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
The Happy Villagers IV, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Here is an acrylic painting of two friends deeply engaged in conversation over drinks in an African village within a jungle setting. The colors are so bright. :: Painting :: Surreali...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"Alas, Again (Self Portrait in Absentia)" - surrealist portriat, bird, pattern
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting features hues of green, purple and yellow.
Guy Robinson is inspired by the work of Paul Klee, Albrecht Durer and Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
Guy Robinson is an Atlanta-based...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Chromatic butterfly - blue, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
An original piece from the series œPlease do not kill butterflies
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Welcome to my Party!" Surrealist pop art painting by artist Megan Dune
Located in West Hollywood, CA
"Welcome to my Party!" Acrylic and paper on canvas. 4ft x 4ft
This square 48" inch high by 48" inch wide original mixed media painting on canvas is stretched and ready to hang. The ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
New Order, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The sides of this canvas were painted so there is no need for a frame. It's ready to hang! Thank you for looking at my art. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an off...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Urban Jungle, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Acrylic painting on canvas. Surrealism landscape, ships in a tube. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Chiens N.2
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
Paint. The Sounds of Pharoah’s Horses
Located in Cuernavaca, Morelos
Acrylic on wood
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
Meeting of the Minds
Located in Napa, CA
Framed Oil on Canvas
Largely self-taught, Linda Ridd Herzog’s paintings boast unbelievably detailed animals and objects in fantastical, surreal scenes. Growing up in Utah, Herzog f...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Dog mask, Painting, Oil on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
From a series of imaginary surreal tribal masks. Oil on thick paper, 50 x 60 cm, 2021. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity sig...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Groovy 1970s Men's Fashion Bell Bottoms Surreal Bumble Bee
Located in Miami, FL
In the present work, Wilson McLean departs from a typical expected fashion setting and places his two male models in a surreal world. The outdoors comes indoors with cotton ball clo...
Category
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Three heads are better than one, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
This happens to be an old painting of mine that i retouched recently. The popular saying has always been two heads are better than one, but i have titled mine three heads are better ...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
CRAZY EYES, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Bill Stone
Located in Yardley, PA
She’s got those crazy eyes that look right through you. (Side-stapled canvas, should be framed.) :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of auth...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
20th Century Oil on Canvas French Signed Alain Cadoret Surrealist Painting, 1975
Located in Vicoforte, IT
French painting dated 1975. Oil on canvas artwork, first canvas, depicting a surrealist subject with a strong visual impact. Nicely sized and pleasantly decorated painting, signed an...
Category
1970s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Confused Flamingo
Located in Kingston, WA
Here we have a very confused flamingo that thought following the gulf stream would lead him to the Gulf of Mexico, sadly mistaken, ended up in the Lofoten islands, an archipelago off...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
The Past is Present
Located in Kingston, WA
In this artwork, I sought to blend the boundaries between the tangible and ethereal—a surreal vista that pulls the observer into a dialogue between past and present. The ethereal fac...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Tree, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Acrylics on stretched canvas. :: 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
African Lady - Original Mixed Media by Sergio Barletta - 1997
Located in Roma, IT
African Lady is an original painting and collage artwork in mixed media -ink, tempera and watercolor- realized by Sergio Barletta in 1997
Hand-signed on ...
Category
1990s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Ink, Tempera, Watercolor
French Contemporary Art By Helen Uter - Station Sèvres-Lecourbe
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
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
HOMAGE TO THE CLASSICS
Located in Aventura, FL
Original oil painting on canvas. Hand signed on front by the artist. Canvas is stretched.
Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of authenticity included. All reasonable...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$3,600 Sale Price / item
40% Off
The Drummer and the Flutist IV painting from Afric, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
It's a painting from Central Africa of a music duo singing and playing flute and drums by Cameroon artist Angu Walters. This painting will ship from t...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Guardian of the Castle -, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
This guardian is called “Shachihoko.†It is a Japanese mythical creature that has a tiger head and fish body, and it creates waves and rains. Shachihoko is considered as a charm of fire protection...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Easter" - surrealist still life, objects, flowers, egg, colorful, patterns
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting features hues of green, purple and blue.
This surrealist still life features flowers and an egg.
Guy Robinson is inspired by the work of Paul Klee, Albrecht Durer and ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
IN VINO VERITAS, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Marcelo Novo
Located in Yardley, PA
This piece is part of my "Contrast Series". "Like a musician playing by ear and improvising as he goes, my art begins not with cautious preliminary sketches but working directly on ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
The Beach at Noon, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The beach can be a surreal place where rock formations can create fantastic shapes such as I saw at the Cote de Granite Rose in Brittany. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece com...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Go With The Flow" Fantasy and Surreal Oil on Canvas by acclaimed British artist
Located in Southampton, NY
In continuing with representing fine artists that are connected to the music industry we are please to announce that we are the only gallery in the United States representing the wor...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Glass Houses (Right)
Located in Greenwich, CT
Glass Houses (Right) is an acrylic on canvas painting, with a canvas size of 30 x 48 inches, signed 'afn' lower right and framed in a contemporary black moulding.
Anne Faith...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Bon Voyage (Paper Planes)
Located in Greenwich, CT
Bon Voyage (Paper Planes) is a mixed media painting (acrylic, gold enamel, charcoal, pencil and ink on archival cotton paper, signed 'afn' lower right and framed in a contemporary black moulding.
Anne...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Enamel
Villosa
Located in Dallas, TX
This work was featured at ComplexCon 2019 - November 2nd and 3rd in Long Beach, CA.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Wood, Oil
$4,608 Sale Price
20% Off
Carmelo Niño, Gran arlequín, 2019, 200 x 100 cm, 78.7 x 39.3 in.
