Skip to main content

Surrealist Mixed Media

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.

to
32
112
44
83
47
34
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
72
248
1
1
4
4
12
5
11
22
8,809
6,093
1,283
991
549
261
178
160
120
70
30
25
4
210
61
43
12
8
6
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
208
107
106
64
64
34
21
19
12
6
94
67
250
52
Style: Surrealist
"Picador" 1966 Experimental Surrealist Composition
"Picador" 1966 Experimental Surrealist Composition

"Picador" 1966 Experimental Surrealist Composition

Located in Soquel, CA

"Picador" 1966 Experimental Surrealist Composition Intriguing mixed-media piece by prominent California artist Morris Broderson (b. 1928 d. 2011.) A picador sits upon his horse, hol...

Category

1960s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Graphite, Pinhole, Color Pencil

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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 Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"Full head"
"Full head"

"Full head"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

"Full head: As in the bosom o’ the stream"" is a monumental silk scarf artwork (135x135cm) exploring the intersection of poetic nostalgia and modern myth. This immersive piece draws ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

Sunrise - Original Cool Tone Abstract Urban Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
Sunrise - Original Cool Tone Abstract Urban Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

Sunrise - Original Cool Tone Abstract Urban Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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 Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Futura Skateboard Deck (Futura 2000)
Futura Skateboard Deck (Futura 2000)

Futura Skateboard Deck (Futura 2000)

By Futura

Located in NEW YORK, NY

Futura Skateboard Deck: Medium: Silkscreen on Maplewood Skateboard Deck. Year: 2023. Dimensions: 31 x 8 inches (38.1 x 22.9 cm). In original shrink wrap; excellent condition. Print...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Wood, Screen

Madonna  1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm
Madonna  1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm

Madonna 1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Madonna 1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm "Madonna" is a symbolic and emotionally charged artwork, celebrating the iconic religious figure of the Virgin Mary and the spiritual sig...

Category

1990s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

The Riverside - Original Abstract Colorful Urban Still Life Collage Art on Paper
The Riverside - Original Abstract Colorful Urban Still Life Collage Art on Paper

The Riverside - Original Abstract Colorful Urban Still Life Collage Art on Paper

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Nick Knight Vinyl Record Art
Nick Knight Vinyl Record Art

Nick Knight Vinyl Record Art

Located in NEW YORK, NY

Nick Knight vinyl record art 2007: Off-set print on vinyl record. Unsigned. Measure: 12 x 12 inches Excellent condition Published by Visionaire Fashion, 2...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Offset

Contact
Contact

Contact

By Airom

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Painting depicts contact, ambiguous as to whether it could be adverse contact or intimate contact between the focal characters.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

India Ink, Oil

Cowboy Shooters
Cowboy Shooters

Cowboy Shooters

By Marcel Dzama

Located in Toronto, Ontario

With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists. Dzama's works ar...

Category

1990s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media

Surrealist Rooftops Collage
Surrealist Rooftops Collage

Surrealist Rooftops Collage

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Rita Boley Bolaffio (née Luzzatto; Trieste, Italy, 7 June 1898 - New York City, United States, 20 May 1995. Surrealist Rooftops. Collage on fabric, measures 19 x 34 inches framed. Ar...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Fabric, Paper

"Spike Milligan (If)"
"Spike Milligan (If)"

"Spike Milligan (If)"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

"Spike Milligan(If) is a riotous homage to absurdity, theatricality, and the razor wit of British humor. This surreal silk composition draws inspiration from Milligan’s nonsensical p...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

Italian Pop Art Mixed Media Surrealist Painting Collage Gouache Emilio Tadini
Italian Pop Art Mixed Media Surrealist Painting Collage Gouache Emilio Tadini

Italian Pop Art Mixed Media Surrealist Painting Collage Gouache Emilio Tadini

By Emilio Tadini

Located in Surfside, FL

Emilio Tadini (1927-2002) Original Collage, Gouache and Watercolor painting. Dimensions: 41 X 29.5. framed. 39.75 X 28 artwork Emilio Tadini (1927 – 2002 ) was an Italian painter,...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paint, Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Gouache

My Imperfection Gaze - 21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Woman
My Imperfection Gaze - 21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Woman

My Imperfection Gaze - 21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Woman

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

A portrait can tell a story, my artistic pieces highlight the exploration of the complexity of human identity, space and existence. My imagery embodies the unconventional expression ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Glitter, Acrylic

Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia
Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia

Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia

By David Gilhooly

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 Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Floral Still Life Postage Stamp Surrealist Collage painting
Floral Still Life Postage Stamp Surrealist Collage painting

Floral Still Life Postage Stamp Surrealist Collage painting

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Mabel Barnsbee (1892-1980). Miniature Watercolor Painting Surrealist Postage Stamp Collage. Image measures 4.5 x 6.5 inches. Measuring 11 x 13 inches in original frame. The Mysti...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Sea Horse (Hippocampus)"
"Sea Horse (Hippocampus)"

"Sea Horse (Hippocampus)"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Sea Horse (Hippocampus) is a fine-art silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, depicting a monumental seahorse-shell transformed into an inhabited Trojan vessel. Combining surrealist archite...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

"House of Cards"
"House of Cards"

"House of Cards"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

House of Cards is a narrative silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, depicting an impossible card-built architecture containing a central pool where a relaxed figure drifts in orbit of kin...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

Queen of the Sea, Original Painting
Queen of the Sea, Original Painting

Queen of the Sea, Original Painting

By Yamilet Sempe

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A stone structure rises from a dreamy landscape. The blue and gold tones create a surreal and sacred atmosphere. Artist Yamilet Sempe drew inspiration from the ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969
Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969

Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Varese, IT

hand watercolored drypoint etching on extremely fine Japanese paper, edited in 1969 limited edition of 145 copies water-colored , numbered in lower left corner ea ( artist proof ) signed in pencil by artist in lower right corner paper size: 38.5 x 28.5 cm framed size: 65 x 55 cm very good conditions Bibliography: Salvador Dalí Catalogue Raisoneé of etchings and mixed media prints Ref 369 pag 178 Fast and Tracked shipping with express currier DHL . We offer professional packaging and tracked shipping with DHL Express courier ( shipping time: 24 hours for European countries and 4 to 6 days for America and other non-eu countries...

Category

1960s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Drypoint, Etching

"Balcony"
"Balcony"

Natalia Kolpakova"Balcony", 2025

$520Sale Price|20% Off

"Balcony"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Balcony is a surrealist silk artwork where architecture, dream logic, and human emotion merge into a single theatrical tableau. A monumental spiral structure—part shell, part celesti...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

"Shakespeare"
"Shakespeare"

"Shakespeare"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

The artwork is print on silk and it is limited edition. Shall we wander through realms surreal? Where Shakespeare's tales in moonlight reel. Midsummer's night, where fairies prance,...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Silk

Howdy! (Roses) - Original Blue Floral Arrangement in Boot Still Life Artwork
Howdy! (Roses) - Original Blue Floral Arrangement in Boot Still Life Artwork

Howdy! (Roses) - Original Blue Floral Arrangement in Boot Still Life Artwork

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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 Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Rainer Stern - "Il Profumo" - giclée print - hand signed/numbered - edition: 30

Rainer Stern - "Il Profumo" - giclée print - hand signed/numbered - edition: 30

By Rainer Stern

Located in Winterswijk, NL

Rainer Stern - "Il Profumo". Giclée print on heavy handmade cotton paper. Edition: 30. Hand signed and numbered. A beautiful artwork that looks good in every room and especially ...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Handmade Paper, Giclée

Anemones - Colorful Green Still Life Flowers in Vase Bright Original Art
Anemones - Colorful Green Still Life Flowers in Vase Bright Original Art

Anemones - Colorful Green Still Life Flowers in Vase Bright Original Art

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Hollywood Boulevard - Architectural Color Drenched Mixed Media Collage Artwork
Hollywood Boulevard - Architectural Color Drenched Mixed Media Collage Artwork

Hollywood Boulevard - Architectural Color Drenched Mixed Media Collage Artwork

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

One eyed man - Collage, Synthetic Fur, Black
One eyed man - Collage, Synthetic Fur, Black

One eyed man - Collage, Synthetic Fur, Black

By Raluca Arnăutu

Located in Baden-Baden, DE

One eyed man, 2014 Textile collage on paper 6 4/5 × 4 7/10 in 17.2 × 12 cm Raluca Arnăutu creates a zoomorphic world, where animals from different worlds are mixed, resized, reconst...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Textile, Paper

Epiphany  1987, paper, mixed technique, 24x29 cm
Epiphany  1987, paper, mixed technique, 24x29 cm

Epiphany 1987, paper, mixed technique, 24x29 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Epiphany 1987, paper, mixed technique, 24x29 cm "Epiphany" is a surreal figurative artwork created in 1987. Through its composition, the artwork invites viewers to contemplate the ...

Category

1980s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"Durga"
"Durga"

"Durga"

Located in Astoria, NY

Robert Dandarov (Macedonian/American, b. 1959), "Durga", Mixed Media on Paper, 1989, depicting the Hindu Goddess defeating the demon Mahishasura, signed in pencil, titled, and dated ...

Category

1980s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Charcoal, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Pencil

Critiques Dard
Critiques Dard

Critiques Dard

By Marcel Dzama

Located in Toronto, Ontario

With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists. As with most of ...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media

BLACK CHAIR (ORIGINAL GOUACHE)
BLACK CHAIR (ORIGINAL GOUACHE)

BLACK CHAIR (ORIGINAL GOUACHE)

By Alexander Calder

Located in Aventura, FL

Original gouache and ink painting on paper. Hand signed and dated by Alexander Calder. Executed in 1969, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York,...

Category

1960s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

Evolution of Man
Evolution of Man

Evolution of Man

By Marcel Dzama

Located in Toronto, Ontario

With his unmistakable version of contemporary Surrealism, as comical as it is otherworldly, Marcel Dzama is one of Canada's most internationally successful artists. Dzama's works ar...

Category

1990s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media

Foot Musik

Foot Musik

By Roberto Matta

Located in Östermalm, Stockholms län

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 Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Game Creator
Game Creator

Yulianna VerbaGame Creator, 2024

$240Sale Price|60% Off

Game Creator

Located in Los Angeles, CA

In Game Creator, Yulianna Verba presents a symbolic and emotionally rich narrative exploring self-awareness, feminine power, and spiritual awakening. This striking mixed media work—c...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Ceramic, Acrylic, Oil Pastel

UNTITLED (GIRAFFE)
UNTITLED (GIRAFFE)

UNTITLED (GIRAFFE)

By Alexander Calder

Located in Aventura, FL

Original crayon and pencil drawing on cut-out paper mounted on board. Hand signed with artist's initials CA. Executed in 1966, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder...

Category

1960s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Crayon, Pencil

Snake Tongue Creature
Snake Tongue Creature

Snake Tongue Creature

Located in Astoria, NY

Robert Dandarov (Macedonian/American, b. 1959), Snake Tongue Creature, Mixed Media on Paper, 1985, signed and dated lower right, ebonized wood frame. Image: 11" H x 7.5" W; frame: 2...

Category

1980s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Ink, Mixed Media

Surrealist mixed media for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist mixed media 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 mixed media created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Heejin Sutton, Libby Ramage, Michele Luger, and Max Ernst. Frequently made by artists working with Mixed Media, and Paper 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 mixed media, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are also available. Prices for mixed media 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 $112 and tops out at $179,950, while the average work sells for $1,711.