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.
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
1930s Surrealist Paintings
Gouache
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Fiberboard
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Fiberboard
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Linen, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Pen, Mixed Media, Paint, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
"This painting celebrates the joy and the art of the frolic, the fanciful, and the free!" says artist Diane Flick. Loosely inspired by Mary Poppins with a nod to her in the title, Diane explores her playful imagination by drawing an expansive landscape with random and happy imagery conceived in pure delight. Having just given birth to her second child when beginning this piece, Diane spent that summer enjoying the new addition to her family, rolling down imaginary hills with childlike enthusiasm, wrapping herself in the sweetness of new motherhood again, and painting.
About the Artist
Diane Flick is a Bay Area artist who paints quirky portraits of robots with a playful color palette and masterful realism. Each of Diane’s robots expresses its own humanlike and idiosyncratic personality. From an early age, she had a fascination with inanimate objects and often imagined what they would be like with human characteristics. Her portfolio explores the human experience through non-human subjects.
Words that describe this painting: surrealism, pop surrealism, robot, balloons, chair, scarf, ostrich, Eric Joyner...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Egg Tempera, Panel
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Part of artist Michael Wedge's series explores the contrast between urban and rural environments. This surrealist painting depicts the installation of some digital technology in an unlikely place in nature. A woman prepares to climb up the ladder while another approaches with an open laptop and an extension wire at hand. They are busy in the middle of an open field with a fox wandering between them and deers grazing in the distance.
About the Artist
Michael Wedge works in a variety of mediums: sculpture, painting, mixed media and more. He oftentimes starts with a mental image and creates digital collages, which become the basis for his paintings. A lot of his work references themes from his personal life, such as the experience of living in a city versus in the countryside. If his art seems mysterious, it;s because he enjoys making complex works. "I am attracted to images or moments that seem to have something subtle or hidden under the surface," he explains. When he;s not making art, he teaches it at an elementary school.
Words that describe this painting: surrealism...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"'Gathering' was inspired by the works of Aron Wiesenfeld, and features a woman who is drawn in such a way where one cannot tel...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Lithograph
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil