Surrealist 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
Daniel, 1945 Oil on Canvas by Donald Gooch
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Donald Burnette Gooch (American, 1907 - 1985)'
Signed: Gooch '45 (Lower, Right)
" Daniel ", 1945 (titled on verso)
Oil on Canvas
23 1/4" x 36"
Housed in it's original 4" artist...
Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Chiens N.5
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper, she creat...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
In the Right Place, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
This painting was selected to be part of "2019 People's Gallery" at Austin City Hall! About this painting: I am fascinated by nature. I believe that we are all connected with nat...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Luna, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Wild, bright and bold, Luna's gaze of daydreaming wonder. Original oil painting of Heather Ireland's Surrealism series. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Voyage To India, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Travel is in your heart, and she beckons you to follow. Original oil painting by artist, painted live at i3 Arts Fest Art Car Ball in Pershing Square Los Angeles. :: Painting :: Surr...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Irreparable Consequences of the Irrational, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Original oil on canvas is ready to hang! Sides were painted for a gallery wrap look. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
hippo in half, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The work is called "hippo in half". The picture is surrealistic and saturated both in color and in fantasy loads. The inner world of the hippopotamus is not depicted realistically, b...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Mother and Child VII, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is a painting from Africa of a mother and newborn infant in such warm colors. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Civic Center with Matrioska, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
From the series “Red Starâ€
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
The Drummer, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is an oil painting of an African street musician, a vivid character, performing for tips. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenti...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Greener Grass
Located in Bozeman, MT
Rene Gonzalez (b.1983, Montreal, Canada) grew up first in Canada as the son of political refugees, then in Costa Rica interacting with a new tropical set...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Pixel Interior
Located in CAMPO REAL, ES
The artwork depicts the architecture of a temple using a warm monochrome palette, which intensifies the contrast with the colorful motif within. In the center of the composition, an ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel, Oil, Linen
Nietzsche Forever Young, w/ Turin Horse in Elysium, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Diana Heit
Located in Yardley, PA
“Man is the cruelest animal," says Zarathustra. "When gazing at tragedies, bull-fights, crucifixations he hath hitherto felt happier than at any other time on Earth. And when he in...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
EASY STREET, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Bill Stone
Located in Yardley, PA
A scene that played out every night on our street in Chicago. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Earthly Flavors, Painting, Oil on MDF Panel
By Craig Moran
Located in Yardley, PA
Earthly Flavors is one of the twenty-odd pieces I did while participating in Palette 22 Restaurant's artist-in-residence program. Amorphous islands of yellow, pink and blue dominate ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Inside of the lines, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
It is an ORIGINAL painting not a print or reproduction or mass produced art! I personally pack my artworks. All necessary arrangements are made to make sure your paintings arrive saf...
Category
2010s Surrealist 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 Paintings
Materials
Oil
"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 Paintings
Materials
Oil
Snapshots
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Snapshots" is a modern surrealist oil on canvas painting by Irving Norman in 1986. The artwork is 40 x 90 inches and 41 3/8 x 91 1/4 x 1 5/8 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed and dated lower right, "I.N. '68".
Norman's surrealist paintings transport viewers into dystopian realms where human figures meld with machinery, creating haunting landscapes of industrialized chaos and existential reflection. This painting uses a series of vignettes or "snapshots" of human couples in various states of health and vigor. The grotesque nature of some of the bodies is juxtaposed in the bright swimsuits as children play under an ominous sky...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
$150,000
"Small Study in White 3" - surrealist still life, lace, skull, patterns, shell
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting features the colors of the rainbow as they appear in white objects.
