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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.

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Style: Surrealist
Cartones
Cartones

Joan MiróCartones, 1984

$960Sale Price|20% Off

Cartones

By Joan Miró

Located in Wilton, CT

numbered 64/180. Published by Atlantis Art Verlag Freiburg

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Four of Swords by Salvador Dalí
Four of Swords by Salvador Dalí

Four of Swords by Salvador Dalí

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in New Orleans, LA

Salvador Dalí 1904-1989 Spanish Four of Swords Signed “Dalí” (lower center) Gouache on photographic background Representing a unique blend of spiritualism and Surrealism, this go...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Photographic Paper

Historical Document - Hunter Thompson
Historical Document - Hunter Thompson

Historical Document - Hunter Thompson

By Ralph Steadman

Located in Hollywood, FL

Artist: Ralph Steadman Title: Historical Document - Hunter Thompson Medium: One color silkscreen on White Rising Stonehenge Deckle Edge Paper Size: 13 x 22 Inches Edition: of 300 Ye...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Silk, Screen

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Tete aux cheveux defaits" pochoir

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Tete aux cheveux defaits" pochoir

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir (after the watercolor). Printed in Paris in 1957 by Jacomet and published by the Galerie Berggruen for a rare catalogue. Image size: 5 1/2 x 4 inches (142 x 98 mm). S...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

LUVE
LUVE

LUVE

Located in Zofingen, AG

LUVE is a painterly work that uses the landscape of Volyn (Ukraine) as a point of departure for a much deeper exploration of inner space. Lutsk is not depicted literally; instead, it...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Figure on a blue background" original lithograph

"Figure on a blue background" original lithograph

By Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. Catalogue reference: Mourlot 244. This charming Miro lithograph was printed by Mourlot for XXe Siecle in 1957 for issue number 8 "Art et humour au XXe Si...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Plate VI, Le Cocu Magnifique
Plate VI, Le Cocu Magnifique

Plate VI, Le Cocu Magnifique

By Pablo Picasso

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Plate VI, Le Cocu Magnifique etching & aquatint, 1968 Unsigned as usual From the unsigned edition of 200 impressions printed on Rives BFK paper There is also a signed edition of 30 i...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Pippin Bumble's Favorite Time of Day, Oil Painting
Pippin Bumble's Favorite Time of Day, Oil Painting

Pippin Bumble's Favorite Time of Day, Oil Painting

By Diane Flick

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A robot elephant balances an heirloom tomato and a pot of daisy flower on its head. This is artist Diane Flick's first painting using AI-generated reference p...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier
French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier

French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier

By Jean Pierre Serrier

Located in Surfside, FL

Jean Pierre Serrier (French, 1934-1989) Oil on canvas painting depicting four figures Hand signed lower right. Measures (frame) 26.5" x 30" wide, and (sight) 18.25." x 22.25" wide. Jean Pierre Serrier (1934 – 1989) was a French painter known for surrealism and absurdist art. Jean-Pierre Serrier was born in Montparnasse, Paris and attended the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. the son of Louis and Solange Serrier. His father fought in World War II and became a prisoner of war. In 1940, as a six-year-old, he and his mother fled Paris for Corrèze in southwest France. Childhood memories of close escapes from German bombardments would later influence his absurdist philosophy of life. Passionate about drawing, in 1951 he applied and was admitted to the École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art in Paris. He shared an attic apartment in the 16th arrondissement with fellow student Jean-Baptiste Valadié. For income, he decorated shop windows. A trip to Spain provided motifs for early works. His student work might be characterized as art naïf (Naive art). While still a student, he sold a ceramic artwork to the poet and publisher Pierre Seghers, who would later commission drawings from him. He frequented jazz clubs in Saint-Germain des Près, and while listening to Sidney Bechet at the Vieux Colombier, he met his wife, Yvette.One of the last French Surrealist and follower of Nietzsche. His art conveyed the message to all of mankind that we are only human. The other Surrealist to center his art in philosophy was Rene Magritte whose paintings reflect his understanding of Sigmund Freud. He had his first exhibition in 1955, before being sent to Algeria to complete his military service. After graduating in 1955, he was drafted for military service, spent time in Germany and Morocco, and was sent to the front lines of the Algerian War. In 1959 he exhibited works at two Parisian galleries and at Juan-les-Pins on the Côte d'Azur. From 1961, he exhibited annually at the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1962, the City of Paris purchased his painting Un dimanche In 1961, Serrier made his first visit to the United States to exhibit at a New York gallery. In 1975 and 1979, he had successful exhibitions in New Orleans, and his work was included in art and news magazines, including Time and Newsweek. Beginning in the 1950s, his works included stylized portraits similar in some ways to the "big eyes" art of Margaret Keane, though it is uncertain that either artist influenced the other. Keane painted children, and so did Serrier, sometimes from life, but Serrier’s models are usually somewhat older, though uniformly slender and with androgynous features. A gallery owner introduced Serrier to American collectors Edgar Garbisch and his wife, Bernice Chrysler (daughter of Chrysler founder Walter P. Chrysler), who had a particular interest in naïve art; they commissioned a series of portraits from Serrier. At the same time, he met Reine Ausset in Paris, who in 1961 invited him to New York to take part in an exhibition at Galerie Norval on 57th Street. The show also included work by Moïse Kisling, and the exhibition program explicitly linked the two artists, saying that Serrier, who considered Moise Kisling "the Master," had found his own technique, but "the same vision joins the grand Kisling to the young Serrier: plenitude of shapes, sureness of palette, precision in outlines." In the 1960s he began painting slender, young, androgynous figures in groups, set in sparse landscapes with suggestions of the surreal and sometimes wearing costumes of the Commedia dell'arte. In some of these paintings the eyes of the figures are completely black, a motif that would continue in his later work. In 1965, he exhibited at Forest and Reed Gallery in London. Also in 1965, he discovered the small town of Martel, and with his old roommate Jean-Baptiste Valadié purchased a house that they opened as the gallery La Licorne (The Unicorn) in 1967. Responding to the political upheavals of May 1968 in France, and following the advice of Geneva gallery owner Roger Ferrero, Serrier's work became increasingly complex, idiosyncratic, and surreal. Imagery included the Tower of Babel, bodies suspended in space, and crowds of people all dressed alike, with identical features and entirely black eyes. Mannequins, playing cards, nudes, and levitating orbs also figured in the work. In a nod to Magritte, his men sometimes wear bowler hats. Another influence may have been the works of the Franco-Belgian surrealist Gaston Bogaert (1918-2008). Serrier's first major exhibit of these works, in Geneva in 1971, was titled Le Réalisme Fantastique. (Magic Realism) In 1972, he was made a member of the Société du Salon d'Automne, under whose auspices he was invited by the Polish government to exhibit in Warsaw in 1973, as part of a cultural exchange across the Iron Curtain. In 1976, he served on the jury of the Salon d'Automne. In 1975, New Orleans gallery owner Kurt E. Schon brought his work to several cities in the United States. A copiously illustrated monograph in English, Surrealism and the Absurd: Jean Pierre Serrier, was published in 1977. Author Thomas M. Bayer wrote: Serrier's world is one where—to use Friedrich Nietzche's term—the "human herd animal" is being confronted with the overwhelming task of coping with the world, his solitude, and at times, his resignation in the face of its monstrous size and duration. It is a world where the characterless, "blind" man faces the institutions, rules and symbols that made him into the being he now is…But Serrier does not lose himself in this world he portrays. He never forgets the old French tradition, the "black" humor, à la Molière. This classical humor at times is more felt than seen, in a manner that can be terribly funny, because it is horrifying, laughable, poignant and always true. Serrier told a friend, "In each of my paintings there's a message of hope amid the crowd of stereotypical figures. It could be an escaping dirigible, or a nymphet who flees like a deer under the red and blue trees of paradise...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970
Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970

Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970

By Leonor Fini

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Leonor Fini (1907–1996), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the album Satiricon, originates from the 1970 edition published by Ariane Lancell, Editeur, P...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

La Petite Chouette Sculpture, Surrealist Ceramic, Circa 1960-1970
La Petite Chouette Sculpture, Surrealist Ceramic, Circa 1960-1970

La Petite Chouette Sculpture, Surrealist Ceramic, Circa 1960-1970

Located in CANNES, FR

Jules Agard ( 1905 - 1986 ) " la petite chouette " circa 1960 - 1970 " Pièce unique " Sculpture en terre rouge de Salernes montée au tour représentant une petite chouette ( d...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ceramic

Tramp (pet dog, beagle, troubadour guitare, animal portrait, surrealist painting
Tramp (pet dog, beagle, troubadour guitare, animal portrait, surrealist painting

Tramp (pet dog, beagle, troubadour guitare, animal portrait, surrealist painting

By Rudolf Kosow

Located in Quebec, Quebec

"Tramp," by Rudolf Kosow, is a whimsical painting that delights in its surreal juxtaposition of scale and serenity. At the center is a beagle's face, depicted with lifelike detail and expressiveness, eyes glistening with a calm intelligence that beckons the viewer into a state of contemplation. Positioned against the backdrop of the dog's vast visage, a small, solitary figure strums a guitar. The musician, dressed in casual attire, appears as a wandering troubadour, his music resonating with the quietude of the scene. This miniature man, though diminutive in size, plays a significant role in the narrative, providing a sense of companionship and shared experience. The painting's title, "Tramp," suggests a free spirit, both in the itinerant musician and the beagle, known for its adventurous and exploratory nature. Kosow's piece is an ode to the wandering souls and the moments of unexpected harmony they encounter. Through "Tramp," we are reminded of the melodies that score our journeys and the silent kinship we find along the way. It is an invitation to embrace the music of life, to find connection in the tranquility of existence, and to acknowledge the symphonies that unfold in the presence of kindred spirits, regardless of their size or form. keywords; painting on canvas, surrealist painting, animal vs human, americana, nature, man, man vs nature, surrealism, giant animal...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Locomotion paradisiaque intra-utérine (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13)
Locomotion paradisiaque intra-utérine (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13)

Locomotion paradisiaque intra-utérine (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13)

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Fairfield, CT

Artist: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Title: Locomotion paradisiaque intra-utérine (Michler/Löpsinger 822-831; Field 75-13), Imaginations et Objets du Futur (Paradise intrauterine locomo...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Drypoint, Lithograph, Screen

The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967
The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967

The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967

By Antoni Pitxot

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Title: The Petrified Origin Artist: Antoni Pitxot i Soler (1934–2015) Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 25.6 x 31.9 in (65 x 81 cm) Date: 1967 Condition: Unframed Signature: Signed lower right: Pitxot Provenance: Private collection Notes: Early work from Pitxot’s mature period, featuring the symbolic and meticulously rendered stone forms that would define his artistic identity. 📝 Work Description In The Petrified Origin, Antoni Pitxot presents a haunting and timeless vision of a single, eroded rock suspended in a dreamlike, undefined space. The stone, modeled with sculptural precision, appears to float over a subtly reflective surface, devoid of background or narrative context. Its porous texture, cracks, and shadows evoke a fossilized memory — a silent relic of geological time. Painted in 1967, this piece exemplifies Pitxot's unique visual language, developed through his practice of collecting stones along the Costa Brava and transforming them into anthropomorphic and symbolic compositions. The result is both surreal and solemn, an ode to nature’s memory and the enduring presence of the inanimate. 👤 About the Artist Antoni Pitxot i Soler (born in Figueres, 1934 – died in Barcelona, 2015) was a Catalan painter deeply rooted in the surrealist tradition. Coming from an artistic family —his uncle was Ramon Pichot, a friend of Picasso and Dalí— Pitxot trained as a draughtsman and painter from a young age. In the 1960s, he settled in Cadaqués, where he developed his distinct artistic universe. His paintings revolve around stone as a symbol of permanence, transformation, and memory. Pitxot created sculptural assemblages from real coastal stones and later immortalized them in oil on canvas. His works often hint at human figures, ancient myths, and allegories of time. 🎭 Connection with Salvador Dalí Pitxot was not only a close friend of Salvador Dalí but also one of his closest collaborators. Dalí admired his work and invited him to co-design the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. After Dalí’s death...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ruth Gleaner - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960
Ruth Gleaner - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960

Ruth Gleaner - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960

By Marc Chagall

Located in Roma, IT

Color lithograph realized by Marc Chagall in 1960 to illustrate "The Bible".  Edition of 6500, published by Tériade in no. 33 and 34 of the Art Magazine Verve. Printed by Mourlot a...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

original etching

original etching

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original etching. Printed in Paris by Lacourière and published by Pierre à Feu and Maeght Editeur for the Marcel Duchamp / André Breton project Surréalisme en 1947. Issued in...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Vitraux in Four Sheets Royal Insect
Vitraux in Four Sheets Royal Insect

Vitraux in Four Sheets Royal Insect

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Vitraux in Four Sheets Royal Insect MEDIUM: 4 Lithographs SIGNED: 1 Lithograph is Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: 1 lithograph is numbe...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Waiting Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting
Waiting Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting

Waiting Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting

By Ashot Yan

Located in Granada Hills, CA

Figurative Surrealism Original Painting Artist: Ashot Yan Work: Original Oil Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Oil on Linen, Year: 2023 Style: Portrait Surrealism, T...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963
Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963

Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Brunetto Latini from the Series "The Divine Comedy" - Song 16 - Hell is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

LOVE ISLAND - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
LOVE ISLAND - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art

LOVE ISLAND - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art

Located in London, Chelsea

We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Parget in Chaos, Surrealist Etching by Jim McCormick
Parget in Chaos, Surrealist Etching by Jim McCormick

Parget in Chaos, Surrealist Etching by Jim McCormick

Located in Long Island City, NY

Jim McCormick, American - Parget in Chaos, Year: 1969, Medium: Etching on Arches, signed, titled, numbered and dated in pencil, Edition: 20, Image Size: 17.75 x 14.75 inches, Size:...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

RENÉ MAGRITTE L'empire des lumières, 1961 Limited edition Lithograph, Surrealism
RENÉ MAGRITTE L'empire des lumières, 1961 Limited edition Lithograph, Surrealism

RENÉ MAGRITTE L'empire des lumières, 1961 Limited edition Lithograph, Surrealism

By (after) René Magritte

Located in Madrid, Madrid

L'EMPIRE DES LUMIÈRES, 1961 (THE EMPIRE OF LIGHTS, 1961) Date of creation: 2010 Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives Paper Edition: 275 Size: 60 x 45 cm Observations: Lithograph on BFK Ri...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

When there's nobody worth talking to.

When there's nobody worth talking to.

By Maggie Taylor

Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

In 1981 Maggie Taylor (b. 1961) began to photograph while she was a student at Yale University majoring in philosophy. She primarily took photographs of suburban landscapes and stran...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting
Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting

Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting

Located in Hagley, England

This superb British 1930's modern art tempera Surrealist painting is by noted interwar artist Blair Hughes-Stanton. Painted in 1939 it is entitled two Figures 1939 verso and may rela...

Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Tempera

Tête de Femme Surrealist Ceramic Sculpture, Unique, Circa 1970, Signed
Tête de Femme Surrealist Ceramic Sculpture, Unique, Circa 1970, Signed

Tête de Femme Surrealist Ceramic Sculpture, Unique, Circa 1970, Signed

Located in CANNES, FR

Jules Agard ( 1905 - 1986 ) " Tête de femme " Sculpture surréaliste réalisée en terre rouge de Salernes et montée au tour . le corps est bombé et creusé alternativement . le col se...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ceramic

Five Red Tulips - Framed Pink Original Whimsical Floral Artwork on Canvas
Five Red Tulips - Framed Pink Original Whimsical Floral Artwork on Canvas

Five Red Tulips - Framed Pink Original Whimsical Floral Artwork on Canvas

By Carlos Gamez de Francisco

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Carlos Gamez de Francisco’s "The House at the End of the Road" is a striking blend of hyperrealism, figurative surrealism, and imaginative narrative art. This 12-inch round acrylic p...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Lithographs II (1045), Surrealist Lithography by Joan Miro

Lithographs II (1045), Surrealist Lithography by Joan Miro

By Joan Miró

Located in Long Island City, NY

Joan Miro was a Spanish Surrealist artist, world-renowned for his unique art style that blended surrealist fantasy and modern life. This lithograph is part of the series "Lithographs...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Joan Miro, Untitled, from Joan Miro, 1956
Joan Miro, Untitled, from Joan Miro, 1956

Joan Miro, Untitled, from Joan Miro, 1956

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1956 publication Joan Miro. Published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, and printed by M...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

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.