Surrealist Photography
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
Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow
Located in Miami, FL
Shipping should be around $100 - Signed, dated, numbered 3/15, lower right, unframed, other sizes available, printed later
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of Sci-fi and did a lot of wor...
Category
1980s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Inkjet
Paia, Contemporary Surrealist Natural Photo Collage, 2022, Original
Located in Golden, CO
Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Topher Straus, where a lone figure basks in a mesmerizing dreamscape. "Paia" is a testament to Straus' innovative spirit and his ability ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Metal
Three Oval Glows
Located in Miami, FL
The history of Sci-fi art and illustration has had a rich and storied past. Generation of illustrators and painters have rendered their fantastic ideas on paper and canvas. The decades of the 1920’s - 1940’s saw the imaginative but crudely drawn pulp magazine gouaches of Frank R Paul...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
Dreamy Blue Flowers with Pulsating Pink Patches
By Robert Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 2/15, unframed, other sizes available. Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Robert Funk was widely published in the 1970's and 1980's. H...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Inkjet
Surreal Blue Landscape
Located in Miami, FL
Cover Popular Photography, May 1978, Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, 2/15 Printed later, other size available, unframed
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
New York Skyline from New Jersey
Located in Miami, FL
Dreamy and surreal midtown Manhattan with dramatic clouds bathed in grey blue light,
signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso 3/15, unframed, other size available
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Film
Wall Street, Negative Color, Abstract Photography by Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of negative color, abstract and color photography. This image was shot in 1970 and foreshadows major color photography movements more than 40 years in the...
Category
1960s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Alina Karo "Secret 3" Photography 47" x 40" inch Edition 1/3 by Alia Karo
By Alina Karo
Located in Culver City, CA
Alina Karo "Secret 3" Photography 47" x 40" inch Edition 1/3 by Alia Karo
Secret 3
Aluminum
47” x 40”
Edition 1/3
Comes with COA
VOLLIPSIS series by Alina Karo
The title of th...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Metal
"Rigid" Photography 36" x 24" inch Edition of 5 by Alina Karo
By Alina Karo
Located in Culver City, CA
"Rigid" Photography 36" x 24" inch Edition of 5 by Alina Karo
"Rigid"
From 7 Deadly Sins series by Alina Karo
Aluminum
36” x 24”
Edition 1/5
Comes ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Metal
"Secret 2" Figurative Photography 47" x 40" inch Edition 1/3 by Alina Karo
By Alina Karo
Located in Culver City, CA
"Secret 2" Figurative Photography 47" x 40" inch Edition 1/3 by Alina Karo
Secret 2
Aluminum
47” x 40”
Edition 1/3
Comes with COA
VOLLIPSIS series by Alina Karo
The title of t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Metal
Manhattan Skyscraper with Silver Shimming Light and East River Boats
Located in Miami, FL
Silver light reflects off an Upper East Side skyscraper as two industrial boats pass in aligned formation. But this is not a picture of a building and boat. The extreme lighting and...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
New York City Skyscraper Super Tall in Angelic Light
Located in Miami, FL
New York City Skyscraper Super Tall in Angelic Light
Signed and dated on lower right, numbered 3 of 15. Unframed. Other size available, Printed later - Printed on Hahnemühle Fine...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Mystical Transcendent Orange Sunset Big Sky
Located in Miami, FL
A spectacular vast orange sunset dominates the sky as tiny onlookers gaze up and out with amazement. The image has a surreal quality to it and the relationship to the sky and people...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Fifth Avenue at Rush Hour with Extreme Intense Light, Neutral Palette
Located in Miami, FL
Occupying the lower third of the picture plane, a herd of humans stride down Fifth Avenue. They form an overall pattern. The top of the picture is also comprised of a simple pat...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Archival Paper
SciFi Surreal Landscape of Unconscious Dreams
Located in Miami, FL
Pioneering SciFi photographer Mitchell Funk experiments with altered realms of reality by juxtaposing two landscapes of unnatural color to form a never-before-seen original vision. A single silhouetted figure looks out on a day-glow yellow sea leading to a dreamscape of trees. The yellow of water is picked up in the trees to unify the different perspectives. Published Popular Photography Magazine, February 1976...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Hypnotic Dream-like Scene of Women - Surreal Street Photography
Located in Miami, FL
With a nod to the surrealist painter Paul Delvaux, Street Photographer Mithcell Funk captures two differently dressed women in a dreamlike state. The lighting and architectural sett...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Surreal City - Manhattan Magical Moment
Located in Miami, FL
The alignment of the planets comes together in a perfect magical moment. A man sets foot on a terrace - an airplane comes into frame - golden light strikes the perfect pitch - atmosp...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Ed's at Rockefeller Center, Sci-Fi Surreal
Located in Miami, FL
An unexpected marquee at the base of upscale 30 Rockefeller Center beams neon into the night. The 1930's art deco monolith is lit up like a silver spaceship as it thrusts into an ink...
Category
1990s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Surreal Road, Monument Valley, Sci-fi Photography, Science Fiction
Located in Miami, FL
The history of Sci-fi art and illustration has had a rich and storied past. Generation of illustrators and painters have rendered their fantastic ideas on paper and canvas. The decades of the 1920’s - 1940’s saw the imaginative but crudely drawn pulp magazine gouaches of Frank R Paul...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Running Dog in First Light with Long Shadows
Located in Miami, FL
First light skims across the schoolyard pavement creating long and dramatic shadows. A golden dog is captured running through the scene and blends in creating a de Chirico like a su...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Surreal Blue Landscape
Located in Miami, FL
This image from the imagination of Mitchell Funk was the cover photograph for Popular Photography Magazine, May 1978, It is signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, 2/1...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape
Located in Miami, FL
Historically , newsstand magazines have used a standard set of practices when it came to choosing their cover image. Their goal was to use a image that people could instantly relate to. The idea being, if an image pops off the page it will attract more attention and then generate more newsstand sales. For editors, choosing a cover was first a marketing decision and then an aesthetic one. That is why most magazine covers and (that includes art magazines) pretty much looked the same. They used familiar images, mostly of celebrities, beauty people or news items of that would beckon and aggressively reach out to the prospect. In this Modern Photography Cover of August 1983, they chose a radical departure. Their cover image that was the opposite of the norm. Mitchell Funk’s Graphic Surreal Landscape...
Category
1980s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Red Sun. Green Skyline New York, Nikon Advertising Campaign
Located in Miami, FL
Shipping should be around $100. Red Sun. Green Skyline, Nikon Advertising Campaign
Inkjet Archival Print
Signature: Signed dated ,numbered lower right recto. Printed Later, Unframed...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Golden Reflections off Manhattan Skyscrapers
Located in Miami, FL
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 3/15,
Unframed, other sizes available, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Mitchell Funk is a "Color Photographer Pioneer...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Inkjet
Jewels Hat Spaceship
Located in Miami, FL
Shipping should be around $100.
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 3/15, unframed, other sizes available.
Mitchell Funk is a "Color Photographer Pioneer". He was color when c...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Inkjet
Dreamy Bronze Statue in Central with onlookers
Located in Miami, FL
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 4/15, unframed, other sizes available, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
It's an in-camera multiple exposures of two figures on a Central Park bench...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Inkjet
End of the World. Begining of the World
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of Sci-Fi photography. In the 1980's He did work for the groundbreaking Bob Guccioni magazine Omni.
Signed, dated and number LL recto, 3/15 other size ava...
Category
1980s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Man and Universe
Located in Miami, FL
Mitchell Funk is the creator of thi work and a pioneer of Sci-Fi Photography. He did an ad campaign for Omni Magazine in the early 1980's.
Archival Inkj...
Category
1980s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Red Sun. Green Skyline, Nikon Advertising Campaign
Located in Miami, FL
Red Sun. Green Skyline, Nikon Advertising Campaign
Inkjet Archival Print
Signature: Signed dated ,numbered lower right recto. Printed Later, Unframed 2/15, other sizes available - Pr...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape
Located in Miami, FL
Historically , newsstand magazines have used a standard set of practices when it came to choosing their cover image. Their goal was to use an image that people could instantly relate to. The idea being, if an image pops off the page it will attract more attention and then generate more newsstand sales. For editors, choosing a cover was first a marketing decision and then an aesthetic one. That is why most magazine covers and (that includes art magazines) pretty much looked the same. They used familiar images, mostly of celebrities, beauty people or news items of that would beckon and aggressively reach out to the prospect. In this Modern Photography Cover of August 1983, they chose a radical departure. They used an image that was the opposite of the norm. Mitchell Funk’s Graphic Surreal Landscape breaks the rules of formula magazine cover art...
Category
1980s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
United Nations with Red Sun
Located in Miami, FL
Double Exposure of Red sun into a the black shape of a silhouetted street signed evokes a surreal image of New York. Signed and dated on lower rig...
Category
1970s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
Seraphim
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram, Archival P...
Bliss
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Migration
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Field of Sorrow
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Fading Beauty
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Portraits of Dignity
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Awakening
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Within
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Porcelain Dynasty
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Bud of the Bud
By Reka Nyari
Located in New York, NY
“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerment. The series joins six women together, each who have faced adversity, to demonstrate the creation of a strengthened self-image through tattoos. By highlighting the intricate woven threads of ink on each woman’s skin, Nyari proposes the idea that self-empowerment and reconciliation with one’s traumas can be linked to the act of greeting one’s “own skin” or inventing their own story.
Nyari has now elevated these intimate photographs in her new Punctured Ink series through the process of puncturing botanical-like references into the surface of each image (thus making each one of a kind). Her inspiration to physically puncture the previously pristine photographic prints stemmed from a childhood memory that occurred while she was living in Finland: “I remembered my parents had this big pad of paper next to the home phone...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Photogram, Archival Pi...
Portrait of Roger Parry
By Maurice Tabard
Located in New York, NY
Stamped, verso
Vintage silver print
9 x 7 inches
18 x 15.5 inches, framed
Roger Parry learned photography from Maurice Tabard by working as his studio assistant in 1928. In 1929 the...
Category
1930s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Untitled [Science]
By Joseph Mills
Located in New York, NY
Varnished photo montage on paper
Category
Early 2000s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
![Untitled [Science]](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/a_9323/1584647427635/Mills_Untitled_Varnished_Photo_1200_2_master.jpg?width=240 "joe mills nude")
Untitled #8 (from Unfocused Series)
By Anne K Smith
Located in Kansas City, MO
Anne K Smith
Title: Untitled #8 (from Unfocused Series)
Medium: Archival Inkjet Print on Museo Silver Rag
Size: 10.5 x 16 inches
Available in sets of 3 (mix and match)
Entire "Unfoc...
Category
2010s Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet
Boy who loves water.
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed, dated, titled and numbered on print recto. Signed, titled with artist's copyright stamp on mount verso. Available in 15 x 15 inches or 22 x 22 inches. Other sizes may be avai...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Digital Pigment
Untitled (Philosopher's Desk)
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on the front. Contact gallery for prices and available sizes as they are subject to change - available as a 11 x 14 or 16 x 20 inch gelatin silver prints. All works are open e...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Wagon Wheel
By Greg Lotus
Located in Hudson, NY
Print is available in sizes from small to mural.
Edition of 25.
If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production.
Shipping time depends on method of shipping.
Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph.
ABOUT:
Inside the gallery, the viewer is surrounded by an arresting display of glamour in the wild. Drawing inspiration from classical paintings and geometric forms, Greg Lotus' work has been compared to Herb Ritts, Man Ray and Richard Avedon, and his exhibition fuses his high fashion background with the rural environment of his youth. Yet Lotus admits to no formal training throughout his career, "I'm completely self-taught, lots of trial and error over the years."
His foray into fashion photography was a twist of fate. In the 90s he was sharing living quarters with young models, and began photographing them to help them build their portfolios—work that eventually brought his work to the attention of agencies. When it comes to his own models, Lotus prefers the "unspoiled" types, holding castings to find those with quirk as well as beauty.
"Over time, most artists develop their own palette and look using color and light in a very personal way. I express my own aesthetic sense which is what makes my work recognizable, regardless of subject or setting." "Swimmer Cap," is an example of Lotus' signature pop of color. Here, a cast of sinewy models convene in a locker room; their candy-colored swim caps give the piece its surreal, dreamlike quality.
In the invitation piece, "Nurses" beauties in black bathing suits pop against a light background while being hosed down by a nurse. "You can almost feel the spray and hear the whoosh under the miniskirt," says Lotus. Besides the visual play on light and dark, he says water is the linking element that turns the piece theatrical and makes it breathe.
Greg Lotus was born in 1967 in rural West Virginia. He shot in Paris and New York City before settling in Miami to pursue his craft. After landing his first major job in Europe, Lotus interviewed with the editor of Italian Vogue, Franca Sozzani...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Surrealist photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist photography 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 photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, orange, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mitchell Funk, Rosemary Ellis, Brian Ziff, and FPA Francis Pavy Artist. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Photographic Paper 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 photography, so small editions measuring 4.5 inches across are also available. Prices for photography 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 $110 and tops out at $28,800, while the average work sells for $1,750.