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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
Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin
Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin

Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: 27/200 MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 17.9" x 12.2" Frame: ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Fata Morgana
Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana

By Alisa Leonets

Located in Zofingen, AG

Fata Morgana In this work, the experience of love emerges as a fragile illusion — one that distorts perception while at the same time enriching it. The sky transforms into a treasury...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Modern Midden - Critical Masses
Modern Midden - Critical Masses

Modern Midden - Critical Masses

By Marie Cameron

Located in Burlingame, CA

Artist's statement: In my series Critical Masses, I explore the relationship between our species and various small marine creatures to illustrate in symbolic form various narrative...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Modernist Surreal "Metamorphosis" Still Life Exhibited Oil Painting
Vintage Modernist Surreal "Metamorphosis" Still Life Exhibited Oil Painting

Vintage Modernist Surreal "Metamorphosis" Still Life Exhibited Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist surreal interior scene oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 27 by 30 inches overall. Hands...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Please, don't look, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Please, don't look, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Please, don't look, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Elena Done

Located in Yardley, PA

Please, don’t look. I’m not offering you this moment. I’m not hiding — I’m just not performing. ? I turn away, and in that gesture, I become mine again. Please, D...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Personnage au livre" pochoir

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Personnage au livre" pochoir

By Julio González 1

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir (after the drawing). Printed in Paris in 1957 by Jacomet and published by the Galerie Berggruen for a rare catalogue. Image size: 6 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches (173 x 98 mm). ...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

Another Form
Another Form

Another Form

Located in Zofingen, AG

A mythical creature emerges as a new form of consciousness, born after numerous internal transformations. The human, the animal, and the celestial merge into a single image, where ev...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Woman In The Chair
Woman In The Chair

Woman In The Chair

By Elisabeth Sabala

Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL

Woman in the chair, heavy oil impasto on canvas framed. Elisabeth Sabala Abelló (Barcelona, 1956). She studied industrial design at the School of Arts and Crafts in Barcelona ​​and has a degree in Fine Arts, a specialty in painting, from the Central University of the same city. Sabala is a convinced figurative who has given all the prominence of her work to the representation of the human being in its most trivial aspects. At a time when the artistic landscape extols abstract and conceptual art focused on the great universal themes, Sabala continues to focus on the small defects that bring us closer to the collective and the human. The artistic progression of Sabala takes place, at first, from a bleak period to another vitalist and, later, from the representation of isolated characters (In the super, Reading the stories of the paintings) to the recreation of great concentrations of its peculiar individuals characterized in an endless number of situations (The Great Dance, The Girls of the Choir). Sabala's work is vital and touching, as well as scathing and satirical: it confronts its characters in the most varied situations, capturing, at the same time, the viewer's attention with an unusual juxtaposition of colors that do not seek chromatic harmony, but expression and movement through matter. In 1980 he won the first prize of a painting of the City of Castelldefels, and the following year he debuted individually in the Caixa Catalunya room, in Barcelona. In 1984, she was selected for the XXIII Joan Miró Drawing Prize, taking part in a traveling exhibition in Japan. Sabala won the first prize in the International Painting Competition of Pollença (Mallorca) in 1985, and the following year she took part in a collective held at the Martano gallery in Turin. That same year of 1986 she obtained the Scholarship of Plastic Arts of the Generalitat de Catalunya. He continues to hold personal shows in Barcelona, ​​Mallorca, Madrid, and Italy, and in 1989 he debuted in New York with an individual exhibition held at the Scott Alan Gallery. Since then she will reiterate his presence both in that city and in Paris, Berlin, Monaco, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Hong Kong, etc. His works have been present at Interactive, ARCO, Art Forum, Art Jonction and New Art, as well as in various Spanish museums. • Studies: Fine Arts, University of Barcelona • Industrial Design, School of Arts and Crafts, Barcelona Main exhibitions Spain: • Barcelona: ◦ Arcs & Cracks, 1990, 1992, Anna Benach 1993, Helena Ramos 1993 ◦ Maria Jose Castellvi 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001 “a wedding is a wedding” + Performance “Ella” ◦ 2004, 2006 “Fashion satisfaction” + Performance ◦ 2008 “Women's weapons” • Girona: ◦ Helena Ramos 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 ◦ Cyprus Art...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil

The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue Floral Artwork on Canvas
The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue Floral Artwork on Canvas

The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue 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

Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969
Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969

Salvador Dalí – La Tête ( The Head ) – hand watercolored drypoint etching – 1969

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Varese, IT

hand watercolored drypoint etching on extremely fine Japanese paper, edited in 1969 limited edition of 145 copies water-colored , numbered in lower left corner ea ( artist proof ) signed in pencil by artist in lower right corner paper size: 38.5 x 28.5 cm framed size: 65 x 55 cm very good conditions Bibliography: Salvador Dalí Catalogue Raisoneé of etchings and mixed media prints Ref 369 pag 178 Fast and Tracked shipping with express currier DHL . We offer professional packaging and tracked shipping with DHL Express courier ( shipping time: 24 hours for European countries and 4 to 6 days for America and other non-eu countries...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Drypoint, Etching

Lithographs II (1043), Modern Lithograph by Joan Miro

Lithographs II (1043), Modern Lithograph 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

Salvador Dali "Untitled 20 (Les Songes)"
Salvador Dali "Untitled 20 (Les Songes)"

Salvador Dali "Untitled 20 (Les Songes)"

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Boston, MA

Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: Untitled 20 (Les Songes) Series: Les Songes Drolatiques de Pantagruel Date: 1973 Medium: Lithograph with color backgrounds Unframed Dimensions: 25....

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Putaine
Putaine

Putaine

By Joan Miró

Located in Palm Desert, CA

‘Putaine' is a work on paper by Spanish artist, Joan Miro. Drawings were among Miro’s most private works. The Fundació Joan Miró holds 5,000 drawings the artist gave personally in 19...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Wax Crayon, India Ink

Saint Peter to Dante - Woodcut - 1963
Saint Peter to Dante - Woodcut - 1963

Saint Peter to Dante - Woodcut - 1963

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Saint Peter to Dante -  "The Divine Comedy" - Song 27 -  Paradise is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alig...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Analphabetogramme - Signatur Objekt Nr. 23 (Collages, Assemblages, Surrealism)
Analphabetogramme - Signatur Objekt Nr. 23 (Collages, Assemblages, Surrealism)

Analphabetogramme - Signatur Objekt Nr. 23 (Collages, Assemblages, Surrealism)

By Jiri Kolar

Located in Kansas City, MO

Jiri Kolar (Jiří Kolář) Analphabetogramme - Signatur Objekt Nr. 23 (Collages, Assemblages, Poetry, Surrealism) Analphabétogramme (hand-pressed copper print) with matte Year: 1995 Size: 12×11.6×0.6in Edition: 756 of 990 Signed, numbered by hand Publisher: First Edition, Verlag Rommerskirchen, Rolandseck - Germany COA provided Ref.: 924802-1933 White original cardboard in a Plexiglas slipcase, signed and numbered, number 756 of 990. 28 pages in block book form, texts and colored illustrations of collaged sculpture photographs, 1 loosely enclosed hand-signed original hand-pressed copper print ("Analphabétograms") under passepartout. The cardboard cover is cut out like a passe-partout so that the title illustration is visible when the book is hung on the wall as an art object using the acrylic glass frame provided. Tags: Czech artist,Poet,Visual artist,Political activist,Collages,Assemblages,Poetry,Surrealism,Dada...

Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Copper

Cactus Landscape  (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)
Cactus Landscape  (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Cactus Landscape (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Cactus Landscape, ca. 1975-80. Gouache on Arches rag paper, Sheet measures 23 x 30 inches. Image measures 22 x 29 inches. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Unframed.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Rag Paper

Time Stillness of Time
Time Stillness of Time

Time Stillness of Time

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Time Stillness of Time MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Levine & Levine, New York EDITION NUMBER: EA MEASUREMENTS...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Souvenir De Voyage - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
Souvenir De Voyage - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print

Souvenir De Voyage - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print

By (after) René Magritte

Located in Sint-Truiden, BE

Color lithograph after the 1961 gouache op paper by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Magritte Foundation & ADAGP and is countersigned in pencil by Mr. Charly Herscovici, President of the Magritte Foundation, Chairman of the Magritte Museum and unique representative of the Magritte Succession. A proof of edition is printed on the back of the lithograph, guaranteeing its authenticity. Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist whose witty and thought-provoking images challenged observers? preconditioned perceptions of reality. Magritte's work frequently displays a juxtaposition of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things.Magritte grew up in a simple and somewhat tragic household. His father was a modest tailor. His mother, who was mentally unsound, committed suicide in the year 1912. Magritte started drawing at a young age, and his first paintings, produced c. 1915, were Impressionistic in style.Magritte first worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory and, in the year 1922, fell in love with and married Georgette Berger. In 1926, Magritte signed...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist Color Lithograph Obra Inèdita Recent VIII
Surrealist Color Lithograph Obra Inèdita Recent VIII

Surrealist Color Lithograph Obra Inèdita Recent VIII

By Joan Miró

Located in Portland, OR

An original numbered colored lithograph, by the Spanish abstract surrealist, Joan Miro (1893-1983), tilted "Obra Inèdita Recent VIII", 1964, edition 95/100, monogrammed in plate Mir...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Color

"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel
"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel

"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel

By Nadezda

Located in Denver, CO

Nadezda's beautiful handmade oil on panel painting "Night Swim" (2024) is a portrait of a young girl in a surreal scene, laying in ocean waters while carried by a shiver of sharks. ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Savage Journey the American Dream Edition
Savage Journey the American Dream Edition

Savage Journey the American Dream Edition

By Ralph Steadman

Located in Hollywood, FL

Artist: Ralph Steadman Title: Savage Journey the American Dream Edition Medium: One color silkscreen on White Conventry Rag Paper Size: 32 × 40 in 81.3 × 101.6 cm Edition: of 150 + 20 AP Year: 2017 Notes: From Hunter Thompson's cult classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, one of the most iconic images in the novel is Savage Journey. Ralph has collaborated with Brian Chambers to create this extraordinary, limited edition, screen print. The edition of 150 have all been signed and numbered in red ink and embellished with his trademark flourish, the splat, in Ultramarine Blue. Each is a unique piece in its own right. They are produced by Kentucky based, Master Printer, Joe Petro III who has collaborated for decades with Ralph on his screen prints including the Hunter Memorial print, Vintage Dr Gonzo...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Screen

Mid Century Modernist Surreal Sunset Abstract Nude Woman Landscape Oil Painting
Mid Century Modernist Surreal Sunset Abstract Nude Woman Landscape Oil Painting

Mid Century Modernist Surreal Sunset Abstract Nude Woman Landscape Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Antique American school modernist surreal landscape. Oil on canvas, circa 1981. Signed on verso. Image size 30L x 18H. Housed in a period modern frame.

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)
Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)

Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)

By Jörg Remé

Located in Kansas City, MO

Joerg Reme Untitled IV from "von den Stunden" Folio Color Lithograph on handmade paper with deckled edges 1972 Size: 11.75 x 8.325 inches (29.8 × 21.1 cm) Edition: 31 of 250 Signed i...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood
Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood

Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood

By Óscar Aldonza Torres

Located in FISTERRA, ES

This figurative mixed media bust sculpture in ceramic, metallic oxides and carved fir wood opens with a strong emphasis on material expression and emotional tension. The work belongs to the Xentes series, a body of sculptures by the Spanish artist Óscar Aldonza Torres that explores the dialogue between individuality and collective identity. The piece combines high-temperature ceramic for the head—treated with oxides and imitation gold leaf—with a tall fir-wood torso...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Metal, Gold Leaf

Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)
Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Raccoon Watching Fish, ca. 1975-80. Gouache on Arches rag paper, Sheet measures 23 x 30 inches. Image measures 22 x 29 inches. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Unframed.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Rag Paper

original lithograph

original lithograph

By Julio de Diego

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1953 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

José Manuel Capuletti, Las damas
José Manuel Capuletti, Las damas

José Manuel Capuletti, Las damas

Located in Madrid, ES

JOSÉ MANUEL CAPULETTI Spanish, 1925 - 1976 LAS DAMAS signed "Capuletti" (lower right) oil on cardboard 21-1/4 x 25-5/8 inches (54 x 65 cm.) framed: 22-5/8 x 27 inches (57.5 x 68.5 cm...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Let's Move In Together - Abstract Color Drenched Architecture Painting on Canvas
Let's Move In Together - Abstract Color Drenched Architecture Painting on Canvas

Let's Move In Together - Abstract Color Drenched Architecture Painting on Canvas

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph
Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph

Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph

Located in Paris, IDF

Jean-Pierre HENAUT (1942-) Tribute to Magritte Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Limited /275 copies On vellum 76 x 56 cm (c. 29.9 x 22 in) Excellent condition

Category

Late 20th Century 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.