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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
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 ...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink

Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Bable, Drawing 2014
Located in Greenwich, CT
"Sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning “thread”, is a word or small group of words that summarize an entire complex web of ideas, truths, wisdoms, or teachings all woven together into a sin...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil, Graphite

Watercolor on paper with mixed media: )"Fertile Crescents" (long dogs)
Located in New York, NY
Shiri Mordechay's paintings are a whirlwind of emotion and complexity, drawing the viewer into a vibrant and dynamic world. Each piece is packed with countless details, your eyes are...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Oedipus Specs, Surrealist Ink, Graphite, and Collage on Paper by Rita Simon
Located in Long Island City, NY
Oedipus Specs Rita Simon (aka Atirnomis), American (1938) Date: 1972 Ink, Graphite and Collage on Paper, signed and dated in ink lower right, titled in ink on verso Image Size: 8.75 ...
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1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Graphite

Anemones - Colorful Green Still Life Flowers in Vase Bright Original 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 photographing and sketching houses...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

All We Need Is Flowers - Still Life Flowers in Vase Colorful Contemporary
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...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Chroessi Schnell - "The turning point" - surrealist abstract forms of a dream
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Chroessi Schnell - "The turning point". Surrealism, abstract forms, dream universe. Mixed techniques: acryl painting, plaster, metal and varnish. Mixed Media on canvas and signed....
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Chroessi Schnell - "Surreal Maps" - surrealist abstract forms of a dream
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Chroessi Schnell - "Surreal Maps". Surrealism, abstract forms, dream universe. They are Alienations of the maps of "Münsterland" where my mother was born and grew up as a farmers d...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

Charmin
By Greg Craola Simkins
Located in Dallas, TX
He grew up with a menagerie of animals including a number of rabbits, which often emerge in his paintings. He began drawing at the early age of three and was inspired by various cartoons and books. Some standout books that still find their way into his art are Watership Down...
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21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

20th Century French Surrealist, avant-garde, naive drawing
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Jeantimir Kchaoudoff (French, 1941 – 2017) Le Carrosse du prints Ink and crayon on paper Signed ‘JEANTIMIR’ (lower left) 9.1/2 x 12.5/8 in. (24.2 ...
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20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Crayon, 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 ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Babel, Drawing 2014
Located in Greenwich, CT
Sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning “thread”, is a word or small group of words that summarize an entire complex web of ideas, truths, wisdoms, or teachings all woven together into a sing...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Watercolor on paper: Sweet Grapes" (grapes and lamb)
Located in New York, NY
Shiri Mordechay's paintings are a whirlwind of emotion and complexity, drawing the viewer into a vibrant and dynamic world. Each piece is packed with countless details, your eyes are...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Graphite

French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - The crow
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic on paper, Framed 42 x 42 x 3 cm Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced b...
Category

1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Surrealist Pop Culture Colored Drawing, "Oh, Edward" by Evgeniya Golik
Located in San Diego, CA
A 15” x 12” Surrealist Pop Culture Figurative Colored Drawing with White Ink by artist Evgeniya Golik. A certificate of authenticity will accompany the piece upon its purchase or del...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Color Pencil

Lulu in Space – 11-07-24, Drawing, Pastels on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
The Sale of Louise This pastel drawing ‘Lulu – 11-07-24’ depicts new adventurous endeavours celebrity moviestar Louise Brooks is about to undertake. Exit Metropolis! Let me ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Predatory Animals - Drawing, Pink, Animals, Orange, Surrealist
Located in Baden-Baden, DE
Predatory Animals, 2014 acryl, pencil and black fineliner on paper 13.89 H x 19.68 W in 35.3 H x 50 W cm Raluca Arnăutu creates a zoomorphic world, whe...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Australian Aboriginal Fairy Tale in Jungle Scene Fantasy like Paul Gauguin
Located in Miami, FL
Brilliant Italian Illustrator Gianni Benvenuti paints a moody fantasy that illustrates an Australian Fairy Tale. A young and fit Aboriginal man is scene chasing a beautiful Aborigin...
Category

1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor, Illustration Board, Pencil

Royal Dreams - 21st Century, Drawing on Paper, Tree, Crown, Blue, Fantasy
Located in Baden-Baden, DE
Royal Dreams, 2013 Black and colored fine liner on paper 16.53 H x 11.69 W in 42 H x 29.7 W cm Raluca Arnăutu creates a zoomorphic world, where animals...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

1959 Black & White Mid-Century, Surrealist Abstraction by Artist Desmond Mclean
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1959 black and white, Mid-Century, Surrealist watercolor on paper by artist Desmond McLean in a cerused black frame. Image size: 15 1/2" x 22 1/2". Framed size: 25" x 21". McL...
Category

1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

(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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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 ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

"Therapeutic Horse Knowledge, " Oil Pastel on Board signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Therapeutic Horse Knowledge" is an original oil pastel drawing on board by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece upper left. This piece features a surreal and abstract enviro...
Category

1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Board

Snakes, Surrealist Ink Drawing by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
On a long desert plain are teepee-like structures erected in the sand. This unique original drawing by Polish artist Wojtek Kowalczyk replaces the typical materials of these huts wit...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Cacti, Surrealist Ink Drawing by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
In this intricately hand-drafted and drawn piece by Polish artist Wojtek Kowalczyk, a railroad track seems to stretch on into infinity. On the left, t...
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2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Horses, Surrealist Ink Drawing by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
In this detailed, hand-drawn and drafted work in ink on paper by Polish artist Wojtek Kowalczyk, a stampede of horses runs down the center of the composition. Markedly though, the ho...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

70s Modernist Swiss Dada Surrealist Painting Signed Andre Thomkins Brush Drawing
Located in Surfside, FL
This is titled "Karrierist" the German word for careerist and depicts a surreal face on a figure with a Salvador Dali esque quality about it. Published by Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart They published concrete poetry and art books by Mark Boyle, Richard Hamilton, Dorothy Iannone, John Latham, Tom Phillips, Dieter Roth, André Thompkins and Emmett Williams, to name just a few. André Thomkins (1930 - 1985) was a Swiss painter, illustrator, and poet. He attended art-school, taught by Max von Moos, 1947 – 1949 and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, France, 1950. From 1952, he lived in Germany and taught at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1971 and 1973. Thomkins painted and drew ironic and fantastic pictures influenced by surrealism and dadaism. Together with Dieter Roth and Daniel Spoerri he prepared works of Eat Art. He also was a writer of palindromes. His friends and collaborators included Daniel Spoerri, Dieter Roth, George Brecht, Richard Hamilton and Karl Gerstner, Thomkins gained a reputation as an ‘artist’s artist’, and is considered one of the most important Swiss artists of the second half of the twentieth century.He died in 1985. His work is currently represented by Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Switzerland. Select group exhibitions: 2018 Kunsthalle Krems, 'Pablo Picasso. Arshile Gorky, Andy Warhol. Sculptures and Works on Paper. Hubert Looser Collection', Krems, Austria 2017 Kunsthandel Wolfgang Werner, 'Martin Barré, Karl Otto Götz, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, André Thomkins', Berlin, Germany 2013 Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie, 'Schweizer Avantgarde Kunst nach 1940', Zurich, Switzerland 2009 The Modern Institute, 'Thomas Houseago, Dieter Roth, Andre Thomkins', Glasgow, England Museum of Modern Art, 'Compass in Hand: Selections from the Judith Rothschild Collection', NYC 2004 Kunsthandel Wolfgang Werner, 'Arman, Baumeister, Götz, Graubner, Tàpies, Thomkins', Berlin, Germany 1994 Kunstmuseum Solothurn, 'Eine Schenkung. Grafik von Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Ben Nicholson, Giacometti, Tinguely, Thomkins', Solothurn, Switzerland 1992 Galerie Littmann, Tinguely zu Ehren. A Tribute to Jean Tinguely. Hommage à Tinguely, Basel, 1988 Museum Ludwig, 'Uebrigens sterben immer die anderen. Marcel Duchamp und die Avantgarde seit 1950', Cologne, Germany 1987 Aargauer Kunsthaus, 'Otto Grimm. Marc-Antoine Fehr. Christoph Gredinger', Aarau, Switzerland Cercle Municipal, 'Art contemporain suisse. Collection de la Banque du Gothard', Luxembourg, 1985 Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, 'Livres d'artistes', Paris, France Rathaus, 'Claude Sandoz – Hans Schärer...
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1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Geometric Multicolor Surrealist Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s
Located in Atlanta, GA
These lovely original project drawings, hand-painted with colored pencils on translucent tracing paper, were designed by a French artist circa the 1960s. The two paintings feature a study of kitchen accessories: a soup tureen and a vintage coffee bean...
Category

1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Geometric Color Variation Surrealist Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s
Located in Atlanta, GA
These stunning original project drawings, hand-painted with colored pencils on translucent tracing paper, were designed by a French artist circa the 1960s. The two paintings feature ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Surrealist Geometric Color Variation Drawings on Tracing Paper, France 1960s
Located in Atlanta, GA
These stunning original project drawings, hand-painted with colored pencil on translucent tracing paper were designed by a French artist, in the 1960s. The two paintings feature a ge...
Category

1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Diggity Dog, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Painted in a realist tradition, a hotdog in a bun takes center stage in this modern still life. Artist Dwight Smith enjoys exaggerating the scale of objects t...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Surrealist composition by José Gerson n°4 - Drawing 42x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category

1980s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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...
Category

1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Cadaques No. 24, Surrealist 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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Color Pencil

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Pen

Beak to Beak, figures birds fire escape mixed media collage w etching urban
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Watercolor and cut paper collage w/ etching of staircase. Dream scape fire escape imagery
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Mixed Media

Exquisite Corpse, Cadavre Exquis, Spanish Surrealist Drawing 3 Artists
Located in Surfside, FL
Provenance: This piece was deaccessioned from the Bass museum in Miami Beach florida. This piece is a good museum example of Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original French term cadavre exquis), A method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. This example is by Manuel Saez, Xisco Mensua and Guillermo Paneque. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed. The technique was invented by surrealists. Surrealism principal founder André Breton reported that it started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. In the beginning were Yves Tanguy, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Prévert, Benjamin Péret, Pierre Reverdy, and André Breton. Other participants probably included Max Morise, Joan Miró, Man Ray, Simone Collinet, Tristan Tzara, Georges Hugnet, René Char, and Paul and Nusch Éluard. Henry Miller often partook of the game to pass time in French cafés during the 1930s. Manuel Sáez (born 6 March 1961) is a Spanish, self-taught artist. Since 1984, he has been living and working in Valencia. The Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana describes Manuel Sáez as among the most important painters of the turn of the 21st century owing to his simultaneously sensual and psychological approach to the world of objects, landscapes, figures and portraits. As a resident fellow of the Spanish Fine Arts Academy in Rome in 1990, Sáez elaborated a series of portraits called Biografia no autorizada In 1991 Sáez held his first important show at the Fundació La Caixa. in Valencia In 1996 he presented his first retrospective, Colección Exclusiva 1984-1995, in the Club Diario Levante of Valencia, as well as the Madrid Circle of Fine Arts, the Salas Verónicas of Murcia, the Castellón Delegation and the Brocense of Cáceres. In 2000 Sáez exhibited in Mexico City's Museo Rufino Tamayo and in the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM) in Valencia. In 2008 Sáez's work could be seen at the Sala Parpalló in Valencia. In 2003-04, Dispersions was exhibited at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami. In 2007, Sáez's work is featured in the Valencian Institute of Modern Art's (IVAM) El Pop Art en la Colección del IVAM ("Pop Art in the IVAM Collection") in Valencia.[12] Xisco Mensua Initially studied at Escuelas Virtèlia, but followed an atypical school career due to illness. Began to paint in 1978. Took a course in painting at the Escola d’Arts i Oficis (Valencia), where he had lived since the age of eight. Lived in Barcelona from 1982 to 1987, studying art at the Escola Eina for the first two years. Returned to Valencia and began exhibiting in 1990. Produced works in co-operation with Fernando Ros and Mim Juncà, as well as designing stage sets for the theatre. Now forms part of the Jacques Moran collective. Through drawing, Mensua creates a fictional world in an exercise in which he transfigures common references, whether intimate or biographic, political or social. Guillermo Paneque Seville, 1963 Spanish painter. He completed his artistic training at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Seville, Director and founder, along with Rafael Agredano and José Espaliú, of the magazine Figura in 1984. It is in the mid-eighties when his work is made known within the Andalusian artistic scene, through the production of small format paintings populated with references and symbols from the religious and everyday environment that the author mixes with a playful sense and with erotic characters that reveal a clear rejection of the Andalusian artistic tradition. His work evolves towards a formal synthesis and an iconographic cleansing in the line of conceptual art. He has starred in numerous solo exhibitions and participated in important collectives, among which include: Aperto 86 at the Venice Biennial (1986), Spain 87. Dynamiques and Interrogations (1987) at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris, Spanish natures...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Carbon Pencil

