Surrealist Animal 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 Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Chalk, Pastel, Archival Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Linen, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Panel, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
20th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Masonite, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Gesso, Canvas, Wood, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
1970s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Archival Paper, Gouache
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Archival Paper, Watercolor
1990s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache, Pen
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Linen, Oil
1990s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings
Gouache
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Surrealist Animal Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil