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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
Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro, Recent Unpublished Work, 1964
Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro, Recent Unpublished Work, 1964

Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro, Recent Unpublished Work, 1964

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the album Miro, Obra Inedita Recent (Miro, Recent Unpublished Work), originates from the 1964 e...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist Rooftops Collage
Surrealist Rooftops Collage

Surrealist Rooftops Collage

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Rita Boley Bolaffio (née Luzzatto; Trieste, Italy, 7 June 1898 - New York City, United States, 20 May 1995. Surrealist Rooftops. Collage on fabric, measures 19 x 34 inches framed. Ar...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Fabric, Paper

Savage Garden
Savage Garden

Timothy BerrySavage Garden, 1996

$900Sale Price|40% Off

Savage Garden

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Timothy Berry (b.1948). Savage Garden, 1996. Oil on canvas, 34 x 32 inches. Sigh on verso. Original gallery label affixed on verso. Canvas stretched over...

Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Les Aigrettes
Les Aigrettes

Les Aigrettes

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Les Aigrettes Etching from 1969. 66/145 on Japan paper. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Graphik Europa Anstalt. Reference: M...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Held Inside a Shaft of Light (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)
Held Inside a Shaft of Light (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)

Held Inside a Shaft of Light (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)

Located in Kansas City, MO

Annieo Klaas Held Inside a Shaft of Light 2023 Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 30.48 cm) Signed lower right COA provided *On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

"La Peine Perdue (The Wasted Effort)" Lithograph after Painting by Rene Magritte
"La Peine Perdue (The Wasted Effort)" Lithograph after Painting by Rene Magritte

"La Peine Perdue (The Wasted Effort)" Lithograph after Painting by Rene Magritte

By René Magritte

Located in Milwaukee, WI

"La Peine Perdue (The Wasted Effort)" is a color lithograph after original 1962 painting by Rene Magritte. Two blue curtains are parted on either side. Two curtain shaped mirrors show a sky and clouds. A ball sits right to the left of the mirrors. Art: 12 x 9.75 in Frame: 22.75 x 20.38 in René-François-Ghislain Magritte was born November 21, 1898, in Lessines, Belgium and died on August 15, 1967 in Brussels. He is one of the most important surrealist artists. Through his art, Magritte creates humor and mystery with juxtapositions and shocking irregularities. Some of his hallmark motifs include the bourgeois “little man,” bowler hats, apples, hidden faces, and contradictory texts. René Magritte’s father was a tailor and his mother was a miller. Tragedy struck Magritte’s life when his mother committed suicide when he was only fourteen. Magritte and his two brothers were thereafter raised by their grandmother. Magritte studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from 1916 to 1918. After graduating he worked as a wallpaper designer and in advertisement. It was during this period that he married Georgette Berger, whom he had known since they were teenagers. In 1926, René Magritte signed...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Crazy Horse MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 223/250 MEASUREMENTS: 30.5" x 22.25" YEAR: 1968 FRAMED: No CERTIFICATE OF AUT...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist painting on board, bright colors and green shadows, diptych
Surrealist painting on board, bright colors and green shadows, diptych

Surrealist painting on board, bright colors and green shadows, diptych

Located in Carballo, ES

Ventura A. Pérez (1992) is one of the most seductive artists on the contemporary Spanish scene. After earning a doctorate in contemporary art from the University of Vigo, he moved to...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Gaining Perspective, Oil Painting
Gaining Perspective, Oil Painting

Gaining Perspective, Oil Painting

By Kat Silver

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A surreal scene depicts a colossal woman standing amid farmland, her gaze fixed on a bird flying from her birdcage torso. A viaduct emerges from the base of her...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Digital World, Oil Painting
Digital World, Oil Painting

Digital World, Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A young boy stands indoors, absorbed in his mobile device. Just beyond an open door, a polar bear looms inside the house, its mouth open as if roaring. The brig...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Island. Tan Horse, Original Painting
Island. Tan Horse, Original Painting

Island. Tan Horse, Original Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
This painting features a horse standing against a stylized coastal landscape. Geometric shapes define the sky, clouds, and buildings, while background elements ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Leslie Fry_Revelation_2016_Acrylic on paper_Surrealism_Framed
Leslie Fry_Revelation_2016_Acrylic on paper_Surrealism_Framed

Leslie Fry_Revelation_2016_Acrylic on paper_Surrealism_Framed

Located in Darien, CT

Leslie's public projects respond to site, history and the body. Figures are female or hermaphroditic, of imaginary descent, often melded with animal, architecture and plant forms. I ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Blue Green Water
Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Blue Green Water

Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Blue Green Water

By Isabel Rock

Located in Norfolk, GB

Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing; part of the prize is a solo show at Hastings Contemporary, scheduled for 2024. Whilst Isabel always has a tale to tell for each of her images, you may or may not choose to go on the journey with her or you may indeed have a different story, one of your own that jumps off the page at you, that that you decide to follow. Artwork Details: Water, 122 x 152cm, Collaged woodblock print, acrylic inks on Somerset satin paper, 2023 Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown In Isabel's own words: Water; Once upon a time there was water. It fell from the sky in clear blue droplets. It made pools and puddles on the ground. The water tasted sweet and pure, it was good to drink, to make soup, to swim in or to wash in. It made the plants and trees grow big and luscious, it was the lifeblood of everything.. Everybody loved water and no one ever questioned where it came from or that one day the rain might stop and there would be no water.  The water women went about their usual business, they made soup, they grew cabbages, they argued and laughed together. The well was always full, there was food aplenty, life thrived. It is sometimes said that ignorance is bliss, and the women did live in bliss although they did not know it. They did not know that one day the rain would stop. It was only when the rain stopped that they knew they had lived in bliss. *Please note we are happy to ship this work rolled in an art tube. Whilst the work is on heavy duty art paper and mixed media, the artist is happy that the painting will be fine rolled in a tube. This is a more cost effective and environmentally sound method of shipping. Shipping via this method is free. About Isabel Rock and her work: Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations. Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink. An essential tool is a squirrel...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen

Skyshade
Skyshade

Skyshade

By Fanny Brennan

Located in New York, NY

Created by Surrealist Fanny Brennan from 1992-96, Skyshade is a lithograph in colors on wove paper. Hand-monogrammed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 250, the artwork measu...

Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

(after) Kurt Seligmann - pochoir

(after) Kurt Seligmann - pochoir

By Kurt Seligmann

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir (after the painting). This exquisitely rich impression on black wove paper was published in 1941 by the Nierendorf Gallery, of New York, for the cover of a now quite ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Pablo Picasso Christian Zervos 33 Volume Books
Pablo Picasso Christian Zervos 33 Volume Books

Pablo Picasso Christian Zervos 33 Volume Books

By Pablo Picasso

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Œuvres de 1895 à [1972]. Paris: Éditions Cahiers d'Art, 1949-1986. 33 volumes in 34 (volume 2 in two parts), small folio (325 x 252 mm.), numerous p...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Offset

"Valkiria over Burrs"
"Valkiria over Burrs"

"Valkiria over Burrs"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Valkyria Over Burrs is a fantastical silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, portraying monkeys cavorting amid burrs and branches under a soaring Valkyrie in a vivid jungle canopy. A poetic...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Silk

Max Ernst 'Ursachen Der Sonne, The Sun' 1989- Surrealist Vintage

Max Ernst 'Ursachen Der Sonne, The Sun' 1989- Surrealist Vintage

By Max Ernst

Located in Brooklyn, NY

This rare exhibition poster features Max Ernst's Ursachen ("Causes"), part of the acclaimed "Collection of European Masters" series published by Achenbach Editions for the Kunstsamml...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Offset

Extraterrestrial Fantasy - Original Lithograph by Henry Maurice - 1973

Extraterrestrial Fantasy - Original Lithograph by Henry Maurice - 1973

By Henry Maurice

Located in Roma, IT

Extraterrestrial Fantasy is a wonderful colored lithograph on paper, realized in 1973 by the French artist, Henry Maurice, published by La Nuova Foglio, the publishing house of Macerata. Hand-signed and numbered in pencil on lower right margin. Edition of 100 prints. This contemporary artwork representing three extraterrestrial guardians at the entrance of a futuristic world is in excellent conditions. Maurice Henry...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Pillar of Strength 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Woman, African
Pillar of Strength 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Woman, African

Pillar of Strength 2 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Woman, African

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Pillar of Strength” is a powerful fabric collage that celebrates the inner resilience, dignity, and grace of the African woman. Constructed with richly patterned textiles and bold, v...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Fabric, Canvas

Feminaire II, Surrealist Etching by André Masson
Feminaire II, Surrealist Etching by André Masson

Feminaire II, Surrealist Etching by André Masson

By André Masson

Located in Long Island City, NY

André Masson, French (1896 -1987) - Feminaire II, Year: 1951, Medium: Etching on wove paper, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 30, Image Size: 9.75 x 8 inches, Size: 14.25...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Surreal Landscape by Italian Artist Lanfranco Finocchioli
Surreal Landscape by Italian Artist Lanfranco Finocchioli

Surreal Landscape by Italian Artist Lanfranco Finocchioli

Located in New York, NY

Lanfranco Finocchioli (Italian, b. 20th century) Sognando Capri (Dreaming of Capri), 2003 Oil on canvas 13 3/4 x 19 5/8 in. Framed: 19 1/4 x 23 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. Signed and dated lower...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Composition, Variations sur l'imaginaire, André Masson
Composition, Variations sur l'imaginaire, André Masson

Composition, Variations sur l'imaginaire, André Masson

By André Masson

Located in Southampton, NY

Lithograph on vélin de Rives paper. Inscription: hand signed and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Variations sur l'imaginaire, 1972. Published by Philipp...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Le Rhinoceros - Lithograph - 1970

Le Rhinoceros - Lithograph - 1970

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Lithograph on wove paper, after drypoint etching. Image dimension 36.5x49.5. Edition of 163/275. Hand signed and numbered in pencil. Browned. Ref. Michler-Lopsinger 450.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Mano Luna (rare giltwood sculpture)
Mano Luna (rare giltwood sculpture)

Mano Luna (rare giltwood sculpture)

By Pedro Friedeberg

Located in Aventura, FL

Carved giltwood sculpture. Signed Pedro Friedberg on the underside of the base. Size: 10 x 3.25 x 1.5 inches. Certificate of Authenticity is included. Artwork is in excellent co...

Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Brotherhood -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Black Men, Acrylic
Brotherhood -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Black Men, Acrylic

Brotherhood -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Black Men, Acrylic

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authent...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Leonor Fini, Rogomelec (rare print on paper)
Leonor Fini, Rogomelec (rare print on paper)

Leonor Fini, Rogomelec (rare print on paper)

By Leonor Fini

Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Leonor Fini, Rogomelec (rare original print on Rives paper) Texte : Rare lithograph on Rives paper, handsigned and numered by surrealist artist Leonor Fini, now rediscovered and inscreasingly esteemed with the movement of rediscovering art by women. Leonor Fini was actually the life of the party during the Surrealist movement like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Jacqueline Lamba and Claude Lalanne. Many consider her to be the most fiercely independent female artist of the 20th centuryThis rare lithograph was made after the painting untitled Rogomelec, which was sold by Christie's on october 9th 2024 at GBP 907,200. Created in 1978, Rogomelec is an arresting example of Leonor Fini’s fantastical visions. Within a barren land stands a king dressed in an elaborate coat of peacock feathers. Light glints off his dazzling crown. He is magisterial, imperious, royalty incarnated. The painting shares its title with that of Fini’s third novella, first published in 1979; Rogomelec means ‘he who stones the king’. Written in the first person, the story tells of a traveller in a faraway land, home to a decaying monastery-turned-sanatorium, where monks proffer hallucinatory herbal cures, and culminates in an unsettling discovery during a ritual celebration of the king, the subject of the present work. Born in Buenos Aires, Fini moved to Trieste as a young child. There, she developed an early interest in Renaissance and Mannerist art – the latter’s influence is evident in the elongated figure of Rogomelec – as well as Gustav Klimt, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the German and French Romantics, artists she discovered while riffling through her uncle’s extensive library. Largely self-taught, she moved to Paris in 1931 where she befriended René Magritte, Paul Éluard, Max Ernst, and Victor Brauner. Through them, Fini grew close with the Surrealists and participated in their exhibitions, including Peggy Guggenheim’s landmark show 31 Women at her eponymous gallery on West 57 Street in New York. Like her contemporaries, Fini’s paintings too seem wrenched from a dream and across her works she sought to reconcile the world that she experienced with that of her subconscious mind. In Rogomelec, the king’s clothing is meticulous, and the drama of the ensemble was likely influenced by Fini’s work outside the studio. She created sets and costumes for the ballet, stage, and film; collaborated on performances for the Paris Opéra and La Scala in Milan; and conceived of the bottle and packaging for Elsa Schiaparelli’s perfume...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper

original lithograph

original lithograph

By Julio de Diego

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed for the front cover of the 1955 "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the oc...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Horses in a Mythological Landscape - Lithograph
Horses in a Mythological Landscape - Lithograph

Horses in a Mythological Landscape - Lithograph

By Giorgio De Chirico

Located in Paris, IDF

Giorgio de CHIRICO Horses in a Mythological Landscape, c. 1955 Lithograph and stencil (Jacomet workshop) Printed signature in the plate On light vellum 48 x 38 cm (c. 19 x 15 in) V...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

Man Ray, Fashion Photography, Partial Solarization, 1980 (after)
Man Ray, Fashion Photography, Partial Solarization, 1980 (after)

Man Ray, Fashion Photography, Partial Solarization, 1980 (after)

By Man Ray

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite heliogravure after Man Ray (1890–1976), titled Fashion Photography, Partial Solarization, originates from the 1980 folio Man Ray, Electa Editrice Portfolios. Published...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Prunella and Sylvie
Prunella and Sylvie

Prunella and Sylvie

By Helmut Newton

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, known for his unflinching, heavily eroticized images of women. Born in 1920 in Berlin, Newton’...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Polaroid

Urania
Urania

Urania

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Urania Hand-coloured drypoint etching from 1971. The edition 67/145 on Arches paper. Dimensions of work: 51 x 65 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Les Heur...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

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.