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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
Trojan Horse, Surrealist Lithograph by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
Trojan Horse Wojtek Kowalczyk, Polish (1960) Date: 2005 Lithograph, signed in pencil Size: 19.5 in. x 13.5 in. (49.53 cm x 34.29 cm)
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"CALMA" contemporary surrealist print with intricate colorful city landscape
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
The repetition of patterns and rhythm is present in almost every piece of Pedro´s work. The hybrid topographies that Pedro Friedeberg´s unclassifiable practice recreates we must rec...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Heaven Canto 9 (The Divine Comedy)
Located in Greenwich, CT
Heaven Canto 9 is a wood engraving on BFK Rives with an image size of 10 x 7" from the popular French edition of the portfolio. Framed in a classic, gold-tone ...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Woodcut

Good Things, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Dwelling in a space of absolute simplicity, free from endless mental chatter, seems quite appealing. A tiny robot with a die is captivated by what exists befo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Abstract Figure, Surrealist Monotype by Jacques Herold
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jacques Herold (1910 - 1987) - Abstract Figure, Year: circa 1955, Medium: Monotype on laid paper, signed in pencil, Image Size: 6.25 x 4.5 inches, Size: 7.5 x 5.5 in. (19.05 x 13.9...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Monotype

L'Escargot
Located in OPOLE, PL
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) - L'Escargot Lithograph from 1958. Dimensions of work: 35.5 x 26 cm. Plate signed. Publisher: Tériade, Paris. First, original edition. The work is in ...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Large Russian Israeli Fantastic Realism Surrealist Oil Painting Girl with Swan
Located in Surfside, FL
Rina Sutzkever Calderon (Russian/Israeli, b. 1945), Fly Away Oil on canvas, signed at lower left, presented in a gilt frame with linen liner. Frame dimensions 56 x 46 in. Rina Sut...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Double Personage
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Double Personage Color lithograph, 1975 (?) Unsigned (as issued) Edition: Large Edition Limited, (estimated to be approximately 2000) Published in: XXe Siecle, No. 52, Juin 1979 Published: G. di San Lazzaro Printer: Mourlot Imprimeur, Paris, France Reference: Lam-Tonneau-Ryckelynck L7513 Condition: Excellent, fresh colors Traces of glue residue along margin edge where it was bound in the book Image/sheet size: 12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) Biography Wifredo Lam was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, on December 8, 1902. He was the eighth child born to Lam-Yam―born in Canton around 1820, an immigrant to the Americas in 1860―and to Ana Serafina Catilla―born in 1862 in Cuba of mixed African and Spanish ancestry. The luxuriant nature of Sagua la Grande had a strong impact on Lam from early childhood. One night in 1907, he was startled by the strange shadows cast on the wall of his bedroom of a bat in flight. He often recounted the incident as his first magnificent awakening to another dimension to existence. In 1916, Lam and part of his family settled in Havana. He was enrolled in the Escuela Profesional de Pintura y Escultura, Academia de San Alejandro, where he remained a student until 1923. This period, with exhibitions at the Salón de Bellas artes, was determinant in his choice to become a painter. In 1923, the municipality of Sagua la Grande awarded him a grant to study in Europe and by the autumn of that year, at the age of twenty-one, he left the country for Spain. His time in Spain―initially intended as a short stay on his way to Paris―lasted 14 years. In Madrid, he was exposed to the ideas and movements of modern art. He spent long hours at the Archeological Museum and the Prado. He studied the great masters of Spanish painting, Velázquez and Goya, but felt particularly drawn to the works of Bosch and Bruegel the Elder. In 1931, his first wife, Eva (Sébastiana Piriz) and their son Wilfredo Victor died of tuberculosis. The terrible suffering he endured led to numerous paintings of mother and child. Lam found solace in the company of his Spanish friends and made contact with several political organizations. In 1936, with the help of his friend Faustino Cordón, he joined the Republican forces in their fight against Franco. He designed anti-Fascist posters and took part in the struggle by working in a munitions factory. The violence of the struggle inspired his painting La Guerra Civil. In 1938, Lam left Spain for Paris. Shortly before leaving, he met Helena Holzer, who would become his wife in 1944. His meeting Picasso in his studio on the Rue des Grands Augustins proved decisive. Picasso introduced his new “cousin” to his painter, poet and art critic friends, Braque, Matisse, Miró, Léger, Eluard, Leiris, Tzara, Kahnweiler, Zervos. Lam also met Pierre Loeb, the owner of the Galerie Pierre in Paris, which hosted Lam’s first solo exhibition in 1939. Shortly before the Germans arrived, Lam left Paris for Bordeaux and then Marseille, where many of his friends, for the most part surrealists, had gathered around André Breton in the Villa Air Bel: Pierre Mabille, René Char, Max Ernst, Victor Brauner, Oscar Domínguez, André Masson, Benjamin Péret. In the Villa Air Bel, a meeting place for creativity and experimentation, Lam worked and produced, most notably, a series of ink drawings that set the tone for what would become his signature style of hybrid figures, a vocabulary he would develop more fully during his years in Cuba from 1941 to 1947. In January and February 1941, Lam illustrated Breton’s poem Fata Morgana which was censored by the Vichy government. On March 25, Lam and Helena Holzer embarked on the “Capitaine Paul Lemerle” headed for Martinique, in the company of some 300 other artists and intellectuals―André Breton and Claude Lévi-Strauss among them. Upon arrival, the passengers were interred at Trois Îles. It was during this forced passage in Martinique and before leaving for Cuba that Lam and Aimé Césaire met for the first time to become life-long friends. Newly settled in his native land after almost twenty years, Lam delved deeper into his artistic investigations, finding nourishment for his ideas in the surroundings of his childhood and youth. His sister Eloisa, whom he was closest to, explained to him in much detail the workings of Afro-Cuban rituals and he began attending ritual ceremonies with some of his friends. This contact with Afro-Cuban culture brought new impetus to his art. He painted over one hundred canvases, most notably La Jungla, making the year 1942 his most productive of this period. Over the next few years, a number of exhibitions followed in the United States, at the Institute of Modern Art of Boston, at the MoMA of New York, at the Galerie Pierre Matisse, where La Jungla was presented and created a scandal. In 1946, Lam and Helena travel to Haiti and attend voodoo ceremonies in the company of Pierre Mabille and André Breton. Talking about his experience in Haiti, Lam said, “It is often assumed that my work took its final form in Haiti, but my stay there, like the trips I made to Venezuela, Colombia or to the Brazilian Mato Grosso only broadened its scope. I could have been a good painter from the School of Paris, but I felt like a snail out of its shell. What really broadened my painting is the presence of African poetry.” Picasso_Lam_Vallauris_1954_vignette Wifredo Lam et Pablo Picasso, Vallauris, 1954 Lam then went on to New York where he renewed contact with Marcel Duchamp and made new acquaintances: Jeanne Reynal, James Johnson Sweeney, Arshile Gorky, John Cage, Roger Wilcox, Mercedes Matter, Ian Hugo, Jesse Fernández, John Cage, Sonia Sekula and Yves Tanguy. By the end of the 1940s, Lam divided his time between Europe, Havana and New York, where they stayed with Pierre and Teeny Matisse...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Wrong Place Wrong Time (surreal painting monkey iceberg scale animal chimpanzee
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Rudolf Kosow’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a haunting surrealist composition that juxtaposes disparate elements to create an unsettling yet mesmerizing scene. A colossal chimpanzee, i...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Magicians L'Illusioniste
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Magicians L'Illusioniste MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 68/100 MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 1...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Composition (Michler/Löpsinger 1601), Romeo e Giulietta
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph, silkscreen in colors on vélin vergata paper. Paper size: 16.5 x 12.625 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue Raisonne Reference: M...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

"Library"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The artwork is print on silk and it is limited edition. I clear the world layer by layer of verbal husk and silent contours of things appear like skeletons. "Library" by Natalia Ko...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Silk

Companion oil on canvas painting surrealist european art
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Title: Companion (Compañera) Artist: Félix Ferreras Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 28.7 x 23.6 inches Framing: Unframed Description The artwork Companion (Compañera) by Félix Ferr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Le Retour (Return), " Color Lithograph after Painting by Rene Magritte
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Le Retour (Return)" is a color lithograph after the original 1940 painting by Rene Magritte. A bird which is really just the sky in the day and clouds. A nest bellow the bird has th...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Calligrammes, by Guillaume Apollinaire and Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Roma, IT
Format : 2 Volumes, In-4° Typology : Print Suite Edition of 100 copies, including 65 original lithographs by Giorgio De Chirico in the text. This copy is in two volumes, unlike the standard edition printed in a unique volume. This edition is part of the only 6 made on Japan Supernacré Paper...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Handmade Paper

Florals Narcissus (Phones) Andalou
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Florals Narcissus (Phones) Andalou MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 1/350 MEASUREMENTS: 21.75" x 29.5" YEAR: 1972 FRAMED: No...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Vitraux in Four Sheets Royal Insect
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

Three Graces of Cova d’or
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Three Graces of Cova d'or MEDIUM: Etching with embossed verso SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Galerie des Quatre Mouvements EDITION NUMBER: 31/90 ME...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Amorpha (Color), Surrealist Etching by Frantisek Kupka
Located in Long Island City, NY
Frantisek Kupka, Czech (1871 - 1957) - Amorpha (Color). Year: 1913, Medium: Color Etching on Richard de Bas, stamp signed, Image Size: 9 x 5.75 inches, Size: 20.25 x 12.75 in. (51.44...
Category

1910s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Deep Waters, Screenprint by Israel Rubinstein
Located in Long Island City, NY
"Israel Rubinstein (1944 - ) Date: 1980 Screenprint on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 350 Image Size: 21 x 18 inches Size: 29.5 x 2...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Screen

Ten of Staves from Lyle Stuart Tarot Print Suite
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Salvador Dali, Spanish (1904 - 1989) Title: Ten of Staves from Lyle Stuart Tarot Print Suite [Intended for a James Bond Movie] Year: 1978 Medium: ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Cherub - Héliogravure by Marc Chagall - 1960
Located in Roma, IT
Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, so signature. On bot sheets, recto and verso. Edition of 6500 unsigned copies. Printed by Mourlot and published by Tériade, Paris. Ref. Mourlot,...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Photogravure

Italian Surrealist Oil Painting Jean Calogero Big Eyed Girl Doll Mandolin Flower
Located in Surfside, FL
Frame is 12 X 10. Canvas is 9.5 X 7.5 Calogero was born August 20, 1922 in Catania, Sicily. Self-taught Surreal Artist First exhibitions in 1945 in Sicily and Rome were very successful. He arrived in Paris in 1947 and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He is best known for his Surrealism and genre works. His paintings are dreamlike and visionary. They travel to an infinite space created by the artist through his memories, the sky and the sea so dear to him. In his paintings there are a few common themes: the masks with their dual dimensions that hide or shows only what you want, the profiles of the women, and the horsemen, drawn as the Sicilian tradition requires. He exhibited at the Gallery Hervé in 1951 and the following year he went to New York to present his show, then in 1953 he was invited to Los Angeles, where he returned two years later, and from where he regularly exhibited his works, and San Francisco. In 1954, Maximilien Gauthier devoted a book to him published by "The Gemini." The first exhibition in Japan was in 1965. He was awarded the Grand Silver Medal by the City of Paris in 1957. Calogero had countless exhibitions in Paris, in the fifties, plus the American exhibitions in New York (Associated American Artists, 1952), Los Angeles (James Vigevano Galleries, 1953) and then later in Japan and in major galleries in Italy. He lived and worked for many years in Paris and Italy. He died in 2001. Galerie Hervè, Parigi 1950. Associated American Artists - New York 1952. James Vigevano Galleries, Los Angeles 1953. Galerie Madsen, Parigi 1954/1960. Antologica, Tokyo 1965. Galleria La Robinia, Palermo 1969. Florida Gallery, Chicago 1970. Galleria Il Cavalletto, Catania 1971. Galleria De Rosa, Milano 1972. Galleria Pinacoteca, Roma; L'Incontro, Taranto 1973. Galleria Idea-Bellini, Firenze; David Galleries, Bari; Palazzo Melloni, L'incontro, Bologna; Galleria Schettini, Milano; Galleria Pinacoteca, Roma; Galleria La Meridiana, Verona; Pier della Francesca, Arezzo 1974. Galleria L'isolotto, Napoli; Pinacoteca, Roma; Galleria del Corso, Latina 1975. Galleria Michelangelo, Firenze; Pinacoteca, Roma 1977. Galleria Robert Philip, Parigi 1978. Galleria d'Arte Pinacoteca, Roma 1979. Centro L'Esagono, Lecce; Graziani Gallery, New York 1981. Chiesa di S. Silvestro, Tuscania; Museo d'Arte Moderna, Sessa Aurunca 1982. Galerie Hervè, Parigi 1983. Galleria l'Angolo, Catania; Galleria Arte Spazio, Sassari; Centro Il Faro, Taranto 1987. Galleria L'Esagono, Lecce 1988.Galerie Molière, Parigi; Nihon Garo, Nagoya, Giappone; Minako H. Gallery, Tokyo; Galleria del Viale Jonio, Catania 1989. Art Expo, New York; Axis Gallery, San Francisco; Galerie Axe, Parigi; Galerie Molière, Parigi 1990. Antologica, Palazzetto dell'Arte, Foggia; Galleria d'Arte Pinacoteca, Roma; Sinagrarte 91, Sinagra, Messina; La Magia di Taormina, Palazzo Corvaja, Taormina; Galleria Buonarroti, Siracusa 1991. Galleria Arte Oggi, Reggio Calabria; Galleria del Corso, Latina; Galleria Arte Spazio, Sassari; Galleria Art Gallery, Gela 1992. Galleria Profili d'Arte, Catania 1993. Europ'Art 94, Ginevra; Galleria Antarte, Messina 1994. Galleria Agorà, Palermo 1995. Comune di Aci Castello, Palazzo Russo, Aci Castello, Catania; Galleria Arte Spazio, Sassari 1996. Art Gallery, Gela; Chiesa di San Leonardo, Tuscania 1997. Pinacoteca Galleria Donini, Roma 1998. Galleria Perlini Arte, Reggio Calabria; Galleria Il Castello, Rovigo; Galleria Profili d'Arte, Catania; Pinacoteca Galleria Donini, Roma 1999. Gallery Robert Philippe: Jean Calogero, Alexandre Grig, Linda le Kinff, Jacques Lefort...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Surrealist Garden - Vertical Psychedelic Still Life in Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Surrealist Garden - Vertical Psychedelic Still Life in Acrylic on Canvas Vibrant, playful composition by Marilyn Collins (American, 20h Century). Several striped, spherical objects ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars

Don Quichotte
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Don Quichotte Lithograph from 1970. Dimensions of work: 68 x 50 cm On B.F.K Rives paper as stated in the Field catalogue. Reference: Field 72-6G The ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

DALI Saint Mathew from Twelve Apostles suite signed & numbered Lithograph 1977
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Lithograph on Arches paper with embossing and gold foil by the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali. From the 1977 Twelve Apostles Suite (sometimes ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Salvador Dalí, Composition (Field 69-5, A-M), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Héliogravure on Papeterie de Mandeure vélin paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Woman, Flowers and Potteries - Lithograph - Numbered / 100
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Marais (1913 - 1998) Woman, Flowers and Potteries Lithograph and offset print Signed with the stamp of the artist Bears also a printed signature in the plate Numbered / 100 On ...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - 'Dreams Beneath the Moon' Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: 1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - 'Dreams Beneath the Moon' Abstract Artist: Elvic Steele Medium: Oil on board, unframed Size: 6 height x 4.5 width Condition: Good Pro...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

We're All Here
Located in Dallas, TX
In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined painti...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Rag Paper, Etching

Symphony Bicyclette
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Symphony Bicyclette MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 183/200 MEASUREMENTS: 25" x 36" YEAR: 1970 FRAMED: No CONDITION: Exce...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

de Chirico, Composition, XXe Siècle (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Linocut on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, XXe Siècle, n°4, Christmas 1938. Published and printed under the direc...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Linocut

Surrealist Lady - Original Etching Hand Signed & Numbered
Located in Paris, IDF
Léonor FINI (1907-1996) Surrealist lady Original etching, 1973 Hand signed in pencil Numbered /275 copies On Arches vellum size 56 x 38 cm (c. 22 x 15 in) Very good condition
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Man Ray, Composition, Man Ray, Electa Editrice Portfolios (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Héliogravure on vélin paper. Inscription: unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Man Ray, Electa Editrice Portfolios, 1980. Published and printed ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Animal Capers (Black Surrealist Artist)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Animal Capers, ca. 1970 . Ink on illustration board, image measures 20 inches. inches; illustration panel measures 21.5 inches. Unsigned. Minor staining evident in detail photos Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively. In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery. During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic. A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe. Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content. Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Astrology Fantasy - "A Love by the Stars" - Sci-Fi Alignment of the Planets
Located in Miami, FL
Hane paints a dreamy nocturne - a fusion of earthy and celestial bodies with circling birds around a central vertical axis. Created on assignment for De Beers' highly published A Diamond is Forever" campaign. "A love by the stars was important. Until the right man of the wrong sign put his star on my finger. And I entered his house with my love. The artist created the painting to be the night ... so it appears a little dark in natural light. Best viewed with a top and key light to bring out the colors. For example if you bring the painting outside on a bright day.. the colors will pop. If you view inside of a dark hallway.. it will look sombre with less detail. Again, it's a nocturne. Hane painted the covers of the Collier-Macmillan editions of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia books, as well as such Simon & Schuster publications as Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan and A Separate Reality. In 1963, Hane was hired to do a full-page illustration for Esquire magazine; he moved to New York in 1965. He married Elaine Miller...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Fisherman
Located in Belgrade, MT
This etching by Lucien Coutard is part of my private collection since the 1970's. It is signed. Lucien Courtard created surrealist depictions of sexuality, he called it Eroticism and...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Lithograph

Ruth Gleaner - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960
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

Safety Pin Cloud
Located in Greenwich, CT
Safety Pin Cloud is a lithograph on paper with an image size of 3 x 3 inches, initialed 'FMB' lower right and annotated lower left, framed in a contemporary silver and dark gray fram...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

A ballerina. Limited edition print Surreal Established Polish artist
Located in Warsaw, PL
Giclee limited edition print by worldwidely established Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Figurative surrealistic print with a ballerina with doves sitting on her leg. Colors are deep an...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Color

For Alberti, For Spain - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975
Located in Roma, IT
For Alberti, For Spain! is an artwork realized by Joan Mirò in 1975. Etching and aquatint, 90 x 66 cm. Hand signed. Edition 64/90. Reference: Dupin 926. Printed on Fabriano paper, ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Nudes, Israel (1966) by Hans Erni - Lithograph 50x70 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Lithograph numbered and signed by hand 19/60 edition From Israel collection
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist Painting on Paper, 'Godot', Artefacts of Civilisations Lost
Located in Cotignac, FR
A late 20th century watercolour, gouache and acrylic on paper by British artist Derek Carruthers. Signed to the bottom right and dated 1985 and titled, 'Godot' to the reverse. A charming and slightly satirical painting of thousand year old figures which have been humanised. The Egyptian basalt figures are looking around the space clearly waiting for something or someone (hence the title taken from the play, 'Waiting for Godot' in which someone is expected to arrive but never does). The African tribal figures...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache

An angel. Limited edition print Surreal Established Polish artist
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary colorful figurative surrealistic print on paper by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. This print shows an angel in red dress floating in the sky. The print is signed by the a...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Color

Salvador Dalí, Composition (Field 69-5, A-M), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Héliogravure on Papeterie de Mandeure vélin paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Grey Oval - Lithograph by Marcello Avenali - 1960
Located in Roma, IT
Grey Oval is a lithograph realized by Marcello Avenali between the 1960s and 1970s. It is a composition with female legs and shoes and some abstract figures instead of the body.  Ha...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

1970’s French Surrealist Signed Oil Painting Green Abstract Composition
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Tristan Fabris 1970's, French Surrealist artist Abstract Surrealist Figurative study oil on canvas, framed signed and dated 74' inscribed verso framed: 32.5 x 26 inches canvas: 32 x ...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Miró, Composition (Cramer 160; Mourlot 864), Joan Miro Lithographs (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From the volume, Joan Miró Lithographs, Volume I, 1972....
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Lithographs II (1045), Surrealist Lithography by Joan Miro
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

Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : Happy Days - Original Hansigned Lithograph
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Happy Days Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for artist proof bearing n°1 ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

RENÉ MAGRITTE LA GRANDE FAMILLE, 1963 Limited edition Lithograph - Surrealism
Located in Madrid, Madrid
LA GRANDE FAMILLE, 1963 (THE LARGE FAMILY) Date of creation: 2010 Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives Paper Edition: 275 Size: 60 x 45 cm Observations: Lithograph on BFK Rives paper plat...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Mountain
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Mezzotint print. Edition of 18, signed, titled and numbered by the artist. Caulfield has exhibited his prints, drawings, installations and artist’s books extensively throughout Cana...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Mezzotint

Surrealist landscape with animal and figures
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Surrealist landscape with doorway, animal and figures Watercolor on heavy paper, n.d. Unsigned Stamped with the artist's estate stamp (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the artist R...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Watercolor

TIE Fighter Beatles Large Oversize Pop Art Print Signed Limited Edition
Located in London, GB
TIE Fighter Beatles by B A T I K Pop art work featuring the Fab Four Paul McCartney , George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon running away from Star Wars TIE fighters chasing...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Dance
Located in OPOLE, PL
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) - Dance Lithograph from 1939. Dimensions of work: 52 x 35 cm Publisher: Tériade, Paris. On the back there are two lithographs signed in plate. The prin...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Children - Lithograph by Giuseppe Migneco - mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Children is a modern artwork realized by Giuseppe Migneco in the mid-20th Century. Mixed colored lithograph. Hand signed and numbered on the lower margin Edition 60/150 Includes ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

El Ultimo viaje del buque fantasma, Plate I
Located in Fairlawn, OH
El Ultimo viaje del buque fantasma, Plate I Color lithograph, 1976 Signed and numbered in pencil (see photos) Edition: 99 (6/99) From: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, El Ultimo viaie del buq...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Figurative Painting on Tile, "Alberta"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is an original painting on glazed tile by Southern California artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 8.8" x 10.8" x 1.5". It is framed as pictured. A certificate of authenticit...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Mixed Media

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.

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