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.
Artist Comments
Artist Diane Flick presents a glimpse into someone else's image of utopia. "Colonel Picklebottom's otherworldly dream persists only to exist," says Diane. In th...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Linen, Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Photographic Paper, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
In this piece, artist Julia Hacker creates a whimsical and vivid dreamscape of a desert. "It invites you to lose yourself in its charming portrayal of nature," ...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Oil
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
Early 2000s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Libby Ramage presents a surrealist representation of the changing seasons. "The leaves are like flames, and the boy and man are hesitant to venture furth...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic