Surrealist Nude 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.
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Style: Surrealist
Untitled - Girl With Blue Hair - Surrealistic Oil Painting - Nude
Located in Salzburg, AT
Pawel Sepielak is a Polish painter, book illustrator and printmaker.
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
HUGE ORIGINAL 1970'S FRENCH ABSTRACT MODERNIST PAINTING - SURREALIST NUDE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020)
Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020.
He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Solace Fairy" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Matteo Di Ventra's (US based) "Solace Fairy" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a surreal nude figure with butterfly wings
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Solitary Confinement" (2016) By Diego Glazer, Original Surrealist Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Diego Glazer's "Solitary Confinement" is an original, handmade oil painting that is framed and ready to hang. The framed measurements are 22 in H x 26 in W.
About the Artist:
For a...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Hommage a Modigliani. Figurative Painting, Surrealism, Female nude, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary figurative oil on board painting by Polish artist Mariusz Zdybal. It is a surrealistic female nude of woman sleeping. On the right side of the composition there is paint...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Restful Fairy" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Matteo Di Ventra's (US based) "Restful Fairy" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a surreal nude figure with butterfly wings
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
$337 Sale Price
25% Off
"Salvador Dalí"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This painting was inspired by girls. They froze on a rug on a nudist beach. Like a city in the steppe. Eventually I met them, they became my muses, I repeatedly painted them naked in...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
In work/Four figures. Double-sided, cardboard, tempera, 56x47 cm
Located in Riga, LV
In work/Four figures. Double-sided, cardboard, tempera, 56x47 cm
Vladimir Borisovich Glushenkov (May 21, 1948, Riga - December 26, 2009, Riga.) - painter, graphic artist, poet, translator.
Born in Riga in a Russian-Polish-German family.
Vladimir Glushenkov...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Cardboard, Tempera
Shaosing Knobst Symbolic Taoist God - "Longevity Star", Acrylic on Panel, Framed
Located in Chicago, IL
The figure in this painting is like the popular but at the same time oddly obscure Taoist god called “Longevity Star”. Apparently he was an historical figure born bald and grey like ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
"Leda"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The work "Leda" was written in Vienna. It is dedicated to the memory of my friend and wonderful artist Mikhail Romanov. In memory of him, all the swans that I depict in my works I pa...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Oil, Canvas
$11,720
Sword Swallower, Acrylic Painting on Canvas by Alejandro Colunga
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alejandro Colunga, Mexican (1948 - )
Title: Lady Sword Swallower
Year: 1975
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed l.l.
Size: 16 x 12 inches
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Morning glory. Surrealistic artwork. Oil on canvas, 65x92 cm
By Leonid Purygin
Located in Riga, LV
Bizarre scene of Lady in bed dreaming socially diverse erotic activities.
Category
1980s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$45,564 Sale Price
20% Off
"Salvador Dali"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
I saw this landscape in a deserted place in winter. It was snowing and strong wind. The wind stopped blowing and I saw this surrealism.
The picture is framed in a wooden frame. Size ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard
Danubia, Symbolic Painting of Two Headed Goddess Female Nude, Green Sepia Tones
Located in Chicago, IL
Oliver Hazard Benson
Danubia
acrylic on panel
10h x 8w in
25.40h x 20.32w cm
OB0107
Oliver Hazard’s paintings are produced directly from his imagination and deals with a mixture of ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
"Deep Down" 2023, surrealistic oil painting in blue green water, bronze artifact
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Deep Down" is a 2023 surrealistic oil painting in blue green water and lost bronze Roman artifact.
Framed Dimensions: 52.75 x 41 inches
In a continuation of the idea that origina...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Linen, Oil
Look Up - contemporary diptych depicting a male and female looking up at the sky
Located in Hamburg, DE
"Look Up" (Schau Aufwärts) is a two-piece work (diptych) of German artist Klaus Heuermann. The artist depicts a female in one work (140 x 100 cm) and a male in the other work (140 x...
Category
1970s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"Fire and Ice, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Fire and Ice" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts several nude women with horns with the fleshy tones of one figure's face fading into blue in this c...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sheba Raven Cloak, Hatshepsut - Original Painting of Egyptian Goddess Figure
Located in Chicago, IL
Oliver Hazard’s paintings are produced directly from his imagination and deals with a mixture of imagery he has witnessed in his travels, dreams, and read about in literature. The ar...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"The Inventor", Igor Samsonov, Surrealism, Figurative, Original Oil, 47x54 in.
