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.
The Spilt, Oil Painting
By Kat Silver
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A surrealist painting captures the tension between prey and predator. In the foreground, a rabbit stands wary while a fox snarls nearby. Others of their kind sc...
Oil
London Bus - London cityscape impressionism painting - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Sainte Anne
Located in New York, NY
Drypoint, aquatint and heliogravure, 1965. Signed by the artist and dated in pencil, lower right margin. Numbered 42/150 in pencil, lower left margin. Printed by Robbe, Paris. Pub...
Drypoint, Aquatint
Diving Deep, Oil Painting
By Kat Silver
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A mesmerizing underwater scene comes to life where an enchanting mix of sea creatures, humans, and scuba bunnies coexist in perfect harmony. The submerged wor...
Oil
Vitraux pour Jérusalem - Illustrated Book by M. Chagall, 1962
By Marc Chagall
Located in Roma, IT
"Vitraux pour Jerusalem" is one of the most important books illustrated by Marc Chagall and considered as one of his editorial masterpieces. Th...
Paper, Lithograph
Italian Surrealist Colorful Metal Enamel Plaque Painting Wall Hanging Art Luigi
Located in Surfside, FL
Biomorphic Surrealism. Signed Luigi, Enamel on metal (probably copper). Mounted to a plexi or acrylic purple mounting. I am assuming it is Italian as it is signed Luigi but it might ...
Enamel
Bearbrick 400% & 100% figures (Salvador Dali MoMa BE@RBRICK)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Salvador Dali Bearbrick 400% (Salvador Dali MoMa BE@RBRICK): This collaboration between MoMA and BE@RBRICK features the famous bear figure printed with the classic surrealist art of ...
Resin, Vinyl
Flip of the Coin, Oil Painting
By Kat Silver
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This is the second painting in artist Kat Silver’s ongoing series of cozy cat scenes celebrating calm indoor moments. At first glance, it appears to be a play...
Oil
Dessins - Rare Book by Jean Cocteau - 1923
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 625 copies, including reproductions of drawings by J. Cocteau, in which are portrayed for example I. Strawinsky, J. Hugo, P. Picasso, F. Poulenc and many others. Book dedi...
Paper
Purfectly Peaceful, Oil Painting
By Kat Silver
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A surreal domestic scene features two cats resting in a room, gazing directly at the viewer. Whimsical moments unfold around them as a tiny animal stands by a m...
Oil
$1,920
Telephone Box - London cityscape impressionism painting - contemporary artwork
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Red Bow II - Original Framed Surrealist Figurative Portrait
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The figurative surrealistic paintings of Carlos Gamez de Francisco are heavily influenced by his Cuban upbringing in a Russian governed academia setting. This presence exposed Franci...
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
LOVE ISLAND - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Unicorn Pigeon - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$6,846
Memory of a Day, The Lighthouse- original surrealist painting - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Acrylic
Out of This World, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
"A panther in space, now that's out of this world," says artist Miranda Gamel. She depicts a surrealist image of the ebony fe...
Oil
Island. Tan Horse, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This painting features a horse standing against a stylized coastal landscape. Geometric shapes define the sky, clouds, and buildings, while background elements ...
Acrylic
$4,102
Diamonds in Bloom - Original floral realism painting - modern surrealistic art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Mysterious and radiant, Diamonds in Bloom reveals Hallie Packa...
Canvas, Oil
$13,049
La Femme Visible - Editions Surréalistes 1930 - Hand Dedication attr. to S. Dalì
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 175 specimens (plus 29 out of commerce) of this important book by Dalì, published by Editions Surréalistes in 1930 and one of the first books to...
Paper, Engraving
Cobalt Pot-original realiist still life surrealism oil painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$1,920
Blue House - London cityscape impressionism painting - contemporary artwork
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Heaven Touches Kawela: 3, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Mountains and sea merge in this abstract landscape, where shifting forms and colors reveal a world suspended between calm and chaos. Each stroke carries depth, ...
Oil
Celestial Steed, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
This watercolor painting features a pegasus rendered in warm earth tones accented with bright blue feathers. Playful in spirit yet gentle in pose, the winged ho...
Watercolor
Banana Bangs - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Blue - Original Figurative Girl with Black Lace Violet Dress Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The figurative surrealistic paintings of Carlos Gamez de Francisco are heavily influenced by his Cuban upbringing in a Russian governed academia setting. This presence exposed Franci...
Canvas, Acrylic
9 of Pentacles, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
The artwork depicts the Nine of Pentacles card, symbolizing rapidly growing success, incoming financial satisfaction, and wealth. White bison figures represen...
Oil
Four of Cups, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Four cups connect at the center of the composition, forming a diamond shape. Wavy lines ripple around them, while bright beams radiate from the handles and rims...
Oil
Isolation III, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Guigen Zha paints red lotus flowers under the shining sun. Square blocks of gradient color fill the fragmented scene. He pain...
Oil
Sunny Day IV - Original Textural Lace Surrealist Figurative Floral Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The figurative surrealistic paintings of Carlos Gamez de Francisco are heavily influenced by his Cuban upbringing in a Russian governed academia setting. This presence exposed Franci...
Canvas, Acrylic
$3,512Sale Price|20% Off
Homage to Modigliani-Original 3D surrealistic painting-contemporary illusion art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Marek Letkiewicz’s Homage to Modigliani is a captivating fusio...
Acrylic, Board
$507Sale Price|20% Off
Chroessi Schnell - "Schizophrenic Landscape" - surrealist landscape drawing
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Chroessi Schnell - "Schizophrenic Landscape". Surrealism, abstract forms, dream universe. It is an extended version of the Alienations of the maps of "Münsterland" where my mother ...
Paper
$521
Fruit Pancake Top - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Veggie Head - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$2,058
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON- Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Top Dog - Original animal surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Pippin Bumble's Favorite Time of Day, Oil Painting
By Diane Flick
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A robot elephant balances an heirloom tomato and a pot of daisy flower on its head. This is artist Diane Flick's first painting using AI-generated reference p...
Oil
High Noon at the Stardust Grogshop, Oil Painting
By Diane Flick
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Around noon on a Friday, a tiny rider in a pink tutu balances atop a green dinosaur adorned with a yellow daisy. They navigate the ta...
Oil
Sea Horse Bunnies, Oil Painting
By Kat Silver
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Inspired by her relocation from the Midwest to Florida, artist Kit Silver paints a whimsical fusion of seahorses and bunnies. The warm hues and intricate deta...
Oil
$2,058
Reach Out For Love - Original people surrealistic painting - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
LOVE LIFTS UP - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
The Edge of a Dream
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
The bison and the beetle have a prehistoric elegance about them that I thought would compliment each other perfectly. Symbolically, both represent life and mortality, which has been on my mind lately. To Native Americans, bison are symbolic of sacred life and abundance. And in ancient greek mythology the beetle became revered as a symbol of rebirth and immortality -- its daily journey across the sky became an allegory of human life. The Wallpaper collection is a juxtaposition of masculine meets feminine. I wanted to create a unique series that stands apart from traditional nature paintings, where the wild and somewhat prehistoric aspects of my animals featured contrast against their delicate backdrops. In addition to this, many of my paintings are created with a little bit of underlying symbolism usually sparked from a world event or life moment that I am experiencing. I concentrate on this theme as a therapeutic mantra throughout the creation of the painting. For each painting, different techniques and layers of design are implemented when creating the wall paper effect. To keep the patterns consistent I create a stencil to outline the shapes of my hummingbirds, bugs and fish, and then I hand paint each shape individually. In the areas where I wanted a little more chaos, I would forgo the stencil and eyeball each design. My animals are always painted first, and then I layout the design around them.
About the Artist
Australian-born Alana Clumeck...
Acrylic
$4,390
Hound with Striped Tie - Original animal surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Joan Miró Litografia Original IV – 1972 Color Lithograph, Mourlot 860
By Joan Miró
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Litografia Original IV by Joan Miró, a 1972 color lithograph from Litografo (Volume I, Spanish edition), listed as Mourlot 860. Published by Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona, with ve...
Lithograph
"Wheatfield With Crows, after Vincent". Contemporary Surrealist Oil Painting
By Sax Berlin
Located in Brecon, Powys
The Billion Dollar Hand has created this richly shaded painting as something of an homage to Van Gogh, channeling and expanding the style in a unique way. However, not satisfied with...
Canvas, Acrylic
Chants de Maldoror - Rare Book Illustrated by René Magritte - 1948
Located in Roma, IT
Les Chants de Maldoror is an original modern rare book written by Comte de Lautréamont, pseudonym of Isidore Lucien Ducasse (Montevideo, 1846 — Paris, 1870) and illustrated by René ...
Paper, Photogravure
Sept Microbes - Rare Book - 1953
By Max Ernst
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 1100 copies. Copy on Marais une fleur paper. Includes 31 colorful, scale reproductions of original works by Ernst. French language. Binding partially detached. Very good c...
Paper
$4,802
Hound of the Budgerigars- Original animal surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$8,446Sale Price|20% Off
Surrealism Acrylic on canvas “Checkerboard Landscape” Andrés Segovia, Argentina
Located in Valladolid, ES
One of a kind work or art with a unique, somber, and overwhelming atmosphere. It recalls the legacy of the great Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978), the foremost representative of the ...
Canvas
Ace of Swords, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
"This painting is inspired by the tarot card called the 'Ace of Swords'," states artist Rachel Srinivasan. A veiled woman peeks behind a tall sword as she is ...
Oil
Six of Cups, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Water, waves, vessel, and the color blue are all symbolic of emotions in the cosmology of tarot. Galloping horses and unicorns frame the scene. The artwork is p...
Oil
$636Sale Price|34% Off
La cercle visceral du cosmos
Located in Chatsworth, CA
This piece is an authentic Limoges porcelain plate done in collaboration with Salvador Dali in 1974. It is a part of a series of plates called "La Conquete du Cosmos" that depict im...
Porcelain
Uccidiamo il Chiaro di Luna - Rare Book - 1911
Located in Roma, IT
Third futurist manifesto (wrongly believed to be the second), appeared for the first time with this title on the literary magazine directed by F.T. Marinetti "Poesia", anno V, n.7-8-...
Paper
Ramen Pigeon - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Coffee Hour - Original contemporary artwork - surrealistic animal painting
By JJ Galloway
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Medardo Rosso - Rare Book Illustrated by Ardengo Soffici - 1929
Located in Roma, IT
Original edition including 42 illustrations of the works by the artist. Famous critical essay by Ardengo Soffici on one of the main sculptores of his age, Medardo Rosso (Torino, 1858...
Paper
Mythologies - Rare Book illustrated by André Masson - 1946
By André Masson
Located in Roma, IT
Mythologies is an original Rare Book engraved by André Masson (Balagny, Oise, 1896 - Paris, 1987) in 1946. Original Edition. Published by Editions de la Revue Fontaine, Paris. Fo...
Photogravure
$2,189Sale Price|20% Off
Beach Houses I - Original 3D surrealistic painting - contemporary illusion art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Marek Letkiewicz’s Beac...
Acrylic, Board
$16,000
Still Light By The Light of The Moon - Nature Morte au Clair De Luna Tapestry
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Still Life By The Light of The Moon - Nature au Clair De Lune MEDIUM: Woven Tapestry SIGNED: Woven in the Tapestry EDITION NUMBER: 27/50 MEASUREMENTS: 35.6" x 54" YEAR: 1980 PUBLISHER: Walton-Gilbert Galleries, San Fransisco WOVEN BY: Art in Tapestry, El Paso Texas CONDITION: Excellent NOTE: Designed from a 1927 painting...
Tapestry
Keeping Warm, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A nude female figure floats serenely above the earth, warmed by the glowing lava from deep within the core. Her calm expression and relaxed posture contrast w...
Oil
Vintage Surreal Oil Painting on Canvas c.1940s to 1950s.
Located in San Francisco, CA
Vintage Surreal Oil Painting on Canvas c.1940s to 1950s. Classic Surrealism brought to life on canvas by a very talented artist. The painting has no visible signature. Canvas dimen...
Canvas, Oil