Surrealist 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.
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Polymer
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Paper, India Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
1950s Surrealist Paintings
Gouache
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Surrealist Paintings
Gouache
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Part of her series about the divinatory meanings of the swords tarot cards, artist Rachel Srinivasan paints a minotaur with blades and a caduceus. She feature...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Paper
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Encaustic, Thread, Oil, Rice Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Polyester, Oil
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Gouache, Rag Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph, Archival Paper
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph, Washi Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
Late 20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph, Washi Paper
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Rag Paper, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Gesso, Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Archival Paper, Lithograph
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Archival Paper, Lithograph
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil Crayon
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1960s Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph, Washi Paper
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Encaustic, Thread, Oil, Rice Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic