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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
Animal Painting Surrealist Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ artist Birds Circle Life
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen

Nancy Baker, Tree in Moonlight, 2020, Oil on canvas, Surrealist Landscape
Located in Darien, CT
These paintings reflect the love Nancy Baker has for combining classical imagery with an image that is strange. The most direct example is in Alien Nation where i have a potter at a ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Installation, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

HERMIT (chimpanzee monkey drifting iceberg Arctic blue surrealist oil painting)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
In HERMIT, a lone chimpanzee clings to a jagged iceberg, its dark fur stark against the vast expanse of ice and water. Its expression is pensive, almost melancholic, as if caught bet...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Golfers 45 - original figurative landscape painting - contemporary Art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Step into the serene and orderly world of "Golfers 45," a char...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American School Surreal Cloudscape Rare Vintage Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Amazing surreal cloudscape modernist oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas.
Category

1960s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Leda"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The work "Leda" was written in Vienna. It is dedicated to the memory of my friend and wonderful artist Mikhail Romanov. In memory of him, all the swans that I depict in my works I pa...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Oil

Feminist Surrealist French Woman Abstract Lithograph Embossing Myriam Bat-Yosef
Located in Surfside, FL
Myriam Bat-Yosef Surrealist abstract lithograph with embossing Hand signed and dated 1973. Myriam Bat-Yosef, whose real name is Marion Hellerman, born on January 31, 1931 in Berlin, Germany to a Jewish family from Lithuania, she is an Israeli Icelandic French artist who paints on papers, paintings, fabrics, objects and human beings for performances. Myriam Bat-Yosef currently lives and works in Paris. In 1933, her family fleeing the Nazi Holocaust, Miriam Bat-Yosef emigrates to Palestine and settles in Jaffa. In 1936, she suffers a family tragedy, her father, militant Zionist, is called to fight, still recovering from an operation of appendicitis. The incision will become infected, antibiotics did not exist yet, and her father will die in the hospital after 9 months of suffering. Myriam and her mother leave Palestine to live in Paris for three years. French is Myriam's first school language. In 1939, still fleeing Nazism, she returned to Palestine, leaving France by the last boat from Marseille. She moved to Tel Aviv with her mother, aunt and maternal grandmother. In 1940, she began attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Tel Aviv and took her name as an artist, Bat-Yosef, which means Joseph's daughter in Hebrew, as a tribute to her father. In 1946, Myriam graduated as a kindergarten teacher but wanted to be an artist. Her mother enrolled her in an evening school to prepare a diploma of art teacher. At 19, she performs two years of military service in Israel. In 1952, with a pension of $50 a month that her mother allocated, she went to study at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. To survive, she has several activities while studying. In 1955, she had her first solo exhibition, at the Israeli Club on Wagram Avenue in Paris. Many artists, such as Yaacov Agam, Yehuda Neiman Avigdor Arikha, Raffi Kaiser, Dani Karavan and sculptors Achiam and Shlomo Selinger attended the opening . In 1956, she enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Florence. This is where she meets the painter Errô. They share an icy studio in winter. Myriam moves to Milan with friends. She organizes a joint exhibition with Erro, one room each, at the Montenapoleone gallery. Her works are admired by the sculptor Marino Marini and the painters Renato Birolli and Enrico Prampolini. Myriam and Erro exhibit in Rome, Milan, Florence and meet many personalities: Alain Jouffroy and his wife, the painter Manina, Roberto Matta and his wife Malitte, textile artist who was one of the founders of the Pompidou Center. Back in Paris, Myriam and Erro get married, which allows Myriam to avoid being called into the Israeli army during the Suez Canal War. In 1957, Myriam and her husband went to Iceland. Myriam works in a chocolate factory. Having enough money, she starts producing art again. She exhibited in Reykjavik's first art gallery. She meets the artist Sigridur Bjornsdottir, married to the Swiss painter Dieter Roth . In 1958, Myriam and her husband leave for Israel. They exhibit in Germany, then in Israel. Back in Paris, the couple became friends with artists of the surrealist movement, such as Victor Brauner, Hans Bellmer, the sculptor Philippe Hiquily, Liliane Lijn...
Category

1970s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Lithograph

Collective letter
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This picture is included in the series of artworks "Pathos of the Bureaucracy". 100x100cm / oil on canvas/ 2017 The picture is ready to hang (edges of a picture is painted) Signed on the front and back. Certificate of authenticity is included. This is my humorous reaction to the bureaucracy. So often we come across unnecessary laws that say that you need to take permission from someone, and you run from one agency to another, and then notice that part of life has passed.. In the picture, the cancer writes a collective letter to the slug...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait, Surrealist Mixed Media Painting by Elisa Merino
Located in Long Island City, NY
Elisa Merino, Spanish - Portrait, Medium: Oil and Mixed Media on Board, signed lower right, Size: 23 x 19 in. (58.42 x 48.26 cm), Frame Size: 35 x 30.5 inches
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Accept", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Accept" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a brown wooden chair surrounded by space like darkness. Artist Biogra...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Antique American Modernist Surreal Musical Abstract Guitar Violin Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage modernist abstract musical painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a giltwood molding. Excellent condition, ready to hang ...
Category

1930s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

The Hungry Dancer
Located in Kansas City, MO
Due to the current situation related to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, our gallery will donate 10% of our commission from this sale to the Kansas City Artists Coalition, which has been supporting local Kansas City Artists for the past 40 years. The Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC), is a non-profit, artist-centered, artist-run alternative space, supporting artists at every level in their career through exhibitions, continuing education and artist studios. Artist: Joseph Broghammer Title: “The Hungry Dancer” Materials : Chalk pastel and pencil on Arches Paper Date : 2017 Dimensions : 19 x 22 in. Omaha based artist Joseph Broghammer is as much of a storyteller as he is an artist. His one-of-a-kind pastel drawings in “Animals” are chronicles of his life. The creatures Broghammer creates are vehicles to uncover the varying characteristics of the artist’s personal identity. Hence, Broghammer’s “Animals” translates as a flowing stream of consciousness. The different birds and livestock staring back at the viewer are ornamented with iconographic symbols – small surprises along the way. These trinkets are keys to understanding the stories Broghammer is sharing. Broghammer began mastering his “dry painting” technique during his B.F.A. in Visual Art at the University of South Dakota. He graduated in 1986 and a year later went on to study his M.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin. In 2009, he studied at Creative Capital in Omaha, Nebraska. As storytellers often do, Broghammer later went on to become an educator himself, teaching at WhyArts? and becoming an Artist Assistant at Vera Mercer...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Pastel, Archival Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil

Elements, Surrealism, Chicago Artist, Planets
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
William Samuel Schwartz (Russian/American, 1896-1977) Signed: William S Schwartz (Lower, Left) " Elements ", c. 1928-29 (Date based Upon 8 Pl...
Category

Early 20th Century Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fatbelly
By Seth Michael Forman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Seth Michael Forman, American (1962 - ) Title: Fatbelly Year: 2001 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and titled verso Size: 30 x 23.5 in. Frame Size: 35 x 29 inches
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Curse of a Fit Mum
Located in Nottingham, GB
Original artwork, acrylic paints on canvas. With a mixture of street, abstract and fine art influences, most of Joe's work is created using a blend of acrylics, spray paint and charcoal. However, he doesn’t limit himself, sometimes it’s a case of using whatever’s at hand; a splash of tea, a mouthful of spit, on occasion he doesn’t even use a canvas. "My friends never held back on their desires to order, not cool." Joseph Gilgun Joe doesn’t fit any specific artistic mould or adhere to society’s expectations. He paints on instinct and lets others decide the deeper meaning behind his work. Through this process, the art provides a truthful glimpse into soul of Joe Gilgun...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Ten of Swords, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Rachel Srinivasan presents a surreal image of a white bison standing in the middle of 10 swords—nominative to its corresponding card from the tarot d...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Self Chaperone", Surrealist, Portrait, Mixed Media Acrylic Painting, 2020
Located in Franklin, MA
John Baker’s “Self-Chaperone” is an acrylic painting on canvas with collage 28 x 22 inches in flesh tones, yellows and greys. The portrait depicts the inner conflict between uninhibi...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Surrealist Painting on Fabriano Paper with Dancing Bears and Crimson Horizon
By Gozo
Located in FISTERRA, ES
A surrealist acrylic painting on Fabriano paper featuring dancing bear-like figures set against a vivid crimson horizon and deep blue landscape. This striking composition by Gozo Col...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Spray Paint

Four of Wands by Salvador Dalí
Located in New Orleans, LA
Salvador Dalí 1904-1989 Spanish Four of Wands Signed "Dalí" (lower center) Gouache on photographic background From Salvador Dalí's celebrated tarot series, Four of Wands represen...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Photographic Paper

"FIELD PROJECT", painting, surrealist dream, rocket, priestess, sci-fi, worship
Located in Toronto, Ontario
FIELD PROJECT is an acrylic on canvas surrealist painting by Brooklyn, New York artist Tony Geiger. It measures 60x48" and is a unique artwork. Note the mo...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Poetry of the bird, surrealist drawing, 1948
Located in PARIS, FR
Joséphine Beaudouin (1909-2005) Poetry of the Bird, surrealist painting, 1948 Oil on canvas Signed "Joséphine Beaudouin" and dated "1948" lower left 13,7 x 10,6 inch Born in Albi in 1909, Josephine Beaudouin (née Cals) showed an early interest in drawing. At the age of twelve, she moved to Paris where her mother, Jeanne Ramel-Cals, ran a literary salon that was frequented by art world figures such as Ambroise Vollard. In 1925, while her first drawings appeared in the magazine Crapouillot, the young artist entered the School of Decorative Arts where she studied fresco painting. She married the architect Eugène Beaudouin in 1928, with whom she traveled throughout Europe. Beaudouin, a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, designed a series of buildings that were precursors of modern architecture in France (Clichy, Maison du Peuple; Antony, Résidence universitaire Jean Zay). Josephine Beaudouin exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Tuileries, the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. The work of the one that Jean Cocteau described as "bewitching" is full of mystery. Her work bears the stamp of an extraordinary personality. Indeed, Josephine Beaudouin developed a penchant for dreams at a very early age and took refuge in the works illustrated by Gustave Doré. Her technical virtuosity and overflowing imagination were praised by the critics of her time who unanimously greeted her Marmorées (ill.1). Named by René Barotte, these are paintings made on marble slabs from 1955. The artist exploits the infinite resources of the veins of this support which inspires him poetic compositions with unusual subjects. Marked by surrealism, she returns to the fantastic by delivering a prodigious creation of the mind made of dreamed cities and trompe-l'oeil. The 1948 painting that we propose probably represents a red-billed chough. The bird is a recurring theme in the work of Josephine Beaudouin, as in her life. An avid ornithologist, she kept an aviary in her Parisian home where many island birds were kept. She also built up a collection of stuffed birds. Still on this theme, the writer Claude Aveline (1901-1992), author of the poem L'Oiseau-Qui-N'Existe-Pas, invited several visual artists to freely interpret what this bird could be. The first series of works was produced between 1956 and 1963. In 1957, Joséphine Beaudouin delivered a work with a pen of great finesse, now preserved at the Centre Pompidou (ill.2). Several renowned artists also responded to the invitation of the poet such as Jean Cocteau and Ossip Zadkine. The precision of the graphics of our painting testifies to an attentive observation of the anatomy of the birds. The artist paints with great delicacy: the technique is impeccable, the drawing is careful, the material is smooth, the details are represented with great finesse and mastery. Bibliography : Fernand Pouillon...
Category

1940s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still life with peppers - Figurative Oil Painting, Realism, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
ZBIGNIEW WOZNIAK (b. 1952) Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, at the Department of Glass and Ceramics. He is involved in painting, graphics and artistic glass design. He...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Women artist Green Blue
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen, Woodcut

Sssour - Original citrus wildlife painting - modern surrealist contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. "Sssour" by Hallie Packard is an electrifying piece that juxta...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Beaujolais - Abstract Muted Tone Architectural Still Life Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Wild Flowers 1 - Abstract Color Drenched Nature Still Life Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Nancy Baker, Pretty Pearls, 2020, Oil on canvas, Surrealist Landscape, Painting
Located in Darien, CT
These paintings reflect the love Nancy Baker has for combining classical imagery with an image that is strange. The most direct example is in Alien Nation where i have a potter at a ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

On Top (cupcake rasberry lady dessert americana vintage surreal painting)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
A young woman in a vintage dress and cloche hat perches solemnly atop an enormous raspberry mousse dessert, her poised figure seemingly unaware of the surreal scale beneath her. Rend...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Protector (diptych)
Located in CAMPO REAL, ES
This artwork, part of the "Classical Series," is composed of two vertical canvases that engage in a dialogue through their shared symbolism and subtle narrative differences. At the t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Hope : Between Earth and Heaven" Surrealist Acrylic on Canvas by Eugene Hawkins
Located in Pasadena, CA
In the "Fantasy/Metaphysical" series by American artist Eugene Hawkins, the convergence of surrealism and metaphysics unfolds as an exploration of existential themes common to all. C...
Category

1960s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Colorful Surreal Abstract Expressionist Painting of a Macabre Group of Clowns
Located in Houston, TX
Surreal abstract expressionist painting of a group of clowns in the style of Belgian painter James Ensor. Combining the macabre with the playful, the work features distorted clowns a...
Category

1990s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Tempera

Transplanting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
I used the activity of transplanting tree saplings as a way to connect the city and the country in this painting. I'm interested in surreal scenes where peopl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Surreal Floral Still Life Painting, Silent and Unseen III by Joerg Dressler
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
JOERG DRESSLER "Silent and Unseen III" Acrylic on Panel 20 x 16 inches _____________________________________ Joerg was born in Hanau, Germany. He received his MFA from the Hochschul...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

"Plutonium Messenger" Symbolic Visionary Art in Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
"Plutonium Messenger" Symbolic Visionary Art in Acrylic on Canvas Detailed symbolic work by Dana Lynn Andersen (American, b. 1962). This piece is a styl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Glitter, Acrylic

Sly (hunt dog ear surrealism scale animal men best friend nostalgia vintage art)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; surrealism, hunting dog, humour, uncanny, animals, prussian blue, emerald green, earth tones, oil painting, figurative painting, strangeness, contemporary surrealistic, uns...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large French Surrealist Oil Painting Nude Woman Standing in Fantasy Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Surrealist Nude Woman in Landscape French, mid 20th century signed oil on board, framed framed: 30.5 x 35.5 inches board: 23.5 x 27.5 inches Provenance: private collection, France Co...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Subterfuge, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
It has makings of A jigsaw feel. And the shapes Are anonymous. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: R...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

HOMO NOVUM, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Firstly, the central figure in the painting, composed of various fragments, stands as an allegory of the new human, a result of continuous evolution and adaptation. This represents t...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Beach Houses I - Original 3D surrealistic painting - contemporary illusion art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Marek Letkiewicz’s Beac...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Protectress II
Located in Quebec, Quebec
"Protectress" by Rudolf Kosow is a compelling oil painting that uses surrealism to explore themes of guardianship and scale. In this striking work, a colossal Doberman sits attentive...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Constellation number 11, Painting, Oil on Wood Panel
Located in Yardley, PA
An original piece from the series “The stars reflected in the eyesâ€
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Boston - Abstract Color Drenched Urban Cityscape Watercolor Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

City of Palms - Abstract Urban Color Drenched Collage Mixed Media Art on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"The Cosmic Dance" GAIA as Mother Earth a Visionary Figurative - Acrylic
Located in Soquel, CA
Emergence of Woman The Cosmic Dance A Visionary Figurative in Acrylic Flowing and stylized figurative work by Visionary artist Kimberlee Kuwica (American, b. 1967). From GAIA: "As t...
Category

1990s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Illustration Board, Foam Board

Vintage Surreal Oil Painting on Canvas c.1940s to 1950s.
Located in San Francisco, CA
Vintage Surreal Oil Painting on Canvas c.1940s to 1950s. Classic Surrealism brought to life on canvas by a very talented artist. The painting has no visible signature. Canvas dimen...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Woodpecker's Joy, Abstraction
Located in New York, NY
Long before astronauts ventured into space Michael Forster captured the shifting face of the universe. Inspired by the radiant patterns and incandescen...
Category

1980s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

A Rookery
Located in Nottingham, GB
Original, Acrylic Paints on Cotton Canvas Joe Gilgun is an English actor and producer based in Manchester, best known for his character Vinnie O'Neill in the series Brassic, which he also co-created, and for his character Woody in the film This Is England (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series, he has also played roles in Hollyoaks, Coronation street and E4s Misfits. Joe is a self-taught artist. Working from his home studio in Manchester, he explores themes of identity, emotion, society, and the human experience. Drawing from his own personal history and mental health, as well as the shared experiences of the voiceless and invisible living on the streets, Joe continues to discover a haunting beauty in the darkest aspects of the human psyche. With a mixture of street, abstract and fine art influences, most of his work is created using a blend of acrylic, spray paint and charcoal. However, he doesn’t limit himself, sometimes it’s a case of using whatever’s at hand; a splash of tea, a mouthful of spit, on occasion he doesn’t even use a canvas. Art works have been painted on bed sheets due to the times he’s been too anxious to leave the house. Broken gates salvaged from wastelands next to filming locations have also found their way into the collection. Joe has made a conscious effort to find his own method and style through the trial and error of painting. Trying to find his voice before he starts looking, almost out of spite. Though he enjoys the history of art, classic and contemporary, he has far more interest in understanding his own voice before muddying the waters with everything that’s gone before. There are, however, influences that can’t be avoided. George Condo’s work fascinates him, he paints ‘ordinary people’, though Joe doesn’t believe anyone’s ordinary. He appreciates how Condo captures the chaos of it all. Francesco Goya: Joe is intrigued by ‘The Black Paintings’. Goya resented society, he kept this series in his house and thought no one would ever see. Similar to Joe’s work, he felt almost embarrassed about the art. It was only ever supposed to stay in the safety of his home. Sir Francis Bacon: with a fear of appearing arrogant, Joe doesn’t consider himself to be a fan of Bacon’s work. Though there are similarities in the themes of despair and the lack of romance about the world. Plus, he was terrified of his dad, much like Joe. Despite being the least favourite of his influences, he’s the artist Joe’s talks about most often, which bothers him. George Rowlett: Joe’s a big admirer of the impasto style and the amount of work that goes into completing each piece. Though not a huge fan of landscapes, watching George paint...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Dream #770, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The style of this painting is Surrealism. The aim was to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality. I sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unloc...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Dream #248, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The style of this painting is Surrealism. The aim was to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality. I sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unloc...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Vintage Modernist Surreal "Metamorphosis" Still Life Exhibited Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist surreal interior scene oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 27 by 30 inches overall. Hands...
Category

1950s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

ShaoHua Nong Surrealist Original Oil On Canvas "Together"
Located in New York, NY
Title: Together Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 12 x 12 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: This painting is unstretched Year: 2013 Artist: ShaoHua Nong...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Latin American Modern Surreal Figure Painting, 1950's
Located in Washington, DC
Wonderful Surreal Latin American painting. Painting is oil on masonite board with original frame. Appears to be unsigned. Condition is excelle...
Category

1950s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Couple with Bird and Bouquet, Large Surrealist Oil Painting by Ramon Santiago
Located in Long Island City, NY
A romantic painting of a couple with bouquet and bird by Rochester-born artist, Ramon Santiago. This circular oil on canvas painting is signed and dated 1971.
Category

1970s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mingjun Wang Impressionist Original Oil Painting "Unnamed Paper Plane II"
Located in New York, NY
Title: Unnamed Paper Plane II Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 19.5 x 15.5 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: This painting is unstretched Year: 2011 Artist: Mingjun Wang...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Random Access, Surrealist Oil Painting by Mark Kostabi
Located in Long Island City, NY
Random Access Mark Kostabi, American (1960) Date: 1988 Oil on Canvas, signed and dated lower right, signed, title and dated on verso Size: 42 x 30 in. (106.68 x 76.2 cm)
Category

1980s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Melon" by David Cheifetz, Oil on Aluminum Panel Painting
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Melon" (2025) is an original, handmade oil painting on aluminum panel that depicts a lush still-life featuring a brightly lit watermelon, apple and assorted fruits,...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Como Seria - figurative painting, landscape painting
Located in New York, NY
This beautiful surrealist painting by Mauricio comes rolled in a tube and needs to be stretched when received. In his pieces, Mauricio combines his figurative expertise along with su...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Character On Its Own 2
Located in Nottingham, GB
Original artwork, acrylic on cardboard canvas. Unique original artwork with lots of character. With a mixture of street, abstract and fine art influences, most of Joe's work is cre...
Category

2010s Surrealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Cardboard

Surrealistic View (Diptych), huge original painting
Located in Aventura, FL
Original oil painting on canvas. Both canvases are hand signed on front on by Ferjo. Total canvases image size 70 x 100. Each canvas is 50 x 70 inches. Canvases are not stretched...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary 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.

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