Guy Robinson is inspired by the work of Paul Klee, Albrecht Durer and Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
Atlanta based artist Guy Robinson attended the Atlanta College Of Art on a Ford Foundation grant and has worked extensively in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. His surrealists works have been exhibited in numerous galleries and have a place in important collections including the Museum Of Contemporary Art, Georgia (MOCA,GA). Robinson has over thirty-five years experience teaching drawing and painting for Emory...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Questions IV, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The gilt edged mirror has a kind of Trompe-l'Å“il effect. I intended the mirror to look 3D and the Trompe-l'Å“il effect was an added bonus. This tend...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"And Lovely, Learn by Going Where to Go" - Contemporary surreal acrylic painting
Located in Nyack, NY
Lotte Petricone's paintings blend representational and abstract imagery. The interplay of color, value, and texture creates a sense of space and movement throughout the image, while ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
A enormous sleeve, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Diana Rosa
Located in Yardley, PA
original on canvas, ready to hang :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signed: Yes...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Circular butterfly, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
An original piece from the series "Please do not kill butterflies", pins, oil and pencil on paper (mounted on a wood panel), 35 x 30 cm, 2018. Please, all these dead animals ... Of ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Gnome artist"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This artwork, painted with vibrant acrylics, embodies a fusion of comics, figurative art, pop art, and surrealism. It captures a sense of whimsical introspection through the depictio...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Innocentia, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Allegorical portrait. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Circular butterfly, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
An original piece from the series "Please do not kill butterflies", pins and oil on thick paper (mounted on a wood panel), 35 x 30 cm, 2018. Please, all these dead animals .....
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Love, Original Contemporary Surrealist Gouache Painting on Wood Panel
By Megan Frazer
Located in Boston, MA
Love, Original Contemporary Surrealist Painting
18" x 11.25" x 1.625" (HxWxD) Gouache on Wood Panel
A conceptual surrealist painting by artist Megan Frazer, this composition feature...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Wood Panel
Ferjo - Surrealist Interior - Signed Oil on Canvas
By Ferjo
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
FERJO
Intérieur surréaliste
Signed Oil on Canvas
51 x 61 cm
Ferjo, Brazilian (1946 - )
Ferjo
Technical achievements in art not only in painting...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Goldfish XLII, Painting, Oil on MDF Panel
Located in Yardley, PA
A further exploration of the Goldfish theme. Painting onto a solid surface allows the colours to be more concentrated and richer. Here I've reversed the colours (except the eyes) ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Street, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Janos Kujbus
Located in Yardley, PA
Original work - big painting in contemporary pop art style from hungarian artist Janos Kujbus. Story about painting: "The street is one big stage where endless stories of people take place. The people themselves are the screenwriters, directors and actors of this never-ending performance. Every day we meet a lot of people on the street ... Some seem mundane to us, others weird and some seem too weird to us ... Like in this painting ... Who knows what really happens between these weird characters? What is this story about them captured by the artist's brush on the canvas? Research and then maybe you will find the answers ..." Despite the fact that Janos Kujbus belongs to the younger generation of Hungarian fine artists, we can rightly place his work among the top works of contemporary European art. His figurative paintings in the style of modern pop art amaze not only their size (often exceeding two meters), but also the peculiarities of their form and content. On the big canvases...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surrealist Boats, Federico Castellon - American Surrealism, Oil on paper, 1950
Located in New York, NY
Federico Castellon
Boats in the harbor, ca. 1950
Oil on paper
25 1/5 × 17 3/10 in 64 × 44 cm (without frame)
Frame included
Category
1950s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Le Blouson
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas,
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper, she crea...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
"Deception, " Keith McIntyre, Surrealist Figure, Scottish Artist
By Keith McIntyre
Located in New York, NY
Keith McIntyre (Scottish, b. 1959)
Deception, 1996
Oil on canvas
30 x 28 inches
Signed and dated lower right
Scottish Artist Keith McIntyre was born ...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Rhapsody
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Art is and has always been at the very center of my life. In creating I find communication and connection with others that surpasses any barrier or boundary. Through imagery, I can c...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
MATYC, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
MATYC 2023 OIL ON CANVAS 50X40X2 :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signed: Yes ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Lupo, wolf, sleeping face, mystery blacks and dark colors symbolist elements
Located in Brooklyn, NY
In this series, Audrey Anastasi has shifted her focus away from naturalistic domestic settings to a dark, enigmatic, and some might say, unsettling, place. These figures could be he...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Le Petit Patissier
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas,
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper, she crea...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Prime Cuts
Located in Nottingham, GB
Original Painting, Oil on Board
