Man by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Titled "Introspective Stare", the drawing is ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
Interior (Black Surrealist Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Interior, 1973.
Ink on paper, 7.5 inches diameter.
Signed and dated.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of ...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
"Study for Ladders" Juanita Guccione, Abstract Surrealism, Female Artist
Located in New York, NY
Juanita Guccione (1904 - 1999)
Study for Ladders, 1948
Gouache on paper
17 x 13 inches
Signed lower left, dated, and inscribed “Study for Oil Painting...
Category
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache
$20,000 Sale Price
20% Off
A 1946 Mid-Century Modern Surrealist Male Portrait Study, Binocular Vision
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1946 Mid-Century Modern Surrealist Male Portrait Study by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A compelling portrait study, perhaps a self portrait of the artist,...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
A Colorful Pointillist Landscape by the Cliff, c. 1935
Located in Stockholm, SE
This painting, created around 1935, showcases Axel Olson's experimentation with surrealism during the 1930s. Executed with a technique reminiscent of pointillism, the artwork capture...
Category
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia
Located in Surfside, FL
DAVID JAMES GILHOOLY (American, 1943-2013),
Mixed media collage
6 x 4 inches,
Hand signed and dated verso
Napoleon from the back, with King Henry VIII holding a pastry.
titled: "England cannot be conquered by a few French pastries"
cut and pasted cardstock assemblage, collaged art.
David Gilhooly RCA (1943 – 2013), was an American ceramicist, sculptor, painter, printmaker, and professor. He is best known for pioneering the Funk art movement. He made a series of ceramic frogs called FrogWorld, as well as ceramic food, planets, and other creatures.
David James Gilhooly III was born on April 15, 1943, in Auburn, California. He was raised in Los Altos, California; Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands; and Humacao, Puerto Rico.
He enrolled in University of California, Davis (UC Davis) initially studying biology, followed by anthropology, and ending with a focus on fine art. While attending UC Davis, Gilhooly served as artist Robert Arneson assistant starting in 1963. He graduated from UC Davis with a BA degree in 1965, and an MA degree in 1967.
Gilhooly, together with Robert Arneson, Peter Vandenberge, Chris Unterseher, and Margaret Dodd, working together in TB-9 (temporary building 9) were what was later to be called, The Funk Ceramic...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Cherry and Beetroot - Original Playful Food Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Man with Telephone - Surrealist Black and White Portrait in Ink on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Man with Telephone - Surrealist Black and White Portrait in Ink on Paper
Surrealist composition by an unknown artist (20th Century). A man dressed in a su...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, India Ink, Pen, Pencil
Abra Cadabra - Original Whimsical Abstract Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Contemporary colored pencil drawing. Untitled
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Oil Pastel, Pencil, petal flowers, Color and Ink on Paper.
I use natural dyes of flowers, herbs, leaves, bark of trees as the first process of drawing, then on this surface I draw t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Ink, Color Pencil
Leslie Fry_Steep Drape_2018_Acrylic, Ink, Collage on paper_Surrealism
Located in Darien, CT
Leslie's public projects respond to site, history and the body. Figures are female or hermaphroditic, of imaginary descent, often melded with animal, architecture and plant forms. I ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
Surrealist painting on board, bright colors and green shadows, diptych
Located in Carballo, ES
Ventura A. Pérez (1992) is one of the most seductive artists on the contemporary Spanish scene. After earning a doctorate in contemporary art from the University of Vigo, he moved to...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
The Old Town - Original Vibrant Abstract Neighborhood Landscape Collage Artwork
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Untitled
By Wifredo Lam
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Wifredo Lam, Cuban (1902 - 1982)
Title: Untitled - I
Year: 1957
Medium: Crayon and Pastel on Paper, signed and dated l.r.
Paper Size: 22 in. x 26.5 in. (55.88 cm x 67.31...
Category
1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Crayon, Pastel
$150,000
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
Satyr, Pan and Deer - Greek mythology
Located in Miami, FL
This pen and ink from 1920 depicts a Greek mythological scene with a Satyr companioning Pan, who plays the flute to an interested woodland deer. It is rendered in minute detail with...
Category
1920s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
India Ink, Board, Pencil
Leslie Fry_Revelation_2016_Acrylic on paper_Surrealism_Framed
Located in Darien, CT
Leslie's public projects respond to site, history and the body. Figures are female or hermaphroditic, of imaginary descent, often melded with animal, architecture and plant forms. I ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
untitled, original
By Paul Colin
Located in Belgrade, MT
This piece is a limited edition, pencil signed by the artist on the print and in the plate. It is part of my private collection of artists from the School of Paris era. It is in very...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Engraving, Lithograph
$680 Sale Price
20% Off
Plumb, Original Painting
By Dwight Smith
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A towering stack of pancakes, topped with butter and dripping syrup, balances as a plumb line ensures its perfect level. The precise measurement keeps the foo...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Flowers and Fruit - Original Vibrant Still Life Flowers and Fruit Bowl Artwork
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Original From The Secret Life of Slavador Dali
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali
TITLE: Original Drawing in "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" Book
MEDIUM: Original Drawing
SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali
PUBLISHER: Book Dial Press...
