Skip to main content

Surrealist Art

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.

6
to
82
413
213
132
78
309
240
68
231
89
119
74
133
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
10,648
7,735
4,180
4,004
793
666
648
646
611
369
195
178
162
86
294
179
108
99
97
55
39
30
26
24
23
19
19
18
17
15
15
14
14
14
1
333
312
2
3
17
9
17
10
55
65
37
22
27
19
18
17
10
368
270
162
152
84
Style: Surrealist
Color:  Brown
Antique Pin-up Gil Baer French Surrealist Nude Woman Puppet Show
By Gil Baer
Located in New York, NY
Soo Funny! Gil Baer (1859-1931) is the artist of this beautiful, humorous painting. This is a surrealist illustration painting of a nude woman behind...
Category

Early 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“In the Howling Storm” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“In the Howling Storm” Photography 30" x 20" inch Edition of 5 by Brian Ziff Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag Brian Ziff's...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

"Recobntre de Ruth et de Booz (Meeting of Ruth and Boaz)" Original Lithograph
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Recobntre de Ruth et de Booz (Meeting of Ruth and Boaz) M 247/270" is an original lithograph by Marc Chagall. This original color lithograph was designed for and printed by VERVE fo...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Street, Painting, Oil on Canvas
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 Art

Materials

Oil

Shakespeare : Henry III (Knight with a Rose) - Original Etching, Handsigned
Located in Paris, FR
Salvador DALI Much Ado About Shakespeare : Henry III, 1968 Original etching Handsigned Justified EA On Japan paper 33.5 x 25 cm (c. 13 x 10 inch) REFERENC...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Gills" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Joshua Lawyer's (US based) "Gills" is an oil painting that depicts a figure with her face in profile with an air bubble escaping the gills on her neck
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Witnessing the Hue
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Wood

'Self Portrait with Orchids', National Association of Women Artists, AWS
By Leonebel Jacobs
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
An enigmatic and psychologically penetrating self-portrait in vivid shades of yellow, green and red. Signed lower right, 'Leonebel Jacobs' (American, 1883-1967) and painted circa 1945. Writer, sculptor, teacher and portrait painter Leonebel Jacobs first studied under Brush and Charles Hawthorne at the University of Oregon. A well traveled artist, Jacobs lived and painted in China, Hawaii, New York City and Los Angeles. She was a member of the American Watercolor Society, the American Federation of Arts, the Municipal Art Commission of New York, the National Association of Women Artists, the New York Watercolor Club and the Pen & Brush Club. Jacobs spent her early years in the Foreign Colony in Peking, China as a portrait artist to nobles and visiting foreigners, including Rabindranath Tagore. Notably, Jacobs painted several portraits of the Emperor and Empress after they fled to Tianjin when Christian General Feng Yu-Hsiang came to power. Additionally, Jacobs's paintings include Hawaiian notables, former First Ladies Grace Coolidge...
Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Foam Board

Large Earth Tonal Surrealist Animal Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Surrealist animal painting with frog-like creatures and a stork taking up the majority of the composition. The work is mainly earth tones with hints of grays. The work is signed by t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Cooped Up, colorful painting of cats and birds in birdcage
Located in Brooklyn, NY
colorful surrealist narrative of cats *ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Noémi et ses belles-filles
Located in Paris, FR
Original lithograph by Marc Chagall from The Bible of 1960 Noémi et ses belles-filles Unsigned 35 x 26 cm Excellent condition
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Graphisms & 4. 1979, paper, silk screen, 15x28 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Graphisms & 4. 1980, paper, silk screen, 15x28 cm Maris Argalis (1954-2008) Born in Riga. 1971. - graduated the Janis Rosenthal Riga Art School. Ongoing...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Screen

Nightshade, surrealist vegetable still life egg tempera painting, 2015
Located in New York, NY
Douglas Safranek hand-mixes his egg tempera paint - a medium resurrected from the altar pieces of the Middle Ages. Safranek’s still lifes are built from delicate layers of this quick...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Egg Tempera, Panel

oil painting architecture arabesque Mosaic Art, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The Painting title: Arabesque Medium: oil color on hard board canvas Size: 18" x 12" hard board canvas Subject: I wanted to put the Islamic realism decoration with the beauty of the Islamic architecture (Haroon Al Rashid palace ruins & Hama water wheels) with golden color and jasmine ware put in a kind of Surrealism Islamic artwork Islamic art, Islamische Kunst, art Islamique...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

POEMES: GRAVURES V
Located in Aventura, FL
Woodcut on Japon Nacré paper. Hand signed and numbered (of 26) by the artist. From a total edition of 238: 26 on Japon Nacré numbered 1-26, 200 on Rives numbered 27-226, 12 on Rives...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Untitled
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Screenprint
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Screen

Velasquez Les Menines by Salvador Dali 1974 Lithograph
Located in Paonia, CO
Velasquez Les Menines is one of six graphics from the series Changes in Great Masterpieces published by Sidney Lucas, 1974. Master Dali has given us a...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Joy, Original Oil Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
ARTIST: Aibek Begalin WORK: Original oil painting, handmade artwork Medium: Oil on canvas YEAR: 2020 STYLE: Modern SUBJECT: JOY SIZE: 30" x 20" x 0,7" inch 75 x 50 cm Unframed JOY ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Small Surrealist Landscape with Boats - After the Flood
Located in Soquel, CA
Detailed surrealist landscape depicting a barren, desert-like scene with small boats by Clayton Anderson (American, b. 1943). Signed "CLAY ANDERSON" on v...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Masonite, Oil

"Beak" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Joshua Lawyer's (US based) "Beak" is an oil painting that depicts a figure with her face in profile with a yellow triangle that resembles a beak.
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

"Ève Maudite par Dieu (Eve Incurs God's Displeasure), M 236/259" Original Litho
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Ève Maudite par Dieu (Eve Incurs God's Displeasure), M 236/259" is an original lithograph by Marc Chagall. This original color lithograph was designed for and printed by VERVE for ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"The Ox, The Lion, The Eagle, The Man", Igor Samsonov, Oil on Canvas, Surrealist
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Ox, The Lion, The Eagle, The Man" by Igor Samsonov is an Oil on Canvas painting measuring 41x60 and is a prime colorful example of figurative surrealism at its finest. His deep ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rencontre de Ruth et de Booz
Located in Paris, FR
Original lithograph by Marc Chagall from The Bible of 1960 Rencontre de Ruth et de Booz Unsigned 35 x 26 cm Excellent condition
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Sara et les Anges
Located in Paris, FR
Original lithograph by Marc Chagall from The Bible of 1960 Sara et les Anges Unsigned 35 x 26 cm Excellent condition
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Herbstblatter
Located in Santa Monica, CA
black and white etching
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Payaso (Red), Lithograph by Alejandro Colunga
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alejandro Colunga, Mexican (1948 - ) Title: Payaso (Red) Year: 1980 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 60, AP Size: 22.5 x 32 in. (57.15 x 8...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Degratissimo Rainbow
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Tantra, Photograph by Michael DeCamp
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Michael DeCamp, American (1928 - 2013) Title: Tantra Year: circa 1975 Medium: Photograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 50 Image Size: 16 x 23.5 inches Size: 20 x 27...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Iriza
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Love
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Narcissus
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Highness
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Mischievous
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- The idea of meditation and contemplation play a major role in the paintings of artist Craig Carlisle. His paintings articulate indel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

"Sara et les Anges (Sarah and the Angels), " Original Color Lithograph by Chagall
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Sara et les Anges (Sarah and the Angels), M 240/263" is an original lithograph by Marc Chagall. This original color lithograph was designed for a...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Water Nymph - Original lithograph (Mourlot - Cramer #60)
Located in Paris, FR
Andre MASSON Water Nymph, 1964 Original lithograph (Mourlot workshop) Printed monogram of the artist in the plate On vellum 32 x 24 cm (c. 13 x 10 in) RE...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Entrance to the Forest, Oil Painting
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Michael Tice, American (1953 - ) Title: Entrance to the Forest Year: 1997 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated recto, signed, titled and dated verso Size: 48 x 60 in. (121...
Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lithograph IV - Volume III
Located in Austin, TX
This original color lithograph by Joan Miró was printed 1969 and measures 12.63" by 9.5". From the unsigned edition of approximately 5,000. Joan Miró one of the leading artists of ...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Paint. The Sounds of Pharoah’s Horses
Located in Cuernavaca, Morelos
Acrylic on wood
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel

Repose (sleeping beauty woman hair portrait figurative oil painting flesh tones
Located in Quebec, Quebec
In this painting, the painter tries to portray the young sleeping, lying and oversized figure of a woman as part of the landscape. Who likes to be this person and what is she doing i...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"No.B222 Window Boy", Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
20 x 20 A slightly unsettling scene of the back of a boy in a half shuttered window of a Provencal farmhouse. What's going on? :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

SUENO PROFUNDO
Located in Los Angeles, CA
SUENO PROFUNDO OIL AND ACRILIC ON CANVAS SIGNED, 2013 EXHIBITED MUSEO DEL BANCO CENTRAL DE COSTA RICA 43.25 X 35.5 INCHES Sofía Ruiz was born in 1982....
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas, Oil

Sara et Abimelec
Located in Paris, FR
Original lithograph by Marc Chagall from The Bible of 1960 Sara et Abimelec Unsigned 35 x 26 cm Excellent condition
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

frames, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Oil on canvas, 1994, 100 x 60 cm. A man walks, he notices something while he is going, then he goes further. The three shots, placed next to each other, partially overlapping, d...
Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

La Mujer Isla The Island Woman Mexican Surrealist Painting
By Enrique Chavarría
Located in Delray Beach, FL
The Island Woman (La Mujer Isla) Artist signed and titled. Enrique Chavarría (1927-1998) was a Mexican painter and neo-surrealist, whose fantastic imagery carries forward the work of the Mexican Surrealists. He created hundreds of easel-sized oil paintings on masonite and numerous smaller works. For four decades his principal patron was Bryna Prensky, an American gallery owner from Florida who moved to Mexico City in 1954. She bought most of Chavarría’s known works for her gallery and her own collection. Prensky said she often found Chavarría in his pajamas at mid-day. He read widely and painted dreamlike images that reflect his wide-ranging scholarly interests. Much of his work is thought to have been inspired by poetry, especially the writings of André Breton, Paul Éluard, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Valéry; by the classic surrealism of Salvador Dalí; and by the paintings of Mexican neo-surrealist artists Remedios Varo...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Mythical Creature with Foliage Painted on Handmade Paper
Located in Houston, TX
Deer and owl hybrid creature that is similar to a mythological creature painted with foliage on handmade paper. The piece is not signed. It is not framed.
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Ink

lot of four surrealist inks - ink on paper, 10.5x30.5 cm., framed
Located in Nice, FR
Lot of four ink drawings by the german surrealist painter Sven Hauptmann. all signed. framed
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ink

Phenomenon (surrealism oil painting rooster chicken head farm animal red)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Absurd scenery in the middle of nowhere: head of a chicken, seemingly alive ... and an elderly man ... do they belong together, are they probably old...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Il Albero Giovanne
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Roberto Matta, Chilean (1911 - 2002) Title: Il Albero Giovanne Year: 2002 Medium: Carborundum Etching on Hand-Made Paper, signed and numbered in marker Edition: 125, XXXV Pap...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching

Journey #39 (monochrome grey pen drawing wood detailed oriental dansaekhwa)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; wood, pencil drawing, monochrome, highly detailed, Korean art, dansaekhwa, oriental art, circles, moire, geometric abstraction, intentionally exposed support, line form and color, curvilinear forms, dynamism, contemporary drawing, graphism, repetition, engaged with traditional Korean art...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Wood Panel, Pen, Birch

“And His Dark Secret Love” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“And His Dark Secret Love” (FRAMED) Photography 30x20 in Ed. of 5 by Brian Ziff “And His Dark Secret Love” (2016) Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag 30” X 20” i...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

Going Steady, Surreal Oil Painting by Shirley Kaplan circa 1964
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Shirley Kaplan, American Title: Going Steady Year: circa 1964 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right, titled verso Size: 48 in. x 48 in. (121...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Folklore Dance Abstract Composition
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Folklore Dance, 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 Mini...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

La Race Blanche - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Color lithograph after the 1937 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Mag...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surreal Native American Painting Coming to Life
By Bo Newell
Located in Houston, TX
Surrealist and naturalistic painting of a painting of Native Americans emerging from a painting hung on the wall. Painting has various still life elements including a satchel and a c...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Surrealist Scene
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork, Surrealist Scene c.1980 is an original color lithograph by Italian/Israeli artist Mario Doretti, born 1929. It is Hand signed and numbered 43/200 in pencil by the artis...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Vir Absurdus - Oil on Paper - Contemporary Painting
Located in New York, NY
This painting is artwork of Patrick Faure, Creator of Faurism. The painting is unframed, oil on paper. About the Artwork: ‘In this subtle instant when man looks back on his life, Sisyphus going back toward his rock, contemplates this chain of actions without links that has become his destiny’ Albert Camus tells us. Vir Absurdus captures this moment, when Sisyphus let the rock roll back down the hill and has the time to look at the Mediterranean shore. We can imagine that it is his love for the sea, for the world of the Mediterranean that he incurs the wrath of the gods. He looks on that shore that is forever forbidden to him and over which hand the clouds of Hades. He is turning into a rock himself. Having been so close to a rock for such a long time, one cannot but imagine that he is becoming rock himself, suggests Camus. The objects lose their meaning. The rock has turned into the five ball of a billiard set...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Lightweights and Heavyweights
Located in Napa, CA
Framed Oil on Canvas Painting Largely self-taught, Linda Ridd Herzog’s paintings boast unbelievably detailed animals and objects in fantastical, surreal scenes. Growing up in Utah, ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

This Is Not Art #5
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Mikel Alatza is an artist of tremendous talent, who, like his paintings, has no problem letting his rough edges show. Alatza has been a well-known part of the Venice art scene for the last ten years and has developed a strong and loyal following.   Alatza is also known for his early paintings commissioned by renowned German artist Martin Kippenberger between 1989 and 1990. Kippenberger later manipulated the works with painted frogs...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Plywood, Oil

Surrealist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist art 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 art 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, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Leonor Fini. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Lithograph 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 art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $1,450,000, while the average work sells for $1,426.

Recently Viewed

View All