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Inventor" by Igor Samsonov is an Original Surrealist Oil painting that measures 47x54 in. Igor paintings are rich with symbolism and tell stories--some wel...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Emancipation Mixed media on paper, 19.5x33 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Emancipation
Mixed media on paper, 19,5x33 cm
"Emancipation" is a surreal and figurative mixed media artwork created on paper. The surreal nature of the composition invites viewers...
Category
Late 20th Century Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
$455 Sale Price
20% Off
Vintage American Modernist Surreal Erotic Composition Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist surreal painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1990. Signed. Image size 20L x 24H. Framing is available.
Category
1990s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,871 Sale Price
25% Off
Surrealist Figurative painting, "Guaracha"
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 24" x 48". A certificate of authenticity will fo...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Supplicant, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Supplicant" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude woman with horns resting her head gently on a nude woman's knees, the fleshy tones of her face...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Nereid - Nude Female Figure with Elongated Limbs in Outstretched Yoga Pose
Located in Chicago, IL
Nereid is a sea nymph, a female spirit of sea waters. She symbolizes everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Her melodious voice sing as she dances and twists on a sea ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
Midsummer Night’s Dreamers and Midsummer Ballet Suite diptych
Located in Deddington, GB
Midsummer Night’s Dreamers and Midsummer Ballet Suite diptych
Overall size cm : H60 x W80
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAMERS
A dancer looks upwards towards the sun as her fellow dancers s...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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 ce...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Puppet With the Green Eyes Contemporary Surrealist Painting Ellen Steinfeld
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original modern surreal oil painting by American artist Ellen Steinfeld titled, "Puppet with the Green Eyes"
Category
1980s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Her Transformation, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Miranda Gamel shares a dreamy portrait of a woman with a neon pink crown surrounded by glowing butterflies. Miranda portrays the subject with illuminat...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
4500 Transformaciones, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Andres Vivo
Located in Yardley, PA
Picture belonging to my human behaviour series Related to human rights Inspired by the dramatic artworks of Francisco Goya :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an off...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
Celestial Metamorphosis -Nude Sci-Fi Woman becomes a Flower in Outer Space
Located in Miami, FL
Legendary illustrator Wilson McLean depicts "Celestial Bodies" of all sorts floating in the inky black expanse of space. This is a story about a transition from a human to plant. A nude female holds a flower and she becomes the flower she holds while she floats in an inky black void framed by planets. This is a story about a transition from a human to a plant. The painting looks better in person... A Stellar Experience.
During the 1970s and 1980s, McLean was a dominant force in American Illustration with his work gracing the covers...
Sports Illustrated, Time, The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Playboy...
Category
1980s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas
"Salvador Dalí"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
In this painting, I've swirled a traditional landscape into a floating, serpentine form, blending the realistic with the surreal. Each building, painted meticulously in oil, seems to...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
"The Child", Igor Samsonov, Surrealism, Figurative, Original Oil, 46x37 in.
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Child" by Igor Samsonov is an Original Surrealist Oil painting that measures 46x37 in. Igor paintings are rich with symbolism and tell stories--some well-known, others created ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Flora #12" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #12" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of blue, pink, orange, green and white.
Guy Robinson is inspired by t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of dark blue, bright yellow, lime green, pink, orange, and yellow ochre.
...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #2" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #2" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of bright yellow, lime green, pink, blue and purple.
Guy Robinson is i...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"The Bronze Emperor", Igor Samsonov, Surrealism, Figurative, Original Oil, 42x53
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Bronze Emperor" by Igor Samsonov is an Original Surrealist Oil painting that measures 42x53 in. Igor paintings are rich with symbolism and tell st...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Flora #3" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #3" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of bright yellow, lime green, pale pink, light blue and yellow ochre.
...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #14" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #14" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of blue, black, green, white and yellow.
Guy Robinson is inspired by ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #11" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #5" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of bright yellow, lime green, pale pink, light blue and yellow ochre.
...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #10" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #10" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of purple, magenta, blue, and orange.
Guy Robinson is inspired by the...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #8" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Floral #7" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of bright yellow, lime green, pale pink, supple pink light blue, and ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Linen
Illusión
Located in Natchez, MS
Cuban artist Ernesto Capdevila insists his paintings are rather more like drawings, in technique, than paintings. I'm not sure I completely agree, though I do see his point. In this ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Untitled - oil canvas circa 1960s
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Signed lower right
Provenance
Private collection, New York
Private collection, New York (Descent from above)
This work can be viewed at our New York City showroom by appointment.
Category
1960s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Dagon Calapesce, Symbolic Male Warrior Figure Surrounded by Water, Acrylic/Panel
Located in Chicago, IL
Oliver Hazard Benson
Dagon Colapesce
acrylic on panel
11h x 14w in
27.94h x 35.56w cm
OB0106
Oliver Hazard’s paintings are produced directly from his imagination and deals with a mi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
Blues
Located in Dallas, TX
Austin Surrealist Artist
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
$480 Sale Price
20% Off
Surrealist Landscape, Mountain with Nude Woman - Perls Gallery
Located in Miami, FL
A nude white woman gazes out and over a Giorgio de Chirico like surrealist landscape to an overly dramatic sunset with stylized orange rays. In the center of the composition is a cut-out of a mountain with a moat. In the extreme foreground is a silhouetted orange plane with a spiral of leaves. Along with the empty landscapes of de Chirico, it's possible that Frederick Haucke was influenced by Salvador Dalí " The Persistence of Memory" in 1931, and Dali's painting was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1934. In that painting, Dali, paints a vacant landscape doted with symbols from the unconscious. This painting by Frederick Haucke owes a debt to giants of the Surrealist movement but still, Haucke carves out his style. The shape of the nude's hair echoes the shape of the sunset. What the symbolism to the mountain is and the flower in the foreground we will leave to the viewer to speculate. It was shown at the very prestigious Pearls Gallery in New York City. Artists in the famous Perls' stable included Derain, Dufy, Rouault, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Pascin, Soutine, Chagall and Vlaminck. With a 1971 retrospective of Alexander Calder's work. This Haucke from the Perls Gallery...
Category
1940s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
"Flora #13" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Flora #13" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of purple, pink, orange, blue and white.
Guy Robinson is inspired by ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Flora #7" - Geometric Surrealist Painting - Nude - Arcimboldo
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
"Floral #7" is one in a series of surreal paintings of the female figure featuring intricate patterning and hues of vibrant lilac, rich purple, bright green, yellow ochre, and blue.
...
Category
2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil
'Security' Conceptual Nude Portrait
By Dinh Y Nhi
Located in Rye, NY
‘Security’ is a large framed contemporary surrealist figurative oil on canvas painting of vertical format, created by Vietnamese artist Dinh Y Nhi in 2010. Featuring a cold palette mostly made of grey and black tones, accented with blue and beige touches, the painting depicts a frontal view of a nude figure. This piece exemplifies Y Nhi's style of paintings as her success with two-colors; red, blue or black and white, addresses modern themes and issues devoid of gender. Her figurative surrealism style of stick figures is warped and elongated, stretched out of proportion. Each figure tilts and twists at painful angles. They bring to mind the famous harrowing faces in Edward Munch's ‘The Scream’, or the difficult distorted ones from the portraits of Francis Bacon. But most of the faces Y Nhi paints are miniature ones devoid of details, deceptively random and simple brush strokes. There is a playfulness that reflects the outer images the painter projects of herself. Her style also allows her to convey complex textures, and emotions, in her images. Dinh Y Nhi is a graduate of Hanoi's School of Fine Arts. Her work has been exhibited in many shows in Vietnam. She is receiving much notice among the Vietnamese press and art patrons in the United States, Australia and Asian countries. With its powerful presence and great proportions, this surrealist oil on canvas painting will be a definite conversation piece in any home, whether placed above a sofa, console table or enfilade. Set inside a frame, the painting is titled in the lower section.
1967: Born in Hanoi, Vietnam
1989: Graduated from Hanoi Fine Art University
Exhibitions:
2011: Group Exhibition Art Asia Miami, Florida, AiBo Fine Asia Art
2011: Portrait, Dinh Y Nhi & Le Thiet Cuong...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
The Wish
By Karen Kiefer
Located in West Hollywood, CA
An exceptional early oil on canvas by American artist Karen Kiefer.
Karen Kiefer continues to paint and teach fine art in Hawaii, the focus of her pain...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Nude Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Price Upon Request
Surrealist nude paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist nude 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 nude 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, purple, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Guy Robinson, Miranda Gamel, Oliver Hazard Benson, and Igor Samsonov. 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 nude paintings, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are also available. Prices for nude 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 $338 and tops out at $295,000, while the average work sells for $5,000.