Category
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper
Sketch for the Cover of Andrei Voznesensky's Collection of Poems - French Bird
By Marc Chagall
Located in London, GB
This brush, pen and India ink with pencil drawing is stamp signed “Marc Chagall” in the lower left corner.
It was executed in 1973 and bears the estate inventory number D1852f, verso...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, India Ink, Pen, 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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Exotic - Original Abstract Colorful Whimsical Figurative Feminine Art on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian painter Silvia Pavarini is known for her distinctly feminine artworks that resonate with the quiet whispers of nature. Each piece she creates embodies an ongoing dialogue wit...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
Untitled Nude. Pencil drawing on paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
"Estrada-Duran combines realism and surrealism in his work, the artists paintings are often monochromatic pencil drawings with overlays of gold paint that depict goddess-like women ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold
Hungry Vampire Theaters
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Ink on paper, framed.
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
$406 Sale Price
35% Off
Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Women artist Green Blue
By Isabel Rock
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...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut
Untitled Concert Hall painting Mid Century Surrealistic spiritual unique signed
Located in New York, NY
Agatha Wojciechowsky
Untitled Concert Hall Abstraction Watercolor, 1964
Watercolor on thick wove paper (with original label from Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery)
Signed and dated by the artist on the lower-right front
19 3/4 × 15 inches
Unframed
Dazzling 1960s, modern abstraction watercolor piece. This work was acquired from the legendary Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery
Agatha Wojciechowsky (1896 -1986) was recognized during her lifetime as a Surrealist. Although not following an art movement, her work reflected the sentiment of Art Informel of the 1950's. She had solo exhibitions from the 1960's to the present in New York, Cologne, Berlin, and Hamburg. Group exhibitions included shows with Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Jean Dubuffet, Isamu Noguchi, Francis Picabia, Romare Bearden. Her artwork can be found in numerous public collections including Museum of Modern Art, the Prado, the Menil Collection, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum.
Agatha lived her earlier years in Steinach de Saale, and then sailed to the United States in 1923 to be a German-speaking governess in a German baron...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Watercolor
Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Artist Blue Pink
By Isabel Rock
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:
Porthole to Another Dimension, 168x153cm, 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:
Porthole to Another Dimension
The legend said, that down by the river, beneath the purple hills, where the black iris...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut
"Paysage linéaire" by José Gerson - Watercolor on paper 69x50 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category
1980s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
$240 Sale Price
20% Off
Surrealist Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ artist Blue Fountain Pink Poodle
By Isabel Rock
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 and you decide to follow.
Artwork Details:
Isabel Rock , 'Just another Day in Paradise', mixed media on best archival paper, 85cm x 140cm, unframed, 2022
In Rock's own words,
'It was just another day in Paradise for the Pink Poodle People of the Everlasting Fountain of Eternal Joy.
Since every day was Paradise it was just another normal day filled with love, ecstasy and wonder.
It started slowly at first, things began to appear in paradise, strange objects that the Pink Poodle People did not know what to do with. Some had sharp edges, others were so and smelt strange, bad strange. Some things glittered and shone. Every day more of these objects would arrive in Paradise.
' If this happens every day then soon Paradise will be full of these strange objects. Some of them are nice but many are bad and smelly. One day there will be no Paradise, only bad, sharp and smelly things.'
But the Pink Poodle People did not know what to do with the objects and every day more arrived.'
Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio
A certificate of authentication comes from Gallery Art 1821
photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown
About Isabel Rock and her work:
Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations.
Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink. An essential tool is a squirrel...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
Beach Houses - Original Watercolor Abstracted Colorful Red Cityscape
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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Fresh Sketch - Red Ink Drawing by Wifredo Lam - 1970
By Wifredo Lam
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful fresh sketch in red ink on an ivory-colored paper, with an autograph dedication "Per Pino Fasio amicia Pittore Wifredo Lam Albissola 1970" . Dated and signed in red ink. V...
Category
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
An Avant-Garde, Modern Surreal Abstract Dreamscape, "Lost" by Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
An Avant-Garde, Abstract Modern Surrealist Dreamscape by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A striking, black & white charcoal drawing on paper depicting a lone ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
"The Famished Vampire" (2024) By Timothy Von Rueden, Original Graphite Drawing
Located in Denver, CO
"The Famished Vampire" (2024) by Timothy Von Rueden is an original handmade graphite drawing that depicts an imprisoned vampire, who's hands are bound and has a cage on his head.
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Graphite
June in the Meadows - Colorful Whimsical Figurative Feminine Artwork on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian painter Silvia Pavarini is known for her distinctly feminine artworks that resonate with the quiet whispers of nature. Each piece she creates embodies an ongoing dialogue wit...
Category
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
Hesitation Blues (Black Surrealist Artist)
By Roland Ayers
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 archival pH-neutral matting. Signed and dated lower right. Excellent condition with no damage or restoration.
Provenance: Sheila Ayers-Whitelaw
Exhibition History: Roland Ayers: Calligraphy of Dreams, Woodmere Art Museum, 07/10/2021 - 10/24/2021
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
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