Surrealist Figurative Paintings
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.
9
to
129
736
263
228
112
522
360
140
197
139
141
179
379
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
13,799
3,695
3,133
2,723
1,495
1,051
1,035
986
574
437
377
219
126
71
720
463
271
255
222
1
288
745
5
11
19
18
28
36
51
37
55
26
22
17
13
970
683
524
484
256
Style: Surrealist
The Virgen & the Mechanical Creed, Oil, Mixed Media, Hyperrealism, Cuban Art,
Located in Houston, TX
LOOK FOR FREE SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT.
The Virgin & The Mechanical Creed - La Virgen y el Credo Mecanico was recently painted by the Cuban artist Brian Sanchez in 2023. It is oil and...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
untitled 14
Located in Spetses, GR
’Ηeavenly Creatures’’
Heroins & magical creatures, in an elegant ,romantic approach, and a perfect technique all the way to the last detail. The female form, the female face is the muse in most paintings, although we can also find a gender neutral approach, an androgyny as a protagonist with the same always features, such as youth, sensualism, innocence and optimism.
Inside these dream-like images overfilled with euphoria, these fragile figures are kind souls with rich inner beauty. Figures that we can relate with if we dig deeper into our souls.
Sofia Fotiadou...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Blue Green Bust Cat
By Isabel Rock
Located in La Chapelle Aubareil, FR
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
The Sound of the Changing Season - Surreal Rural Scene, Hyper-realistic
Located in Chicago, IL
A violinist, playing a melancholy tune, helps conjure up the change of season from fall to winter on Halloween, as represented by the black cat. The cat is holding the Tempest in th...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
MusCATteer - Surreal Rural Scene, Hyper-realistic Original Oil Painting, Framed
Located in Chicago, IL
Juxtaposing and altering unrelated natural objects with the machinations of man to create a scene of an impossible surreal world, the viewer enters the mind of artist Christopher Kle...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
The Spring Piper
Located in Chicago, IL
An imaginary human hybrid representing “mother nature” resides in a ruined building symbolic of a decaying society. As the crows flutter and the human hybrid plays a bucolic tune, green shoots emerge from the ruins symbolizing rebirth and victory of nature over human destruction of the environment.
Christopher A. Klein
The Spring...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Enlightenment
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Pool with Rainbow
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Tiger Moth II, The Moon
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Tiger Moth III, The Lights
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Listening to the Earth II
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
The Performance
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Courage
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Spring Hat
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Girl with Poppies
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel, Wax, Oil
Genie II
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Genie II
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Synchronized Swimmer, 1
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Flyer 1
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Cove
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Synchronized Swimmer, 2
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Bimini Road
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel, Wax, Oil
Diva Wading
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Bahamas
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Tree in Rocks - surrealist imagined landscape original realism artwork oil small
Located in London, Chelsea
This original artwork by Laura von Rosk depicts a miniature scale illusionary natural landscape vista. The panorama features thriving tree planted in a bed of rocks and surrounded by...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surrealist Oil on Canvas Magical Realism North Africa Turquoise Sea Yellow Red
Located in La Chapelle Aubareil, FR
Waiting in Ceuta, acrylic on canvas, 100cm x 80cm
Even in his most realistic images, there is a beautiful exaggeration in the paintings of Peter Rodulfo. It may be an overly flamboy...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Surrealist Magical Realism Circus Seaside Kiss Me Quick Oranges Browns Nostalgia
Located in La Chapelle Aubareil, FR
Recalling Britannia, acrylic on canvas, 100cm x 40cm, 2023
Even in his most realistic images, there is a beautiful exaggeration in the paintings of Peter Rodulfo. It may be an overl...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
The Virgen & Child, Oil, Mixed Media, Hyperrealism, Modern Cuban Art, Surreal
Located in Houston, TX
LOOK FOR FREE SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT.