By Carmelo Niño
Located in Miami, FL
Carmelo Niño
Gran arlequín, 2019
Acrylic on canvas
200 x 100 cm
78.7 x 39.3 in.
The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the ar...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
We are all playing theater
Located in BARCELONA, ES
This painting explores how human conversations are like performing on a stage, with the curtains symbolizing the theater of life. The eyes in this case represent our constant search ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by the Rolling Stones on their 1969 album Let It Bleed, which lyrics guided me when I was creating this painting. Allegory of expulsion...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Just Another Bunch of Flowers at Breakfast" - surrealist still life, flowers
By Guy Robinson
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting features hues of green, purple and blue.
This surrealist still life features flowers, toast, an apple and patterned textile.
Guy Robinson is inspired by the work of Pa...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Enigmas, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
This painting continue the series of Oceans but incorporate some figures and silhouettes reflections making more complex the composition and the feelings behind the painting. Thank y...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Figure with Magnolia, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
When the magnolia trees bloom, I want to become one with the tree, the blossoms, and the scent, With this painting, I wanted to communicate that yearning. I painted this by first pai...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Today Happens Once by Lucas Aoki
Located in New York, NY
Archival Pigment print
Limited Edition of 25
18 x 24 inches
Signed and numbered by the artist
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Giclée
$281 Sale Price
25% Off
Green between the Seas, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work (#11) 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, sp...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Garden Gait, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Horse plowing through flower gardens fearfully. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
The Garden Behind
Located in BARCELONA, ES
This painting represents the liberation of the self as the theater curtain begins to fade away, its grey color symbolizing the death of pretense.
It reflects the beauty of true human...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Small Study in White" - 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
Hull, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Yotam Zohar
Located in Yardley, PA
A prototype for my "Frontier Project", this painting depicts an astronaut spray-painting a tag on the side of a module of the International Space Station bearing Blackbeard's pirate flag...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sunrise, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work (#4) 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, ...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Post-urban Vision No. 1, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work from the Post-urban Visions series - a series that transcends the existence of today's highly urbanized industrial society and envisages a future (post-urban) state when the h...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Blossom, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work (#6) 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, ...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Modern times, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Asher Topel
Located in Yardley, PA
The advancement of technology changes the map of people's professions and sources of livelihood, will result in the disappearance of many professions and will require high specializa...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Arigato Diptych Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Arigato diptych, acrylic on canvas.
Malgosia Kiernozycka was born in Wroclaw, Poland. She graduated high school at the School of Fine Arts and received a scholarship from the Min...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Inner Revolution
Located in CAMPO REAL, ES
In this canvas the author invites us to explore an inner world that transcends the mere physical representation of an architectural space. In the center of the composition, an imposi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Linen, Wood Panel, Oil
HALCYON, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Poetic Art Statement: Days of Halcyon - All is Well. Halcyon expresses whatever the viewer decides (modern seascape, landscape, sky, water, fantasy). May be reversed for different contemporary abstract-modern or surreal effects. I am an environmental oil artist and use the highest grade water-based oils to produce paintings that are healthy for our environment, homes, and offices. 1.5" gallery wrap neutral grey edges and therefore needs no frame. Halycon is a ready to hang archival ecofriendly fine art...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Surreal Collage: 'Six Feet Apart, Six Feet Under'
Located in New York, NY
Barnett, a surrealist artist incorporates discarded mechanical objects and gadgets into his artwork. His work is characterized by its unique and ecl...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Surreal Figurative Painting, "Elegance and Power" 2024
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original Oil on Canvas figurative painting by Charlene Mosley. A cirtificate of authenticity will follow delivery. It is framed as pictured.
Charlene Mosley’s current wor...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Something in the Water, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
"Something in the Water" Large oil painting on white square stretched canvas, gallery wrapped with white edges. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certifi...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Copper Rain, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Timon Sloane
Located in Yardley, PA
I let the painting take me where it would on this one. The photo that inspired it was somewhat romantic and melancholy. I added the puddles, struggling with their imagery. I used to think that the copper in the puddles...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Banquet of shimmering Personalities, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The work shows a fine society that has gathered at a table for a feast. The participants are blowflies, whose bodies shimmer metallically due to their blue, green to golden-green gl...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Woodworkers Gothic, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The work "Woodworkers Gothic" is a new interpretation of the well-known painting "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. The two main figures in Wood's painting were replaced by a pair of ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Ladies Night, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The encounter with pitcher plants is often fatal for insects and other small animals, because they are carnivorous plants. In my painting "Ladies Night" I presented the pitcher plan...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Natural Windows surreal painting oil on canvas- grey shadows
Located in Miami, FL
Professionally known as Vignoli, was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He began his career in 1982 creating canvases in oil on canvas, where he applies his own technique, which, acco...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Face nº6
Located in CAMPO REAL, ES
The painting Face #6 offers a personalized interpretation of the figure of the Greek hero Achilles, known for his prominent role in the Trojan War and his depiction in Homer's Iliad....
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Wood Panel, Oil, Linen
Impossible Walls, Original Contemporary Surrealist Blue Oil Painting
Located in Boston, MA
Impossible Walls, Original Contemporary Surrealist Blue Painting, 2022
24" x 30" x 1.65" (HxWxD) Oil on Canvas
Like the Penrose stairs and M.C. Escher's Relativity, artist Marlene Llanes...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
The Symphony, Original Surrealist Painting, 2021
Located in Boston, MA
Artist Commentary:
A sampling of the art motifs of Samuel Leopold.
Keywords: sampling, motifs, Samuel Leopold, moon, symphony
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Flying Shapes
Located in BARCELONA, ES
This painting reflects the ego and how, at our worst, we feel like the center of everything, dismissing the world around us as insignificant, like meaningless, flying shapes. It expl...
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Canvas, 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.