Surrealist Mixed Media
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 Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas
Artist Comments
Artist Steph Gimson displays a charming duck wearing a prairie bonnet. She paints giant chains linking to each other in the abstract ...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media, Board
1990s Surrealist Mixed Media
Handmade Paper
Artist Comments
A seventh-grade algebra homework, a book page, acrylic paint, and charcoal constitute artist Libby Ramage's whimsical mixed-media piece. She affixes pages of he...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Archival Paper
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
In an expressionist style, artist Anna Yoo paints three people in contemplative poses sitting adjacent to each other. She expresses hope through the distinct co...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Paper, Acrylic
1990s Surrealist Mixed Media
Watercolor, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Wood, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Ink, Acrylic, Cardboard
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Wood, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1990s Surrealist Mixed Media
Watercolor, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Tapestry
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Etching, Monoprint
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Etching, Monoprint
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
India Ink, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Paper, Acrylic
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Stone, Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media
Early 2000s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
This piece is made by layering Korean mulberry paper on a wooden panel with homemade flour glue. Then I apply a glue base. Next, I draw my sketch, and trace ...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Metal
20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Handmade Paper, Giclée
1970s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Gesso, Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1940s Surrealist Mixed Media
Leather, Gouache, Cardboard
1970s Surrealist Mixed Media
Etching, Aquatint
1990s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Mixed Media
1920s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper
Artist Comments
The world that I live in is uncertain, unstable, but I have to keep going and find something that can comfort me. This work is talking about the uncomfortable moment, but hopeful future, at the same time. This piece is made by layering Korean mulberry paper on a wooden panel with homemade flour glue. Then I apply a glue base. Next, I draw my sketch, and trace it on the paper. Then I paint three or four layers of a background color using pigments and glue base. Lastly, I paint the animal subject in fine detail, which takes most of time. The painting is on a cradled wood panel with finished edges. It comes ready to hang.
About the Artist
Heejin has been been drawing for as long as she can remember. She grew up with a serious illness and spent much of her childhood in the hospital. Drawing served as an outlet for her, bringing her peace and distraction. Heejin says there was no doubt as she grew up that she wanted to be an artist. She studied oriental painting extensively as a college student in South Korea and then went on to study art therapy in graduate school.
Where Is It? l
Heejin Sutton...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media