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 ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Mythical Man, male figure w dark skin among birch tree forest earth tones, blue
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These collages were created first in the presence of a model, working quickly, in charcoal and pastel, and again, later, alone, furiously tearing and pasting images from magazines, v...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Crayon

Untitled (Abstract Angel Gabriel)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Abstract Angel Gabriel) Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Ink on heavy archival paper Size: 18.5 x 22 inches Condi...
Category

1980s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Untitled
Located in Dallas, TX
Pencil drawing of a furry structure with an eye. Surrealist artwork.420
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Mlle. Jeanne at the Window, No. II
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Mlle. Jeanne at the Window, No. II Charcoal on paper, 1933 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Illustrated: Gustafson, Zimmerli Museum, 1988, "Benjamin Benno: A Retrospective Ex...
Category

1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

Big Fruit Nude, colorful, imaginative nude with fruit on pastel on toned paper
Located in Brooklyn, NY
*ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

Surrealist Painting on Tile, "Alter Ago II"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original painting on glazed tile by Southern California artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 8.8" x 10.8" x 1.5". It is framed as pictured. A certificate of authenticit...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled Surrealist Mythical Portrait
Located in Houston, TX
Abstract Surrealist ink and gouache drawing of a human and deer hybrid head sitting within a jar. The work is signed by the artist in the bottom corner. The work is framed in a silve...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Gouache

Surrealist Mixed Media Artwork, "Coraline"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original mixed media artwork by Southern California artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 8" x 10" x .75". It is unframed. A certifica...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Chaos, black and earth colors, figure, animals, creation, rain
Located in Brooklyn, NY
elephant bat butterfly panda These collages were created first in the presence of a model, working quickly, in charcoal and pastel, and again, later, alone, furiously tearing and pas...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Thoughts Above the Trees, Drawing, Pencil/Colored Pencil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
Color pencil and graphite over markers and diluted paint. Surreal landscape appearing to show brightly colored flowers or trees with an optimistic bright blue sky and fluffy white cl...
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

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...
Category

1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

erotica al fresco, narrative architectural fantasy w female nudes
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pastel on toned paper
Category

2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Still life with fish bones, pencil and pencil sharpener / - The irony of art -
Located in Berlin, DE
Manfred K. Schwitteck (*1948), Still life with fish bones, pencil and pencil sharpener, 1992. watercolor over pencil on handmade paper, 31.5 x 45 cm (visible size), 47 x 61 cm (frame...
Category

1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Etching, Watercolor

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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Impossible Solutions at The Fountain of Youth
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Impossible Solutions at The Fountain of Youth Collage on paper, 1987 Signed with the artist's initials and datedlower left Condition: Good, with the ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

Mythical Creature with Foliage Painted on Handmade Paper
Located in Houston, TX
Deer and owl hybrid creature that is similar to a mythological creature painted with foliage on handmade paper. The piece is not signed. It is not framed.
Category

20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Surrealist drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist drawings and watercolor paintings 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 drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Isabel Rock, Corne Akkers, Maria C. Bernhardsson, and Sergio Barletta. 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 3.75 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings 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 $121 and tops out at $224,500, while the average work sells for $1,494.

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