The Virgin and Child - La Virgen y Nino was recently painted by the Cuban artist Brian Sanchez in 2023. It is oil and mixed media on linen . Th...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Wrestlers
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 14 x 23 1/4 inches (35.5 x 59 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
Two androgynous bodies interconnecting as an almost geometric unit...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
The Three Gatekeepers
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 13 1/2 x 23 1/3 inches (34.25 x 59 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
Three androgynous beings move their hands in a specific order,...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Lady Spirit
Located in Los Angeles, CA
We are pleased to offer works my this incredible artist who has never before offered his paintings for sale,
Gordon Kibbee was born in the very small town of Petroleum, West Virgini...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Flyer 2
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel, Wax, Oil
Scuba and Kite
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Malibu
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
Life is but a Dream
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Jeni Stallings creates work that often draws from her dreams and personal experiences. She tends to render those moments in a muted, femininity-infused surrealism far from the hard-...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Wood Panel
African Portrait, Mid-20th Century Surrealist Portrait of African Tribesmen
Located in Beachwood, OH
Hugh M. Poe (American, 1902-1973)
African Portrait, c. 1950
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
31.5 x 41.5 inches
33 x 43 inches, framed
Hugh M. Poe was an American portrait painter b...
Category
1950s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Magic Realistic Painting, "Calme and Luxe"
By Cheryl Tall
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original mixed media work on wood by Southern California artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 40" x 30" x 1.5". It is unframed. A certificate of authenticity will follo...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Magic Realistic Painting, "Sudden Eclipse"
By Cheryl Tall
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original mixed media work on wood by Southern California artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 45" x 25" x 1.5". It is unframed. A certificate of authenticity will follo...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Dark Paradise
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Dark Paradise is an original painting by Elisha Nyong. Elisha created Dark Paradise with Oil on a 56W by 56H inches primed canvas.
Dark paradise according to Elisha Nyong speaks abo...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Beyond the Horizon
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 23 1/2 x 19 1/4 inches (59.5 x 49 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
The Artist
Heijligers is a contemporary artist who studied at...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Sculpture
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 19 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches (50 x 37.5 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
A toned body hinders its own path, whose otherworldly legs seem...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Manheel
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 15 x 11 1/4 inches (38 x 28.5 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
Manheel, with his extravagant appearance, is inspired by the spirit...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Board, Oil
Framed Bull
Located in London, GB
Oil on board, signed bottom right
Image size: 19 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches (49 x 72.5 cm)
Contemporary style handmade frame
A bull is standing firmly with an air of awareness lurking in h...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Everyone a Memory - modern paint realism magical landscape surrealistic fantasy
Located in London, Chelsea
This contemporary painting by Laurence O’Toole presents an imaginary landscape that focuses on his classic motif of a red truck combined with a cluster of robins. This romantic impre...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Black Goddess
By Ruth Ray
Located in Hudson, NY
Ruth Ray (1919-1977). Black Goddess, ca. 1960. Gouache on paper, 3.5 x 5.5 inches; 15.5 x 17.5 inches in vintage frame. Matting is newly replaced. Artist identified on verso with pro...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache
20th Century Surrealist Portrait of Young African Warrior
Located in Beachwood, OH
Hugh M. Poe (American, 1902-1973)
African Warrior
Oil on board
Signed lower left
40 x 34 inches
42 x 36 inches, framed
Hugh M. Poe was an American portrait painter based mostly in I...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Psychic Fallout
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Psychic Fallout is an original painting by Elisha Nyong. Elisha created Psychic Fallout with Oil on a 42W by 45H inches primed canvas.
Psychic Fallout according to Elisha Nyong spea...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Abstract Surrealist Painting of Lautréamont's Tomb with a Winged Grecian Statue
By Terry Moore
Located in Houston, TX
Blue and green-toned abstract surrealist painting by Terry Moore. The piece depicts a tomb possibly of Isidore Ducasse Lautréamont, one of Surrealism's literary precursors. A large w...
Category
1990s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled, Tempera, Abstract versus Figurative Art, Figurative Art, Human Figure
Located in Milano, IT
Acrylic on canvas by Mikidadi Bush signed and dated on the front.
Bush’s work addresses issues relating to animist culture, creating visions that combine dreamlike atmospheres with t...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Perpetual Change - modern paint realism magical landscape surrealistic fantasy
Located in London, Chelsea
Contemporary painter Laurence O’Toole imaprts a surrealistic landscape scene which captures his classic motif of a red truck, transforming into a cluster of butterflies. This imagina...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Solemn Morris Dancer
By Yosl Bergner
Located in London, GB
Oil on board
Image size: 5 3/4 x 7 inches (14.5 x 17.75 cm)
As can be seen in this painting, Surrealism served as a source of inspiration for Bergner, though he did not consider him...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
View of a Village Square, Stefan Vukmanovic, Belgrade 1924 – 1995 Degernau
Located in Bruges, BE
View of a Village Square
Vukmanovic Stefan
Belgrade 1924 – 1995 Degernau
Serbian Painter
Signature: Signed bottom middle
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: Image size 45 x 60 cm
Biography: Vukmanovic (Vucmanovic) Stefan was born in 1924, in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. He was a Serbian painter of landscapes and town scenes.
Vukmanovic studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts with the master teacher and artist Charles Crodel (1894 – 1973).
He was a member of the Munich Secession. In this statement of principles, the artists declared their intentions to move away from outmoded principles and a conservative conception of what art was.
Throughout the 1930s, many political ideologies (Marxism, Socialism, Capitalist Democracy, Communism and Fascism) were engaged in struggles for dominance, and epitomised the political atmosphere of the era.
Surrealism art...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Òréke (Earth to beauty)
Located in Odenton, MD
Akanji Bolaji
Òréke (Earth to beauty), 2023
Acrylic on canvas
36 × 38 in | 91.4 × 96.5 cm
Unique work
Includes a Certificate of Authenticity
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Bites of Trivial Matter- 3rd Panel in 6 Piece Series by Indian Artist Binay Sinh
By Binay Sinha
Located in Gilroy, CA
"Bites of Trivial Matter," is a six panel work by Binay Sinha, but each piece is also available for sale individually. The artist discusses modernity, specifically the effect in has ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Watercolor, Handmade Paper
Jardin Fantastique
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork. titled "Jardin Fantastique" c.1990, is an oil painting on canvas by noted Haitian surrealist artist Murat Saint Vil, b.1955. It is signed at the lower left corner by th...
Category
Late 20th Century Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Untitled, Tempera, Abstract versus Figurative Art, Figurative Art, Human Figure
Located in Milano, IT
Acrylic on canvas by Mikidadi Bush signed and dated on the front.
Bush’s work addresses issues relating to animist culture, creating visions that combine dreamlike atmospheres with t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Surrealist Figurative painting, "Brief. Torrey Pines"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original oil painting by San Diego artist, Julia San Roman. Its dimensions are 41" x 61" x 1.5". It is framed as pictured. A...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surrealist Figurative painting, "Brief. Kauai I"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original oil painting by San Diego artist, Julia San Roman. Its dimensions are 40.75" x 61" x 1.5". It is framed as pictured. A certificate of authenticity wi...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surrealist figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs
Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist Paintings/style/surrealist/>paintings>figurative paintings 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 figurative paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Rudolf Kosow, Carlos Gamez De Francisco, Henry David Potwin, Ferjo, and Fernando de Jesus Oliveira. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint 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 figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 2.125 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings 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 $60 and tops out at $295,000, while the average work sells for $3,774.
Recently Viewed
View MoreMore Ways To Browse
Spanish Naturalistic
Vintage Cairo
Charleston Sc Art
Egypt Medals
Post Impressionist Illustrator Art
Scottish Child
Vintage Circus Canvas Art
William Temple
Signed Prince Charles
Rue Seine
Staircase Painting
Figures Of Christ
Turin Poster
Old Masters Religious Paintings
Harlequins Paintings
Boulders Drawing
Oil Fairy
Michael Lawrence