In 2013 the Horse Meat Scandal came to light. This scandal happened in parts of Europe in which foods advertised as containing beef and Pork were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat. Xue Wang...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
$8,933
KERCH, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
KERCH 2023 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 160X150X1 :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: No :: Signed:...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Chiens N.1
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper, she creat...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - La Bourasque
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas,
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper, she crea...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Prayer IV, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is a reverent painting of African Christians at prayer by Cameroon artist Angu Walters. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an of...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - La Tierra
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas with knife
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
A Prickly Situation, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Original painting by Austin based artist Sandra Boskamp :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Ha...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Corn Snake and White Wedding Cake, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
It's a nice day to...start again. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signed: Yes...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Time Hollow, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work (#7) from the ELEMENTS series Why did I call this series elements? Because there is air in it, there is water, there are earth and fire"¦ There are birth, life and death, spri...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
DC On The Grow Large Oil With Tiger
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
DC On The Grow Large Oil With Tiger
Yankel (Jacob) Ginzburg (Russian/American, Born 1945). An original Surrealist acrylic painting on canvas. Titled "DC On The Grow". A colorful work...
Category
1980s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
The Drummer and the Flutist V, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is an African painting by Cameroon artist Angu Walters of a musical performance by musicians singing and playing the flute and drums in soft acrylic greens and blues. :: Paintin...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - El Cielo
By Helen Uter
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas with knife
Helen Uter is an established Franco-American painter born in 1955 who lives and works in Donnery, near Orléans, France. Heavily influenced by Edward Hopper...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
4700 Plumas y sombrillas, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Andres Vivo
Located in Yardley, PA
Feathers and sun umbrellars Inspired by the the dramatic artworks of Goya.Belongs to my human behaviour series :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certif...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
HATTED (DETRAS DE TU MIRADA), Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Marcelo Novo
Located in Yardley, PA
This painting is from my Contrast Series, where the subject is complex and with lots of details and volume, while the background is usual a solid (usually bright) color. Like a mu...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
4505 Transformaciones 1, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Andres Vivo
Located in Yardley, PA
Belongs to my uman social behaviour series Inspired by the crude realities that Francisco Goya painted :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Mvet Player II, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is a painting of an African musician playing the mvet, a traditional African musical instrument. The pointed roof at the top center is the way traditional village homes look...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Carnival '1', Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
This Art work is about the Carnival festival. The colours used,the costume,the scenery all add up to explain what Carnival is about.A celebration of joy,merrymaking.A time to bring t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
4477 Brave horsemen heroes old, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Andres Vivo
Located in Yardley, PA
Many referencial heroes like Napoleon, Garibaldi,Don Quijote ...cowboys,explorers, etc who did on horseback. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certifica...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Obsession!, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
I only make original works. Each is a one of a kind so you will have the only one! My artwork is my emotions and you can see that emotions on the canvas - You can experience it eac...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
A plate of fish, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
A surreal interior view. A male figure looks out of a window. Inside the room, a table with un unexpected plate full of fish. The painting is realized with oil colors on thick paper ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Saturday Market, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is an emormous painting of the very busy scene at an African village on market day by Cameroon artist Angu Walters. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an officia...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
4580 Transformaciones 2, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Andres Vivo
Located in Yardley, PA
Its about human behaviour that has never changed, but today things are visible and politically accepted. Inspired by Goya´s dramatic art works. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surrealist paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist 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 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, green and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Elvic Steele, Rudolf Kosow, Isabel Rock, and Henry David Potwin. 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 2 inches across are also available. Prices for 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 $1 and tops out at $400,000, while the average work sells for $2,999.