Surrealist Art
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.
1950s Surrealist Art
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Art
Graphite, Archival Paper
1970s Surrealist Art
Permanent Marker
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Giclée
1960s Surrealist Art
Photogravure, Lithograph
Artist Comments
Artist Drew McSherry pictures an enigmatic profile of a face. It appears to be a creature with its mouth agape. His process begins with loose sketching and blotting to achieve a smudged effect. Drew layers pastel over the work to enrich the darker colors.
About the Artist
Drew McSherry finds inspiration in the paranormal and the darker parts of life. His images contain a sense of the macabre and oftentimes feel fantastical. He currently lives in California and has been influenced by artists like Eug;ne Carri;re and Odilon Redon. Fun fact: when he;s not painting, he is working on a series of children;s books.
Words that describe this painting: death, scary, pastel, charcoal, paper, horror, skull, monster, portrait, profile, mixed media, vertical, surrealism, people, small, drawing, people, surrealism, mixed media artwork, brown
Death Head...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Mixed Media
1980s Surrealist Art
Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil, Egg Tempera
1970s Surrealist Art
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil
1970s Surrealist Art
Paper, India Ink
1960s Surrealist Art
Drypoint, Paper, Etching
1980s Surrealist Art
Lithograph
1960s Surrealist Art
Etching
1970s Surrealist Art
Pastel, Color Pencil
1970s Surrealist Art
Etching
2010s Surrealist Art
Egg Tempera, Illustration Board
2010s Surrealist Art
C Print
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée
1970s Surrealist Art
Carbon Pencil
1980s Surrealist Art
Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Art
Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Art
Mixed Media, Woodcut, Paint, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Art
Paint, Ink, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Art
Paint, Archival Paper, Pen, Ink
1980s Surrealist Art
Pastel, Ink, Gouache
2010s Surrealist Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Art
Paint, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pen
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Photographic Paper
1980s Surrealist Art
Screen
1980s Surrealist Art
Ink, Color Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Surrealist Art
Digital, Drypoint
2010s Surrealist Art
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1980s Surrealist Art
Screen
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil, Egg Tempera
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art
Watercolor, Ink
1970s Surrealist Art
Oil
1970s Surrealist Art
Mixed Media
1970s Surrealist Art
Lithograph
1970s Surrealist Art
Aquatint, Etching
1950s Surrealist Art
Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
1970s Surrealist Art
Drypoint, Etching
1970s Surrealist Art
Etching
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art
Paint, Board
Late 20th Century Surrealist Art
Aquatint, Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art
Paper, Watercolor