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.
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Guigen Zha presents elements of Chinese cultural relics set upon a surrealist beach. A Tang Sancai, a type of pottery from the Tang Dynasty, sits prominently with its gilded handles. Together on the steps are an embroidered shoe worn by women and a pomegranate flower in full bloom. He paints a snail walking into a mural depicting cultural history. "The piece presents a reminder of the past and how time flies," says Guigen.
About the Artist
Words that describe this painting: healing, landscape, seascape, floral, poetic, cultural relics, surrealism, Dali...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Charcoal, Paper, Crayon, Watercolor, Pencil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Watercolor
Artist Comments
Inspired by the classical painting, The Birth of Venus, artist Miranda Gamel shows a surrealist portrayal. The subject stands beautifully with long wavy hair and glistening eyes under a turquoise moon...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
"A flower is small, but it is also a world of its own," says artist Guigen Zha. He paints a surreal image of a flower growing from bud to bloom. A parallel metaphor of human life from birth to death plays out in the scene. Guigen displays a peony, a deer, and a human expressing the interconnection and interdependence of all things in a utopian world.
About the Artist
Words that describe this painting: healing, peony, deer, animal, belief, landscape, floral, poetic, oilpaint, flower, surrealism, figure, nude, surrealism, flora, oil painting, green
One Blossom One World...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paper, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Paper, Acrylic Polymer
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic, Paper
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
1950s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Stacked like rocks on the shore, artist Diane Flick plays with scale, color, texture, and joyful imagery—creating a quirky, awkward, and jovial childlike ba...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Linen, Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic, Board
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Chalk, Pastel, Archival Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Linen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Panel