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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.

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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

The Pink Party - Cute Feminine Still Life Collage Mixed Media Artwork on Paper
The Pink Party - Cute Feminine Still Life Collage Mixed Media Artwork on Paper

The Pink Party - Cute Feminine Still Life Collage Mixed Media 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

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

Melrose Animal House - Abstract Architectural Monochromatic Watercolor Painting
Melrose Animal House - Abstract Architectural Monochromatic Watercolor Painting

Melrose Animal House - Abstract Architectural Monochromatic Watercolor Painting

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

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

"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

Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Collage Found-Object American
Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Collage Found-Object American

Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Collage Found-Object American

Located in Buffalo, NY

One of a kind mixed-media collage on paper by Philip Kuznicki from the Spirit exhibition. Comes in its original frame. Born in Dunkirk NY, Kuznicki started his career working for art...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Found Objects, Paper, 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

All We Need Is Flowers - Still Life Flowers in Vase Colorful Contemporary
All We Need Is Flowers - Still Life Flowers in Vase Colorful Contemporary

All We Need Is Flowers - Still Life Flowers in Vase Colorful Contemporary

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

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

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

Mirage (ex Reader's Digest Art Collection) Op Art Surreal renowned female artist
Mirage (ex Reader's Digest Art Collection) Op Art Surreal renowned female artist

Mirage (ex Reader's Digest Art Collection) Op Art Surreal renowned female artist

Located in New York, NY

Edna Andrade Mirage (de-accessioned from the Reader's Digest Art Collection), 1988 Original Collage painting on board Signed, titled & dated on the front; the back bears labels from Marian Locks Gallery & Readers Digest Association with inventory (RDA) number Original frame included with collection and gallery labels verso This is a unique work Exquisite 1980s collage on board painting (framed) titled "Mirage" by renowned female Op artist Edna Andrade...

Category

1980s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board

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

Surrealist Collage IV-47, Signed Mixed Media on Paper, Framed, 1947
Surrealist Collage IV-47, Signed Mixed Media on Paper, Framed, 1947

Surrealist Collage IV-47, Signed Mixed Media on Paper, Framed, 1947

Located in CANNES, FR

Max Bucaille ( 1906-1996 ) " collage IV- 47 " : collage on paper , signed Max Bucaille and dated IV 1947 . framed Original vintage velvet : 40,5 x 35,5 cm x 3 cm . paper : 24 x ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Magazine Paper

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

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

"Balcony"
"Balcony"

"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

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

Une Pyramide en Colère, Micro-Painting on Leather by Max Ernst
Une Pyramide en Colère, Micro-Painting on Leather by Max Ernst

Une Pyramide en Colère, Micro-Painting on Leather by Max Ernst

By Max Ernst

Located in Roma, IT

Micro picture, gouache on paper mounted on black leather. Belonging to the serie “Microbes”. Interestingly, it is unusually mounted on a black leather surface whose shape reminds th...

Category

1940s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Leather, Gouache, Cardboard

Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Oil Painting American
Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Oil Painting American

Surreal Contemporary Figurative Mixed-Media Oil Painting American

Located in Buffalo, NY

One of a kind mixed-media object collage by Philip Kuznicki from the Spirit exhibition. Comes in its original frame. Born in Dunkirk NY, Kuznicki started his career working for artis...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Found Objects, Mixed Media

My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature Woman
My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature Woman

My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature 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

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

Surreal Collage: 'Watching'
Surreal Collage: 'Watching'

Surreal Collage: 'Watching'

By David Barnett

Located in New York, NY

Combining found elements with those fashioned by my own hand, my work encompasses two- and three-dimensional collage as well as sculptural objects. Infused with a rich sense of histo...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Mod Surrealist 1970's Drawing Watercolor Painting Jungle Fantasy, Unicorn, Lion
Mod Surrealist 1970's Drawing Watercolor Painting Jungle Fantasy, Unicorn, Lion

Mod Surrealist 1970's Drawing Watercolor Painting Jungle Fantasy, Unicorn, Lion

Located in Surfside, FL

Jungle fantasy Scene, Ink, Colored ink and color watercolor surreal fantasy scene, birds, giraffes, alligators, snakes, turtles, storks, unicorn and maiden in a tepee, lions and elephants. Laurence L. Donovan Jr. (1927-2001) was a poet, artist, and English professor at the University of Miami, best known for his poetry, much of which was inspired by Florida’s natural beauty. Donovan grew up in southern Florida. His parents were Ruth and Laurence Donovan...

Category

1970s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

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

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

Central Park Dreams - Architectural Color Drenched Mixed Media Collage Artwork
Central Park Dreams - Architectural Color Drenched Mixed Media Collage Artwork

Central Park Dreams - 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

Surreal Collage: 'The Witness'
Surreal Collage: 'The Witness'

Surreal Collage: 'The Witness'

By David Barnett

Located in New York, NY

Combining found elements with those fashioned by my own hand, my work encompasses two- and three-dimensional collage as well as sculptural objects. Infused with a rich sense of histo...

Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

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.