Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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.
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Birch, Wood Panel, Pen
1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel, Color Pencil, Pencil, Archival Paper, Chalk
1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pen
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Birch, Wood Panel, Pen
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Pen
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Carbon Pencil
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
Artist Comments
How is that made? How is that baked? How did they get that color? How did the holes in Swiss cheese get there? Trade Secrets answers that question. Hole ...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Birch, Wood Panel, Pen
1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel, Paper, Crayon
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Color Pencil, Paper, Acrylic
1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
Artist Comments
Dwight Smith's realist watercolors revolve around uncommon relationships and the balancing of opposites. He pairs subjects that typically don't appear together to tell humorous, and often personal, stories. Dwight says of this painting, There is a thrill in growing a garden. My parents had a rather large garden when I was growing up. My brother and I reluctantly had to take care of it. Garden Popup #3 pays homage to that time but with humor. I imagined a radish popping...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold
1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Artist Comments
Overflow is an original watercolor painted on heavy weight paper. I eliminated the proper scale of what should be to get my ideas across. After seeing this ...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Graphite
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Pen
1960s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Crayon
1980s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Illustration Board, Ink
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, India Ink
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Tempera
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Tempera
1930s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Granite
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Ink, Paper, Archival Paper, Ink, Canvas
Early 2000s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1990s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil
20th Century Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Crayon, Pencil
1950s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Crayon, Color Pencil
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Ink
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Chalk, Pastel, Archival Paper
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Pen
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
India Ink, Acrylic, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, India Ink, Acrylic, Graphite
1970s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor
1940s Surrealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf