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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
The Narrowing Down of Molly Hinglebottom, Oil Painting
The Narrowing Down of Molly Hinglebottom, Oil Painting

The Narrowing Down of Molly Hinglebottom, Oil Painting

By Diane Flick

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A girl with a yellow Gerbera daisy for a head holds an orange refrigerator with human limbs in one hand and a cupcake topped with a telephone on the other. This...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

For Alberti, For Spain - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975
For Alberti, For Spain - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975

For Alberti, For Spain - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975

By Joan Miró

Located in Roma, IT

For Alberti, For Spain! it's an artwork realized by Joan Mirò in 1975. Etching,  90 x 66 cm.  Hand signed. Edition 62/90. Reference: Dupin 926 Printed on Fabriano paper, Printed ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Where The Swamps Sing" (2024) By Nadezda, Original Oil Surrealist Painting
"Where The Swamps Sing" (2024) By Nadezda, Original Oil Surrealist Painting

"Where The Swamps Sing" (2024) By Nadezda, Original Oil Surrealist Painting

Located in Denver, CO

Nadezda's beautiful new oil on panel painting "Where The Swamps Sing" (2024) is a surrealist Slavic portrait of a woman dressed in traditional Russian clothing, standing stoically in front of a bizarre scene, with iconography of demons' heads towered up with a cat resting atop it, deep in an abstracted symbolic forest. Nadezda is a painter, sculptor, photographer, and concept artist. Her artwork is focused on narratives carefully gathered from the hidden chambers of her imagination as well as live theater-inspired work with actors, dancers, and models. Like a quilt stitched of poetic realities, Nadezda’s mysterious world defies the mundane. With a non-linear creative process flowing between different media, the artist explores various vantage points in her creations. This dynamic approach inspires her mind’s eye to focus on the worlds within and evoke an uninterrupted, creative transmission which is then channeled through her paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, writing and film. SOLO EXHIBITIONS: September 2024 Once There Was, Once There Wasn’t // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA, USA May 2024 Siren’s Heart // Haven Gallery, Long Island, NY, USA February 2022 Secret Hallway // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA, USA July 2021 The Great Scale of Little Things // Galleria D’Arte Piero Della Francesca, Arezzo, Italy February 2021 A Place To Dream // SHOH Gallery, Berkley, CA, USA July 2019 Pins & Petals // Haven Gallery, Long Island, NY, USA August 2018 Lukomorye // Spoke Art, San Francisco, CA, USA February 2018 Nightmares & Lullabies // Haven Gallery, Long Island, NY, USA June 2017 Fly-By-Night // Haven Gallery, Long Island, NY, USA MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS: March 2024 Miradas Femeninas // group exhibition, Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (MEAM), Barcelona, Spain FAIRS: April 2020 Art Market San Francisco // SFADA x Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA, USA February 2020 LA Art Show // Abend Gallery, Los Angeles, CA July 2019 Art Market Hamptons // Haven Gallery at Bridgehampton Museum of Art, NY October 2018 Moniker Art Fair // Spoke Art, London, UK July 2017 Art Market Hamptons // Haven Gallery at Bridgehampton Museum of Art, NY SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS: June 2024 Portrait Show XII: Myth // Modern Eden, San Francisco, USA March, 2024 BAA Teachers Show 2024 // BAA Gallery, Barcelona, Spain January, 2024 AKSK // Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles, USA September 2023 Reverie // Modern Eden, San Francisco, USA August 2023 Mass // Modern Eden, San Francisco, USA October 2023 Bacchus // Modern Eden, San Francisco, USA September 2023 Harvest // Modern Eden, San Francisco, March 2023 Secret Longings // Corey Helford Gallery x Beautiful Bizarre, Los Angeles, CA December 2022 Yule // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA November 2022 Halcyon Days // Beautiful Bizarre x Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA October 2022 Danse Macabre // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA September 2022 Totem // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA August 2022 Mighty // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA June 2022 X Annual Portrait Exhibition // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA April 2022 100 Trees // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA October 2021 Lore // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA June 2021 Moleskine Project X // Spoke Art, San Francisco, CA June 2021 Portrait Show IX // Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA November 2020 Art Collector Starter Kit VII // Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles, CA October 2020 Midnight Garden // Beautiful Bizarre x Modern Eden, San Francisco, CA July 2020 The Art of Quarantine // SHOH Gallery, Berkley, CA May 2020 Unjust Contentment // Beinart Gallery, Brunswick, Australia March 2020 Contemporary Figuration // Abend Gallery, Denver, CO November 2019 Paintguide x Thinkspace Projects // Thinkspace Projects, Los Angeles, CA November 2019 Annual Holiday Miniatures Show // Abend Gallery, Denver, CO November 2019 Esprit De Corps // Modern Eden x Haven Gallery, CA and NY June 2019 Moleskine Project VIII // Spoke Art SF, CA June 2019 Muse, SHOH Gallery // Berkley CA June 2019 Small Works, Beinart Gallery // Australia May 2019 Gaia Reborn // Beautiful Bizarre at Museum of Urban Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany March 2019 Femme, Spoke Art + Juxtapoz, NY January 2019 Music Box // Haven Gallery, Northport, NY December 2018 Solstice Blue...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

ile
ile

ile

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Ile" 1986 is an original color etching with aquatint on Arches paper by French artist Jean Solombre, 1948-2005. It is hand signed, d...

Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Joan Miro, Lithograph V, from Lithographs I, 1972
Joan Miro, Lithograph V, from Lithographs I, 1972

Joan Miro, Lithograph V, from Lithographs I, 1972

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Lithograph V, from the album Joan Miro Lithographs, Volume I, originates from the 1972 edition published by Tudor Publishin...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

'Encircled' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17
'Encircled' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17

'Encircled' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Ian Hugo, 'Encircled', engraving, 1946, edition 50. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '5/50' in pencil. With the blind stamp 'madeleine-claude jobrack EDIT...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Engraving

“Tramp Stamp 2” Nude Photography 24" x 30" inch Edition 1/12 by Brian Ziff
“Tramp Stamp 2” Nude Photography 24" x 30" inch Edition 1/12 by Brian Ziff

“Tramp Stamp 2” Nude Photography 24" x 30" inch Edition 1/12 by Brian Ziff

By Brian Ziff

Located in Culver City, CA

“Tramp Stamp 2” Nude Photography 24" x 30" inch Edition 1/12 by Brian Ziff Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA s...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

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

"Six" Black & White Photography 39" x 39" inch Edition 2/3 by Olha Stepanian
"Six" Black & White Photography 39" x 39" inch Edition 2/3 by Olha Stepanian

"Six" Black & White Photography 39" x 39" inch Edition 2/3 by Olha Stepanian

By Olha Stepanian

Located in Culver City, CA

"Six" Black & White Photography 39" x 39" inch Edition 2/3 by Olha Stepanian Printed on Epson Professional Paper Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA issued by the ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Salvador Dali "The Old Faust"
Salvador Dali "The Old Faust"

Salvador Dali "The Old Faust"

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Boston, MA

Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: The Old Faust Series: Faust Date: 1969 Medium: drypoint Framed Dimensions: 22.5" x 18.5" Signature: Pencil signed Edition: 49/145 Literature: Al...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint

Purified Dante - Lithograph - 1963
Purified Dante - Lithograph - 1963

Purified Dante - Lithograph - 1963

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Purified Dante -  "The Divine Comedy" - Song 33 -  Purgatory is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Marc Chagall "Dédicace"
Marc Chagall "Dédicace"

Marc Chagall "Dédicace"

By Marc Chagall

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887-1985) "Dédicace" 1968 Color lithograph signed and numbered ##/50 in pencil Image: 17 7/8 x 15 1/4 inches. Framed: 38 x 34 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches. ...

Category

Mid-19th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Unicorn Laser Disintegrates the Horns of Cosmic Rhinoceroses (The Conquest o
The Unicorn Laser Disintegrates the Horns of Cosmic Rhinoceroses (The Conquest o

The Unicorn Laser Disintegrates the Horns of Cosmic Rhinoceroses (The Conquest o

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Greenwich, CT

The Unicorn Laser Disintegrates the Horns of the Cosmic Rhinoceroses from the Conquest of Cosmos suite – 29.5 x 22" image size, signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and annotated lower left. Fr...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Lithograph

Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia
Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia

Collage Watercolor Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism MixedMedia

By David Gilhooly

Located in Surfside, FL

DAVID JAMES GILHOOLY (American, 1943-2013), Mixed media collage 6 x 4 inches, Hand signed and dated verso Napoleon from the back, with King Henry VIII holding a pastry. titled: "England cannot be conquered by a few French pastries" cut and pasted cardstock assemblage, collaged art. David Gilhooly RCA (1943 – 2013), was an American ceramicist, sculptor, painter, printmaker, and professor. He is best known for pioneering the Funk art movement. He made a series of ceramic frogs called FrogWorld, as well as ceramic food, planets, and other creatures. David James Gilhooly III was born on April 15, 1943, in Auburn, California. He was raised in Los Altos, California; Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands; and Humacao, Puerto Rico. He enrolled in University of California, Davis (UC Davis) initially studying biology, followed by anthropology, and ending with a focus on fine art. While attending UC Davis, Gilhooly served as artist Robert Arneson assistant starting in 1963. He graduated from UC Davis with a BA degree in 1965, and an MA degree in 1967. Gilhooly, together with Robert Arneson, Peter Vandenberge, Chris Unterseher, and Margaret Dodd, working together in TB-9 (temporary building 9) were what was later to be called, The Funk Ceramic...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

L'Illusioniste - Etching - 1960s
L'Illusioniste - Etching - 1960s

L'Illusioniste - Etching - 1960s

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Etching on chamois-colored laid paper, realized by Dalì in 1968/69. Plate from "Faust (La Nuit de Walpurgis), published by Argillet, Paris. Edition of 49/150, hand colored. Hand s...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

The Côte d'Azur. Sun, Sea and Sand. Mid-Century Oil on Canvas.
The Côte d'Azur. Sun, Sea and Sand. Mid-Century Oil on Canvas.

The Côte d'Azur. Sun, Sea and Sand. Mid-Century Oil on Canvas.

Located in Cotignac, FR

Mid-century oil on canvas of a summer scene on the Côte d'Azur. The work is signed but the artist unknown. This artwork is a vibrant and eclectic composition that captures the essen...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dalia, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson
Dalia, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson

Dalia, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson

By André Masson

Located in Long Island City, NY

Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) - Dalia from Je Reve Portfolio, Year: 1975, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 93/125, Size: 20 in. x 26 in....

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Moses and Monotheism The Tear of Blood
Moses and Monotheism The Tear of Blood

Moses and Monotheism The Tear of Blood

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Moses & Monotheism The Tear of Blood MEDIUM: Etching on soft glove sheepskin SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER: E...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

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

Oreste e Pilade, 2e version

Oreste e Pilade, 2e version

By Giorgio De Chirico

Located in New York, NY

The Roman numeral edition of 25, aside from the Arabic numeral edition of 99. Signed, titled and numbered VI/XXV in pencil, lower margin. With the artist's blind stamp lower left. Pu...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint, Color

Rene Magritte, The Beautiful Captive, 1968 (after)
Rene Magritte, The Beautiful Captive, 1968 (after)

Rene Magritte, The Beautiful Captive, 1968 (after)

By René Magritte

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph after Rene Magritte (1898–1967), titled La Belle Captive (The Beautiful Captive), from the folio Les Enfants Trouves de Magritte (The Found Children of Magritte), 1968, originates from the edition published by A.C. Mazo et Cie, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, on November 20, 1968. The work embodies Magrittes sustained inquiry into semiotics and visual epistemology, translating his characteristic strategies of displacement, symbolic inversion, and conceptual ambiguity into an image that operates as both a poetic metaphor and a philosophical proposition concerning the instability of meaning. Executed as a lithograph on grand velin dArches paper, this work measures 17.5 x 23.5 inches (44.5 x 59.7 cm). Signed in the plate by the artist; hand signed by Fernand Mourlot, Editeur. The edition exemplifies the technical mastery of the Mourlot atelier. Artwork Details: Artist: After Rene Magritte (1898–1967) Title: La Belle Captive (The Beautiful Captive), from the folio Les Enfants Trouves de Magritte (The Found Children of Magritte) Medium: Lithograph on grand velin dArches paper Dimensions: 17.5 x 23.5 inches (44.5 x 59.7 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate by the artist; hand signed by Fernand Mourlot, Editeur Date: 1968 Publisher: A.C. Mazo et Cie, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue Raisonne: Magritte, Rene, et al. Rene Magritte: Catalogue Raisonne, Vol. 3. Menil Foundation; Philip Wilson Publishers; Distributed in the USA and Canada by Rizzoli International, 1992, nos. 791–792 and 1056; vol. 5, p. 218, Bibliography entry 68.28. Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the folio Les Enfants Trouves de Magritte, 1968 Notes: Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), Finished printing in Paris on November 20, 1968, on the presses of Mourlot, for the lithographs. The unpublished text by Louis Scutenaire was composed in Elzevir Casion corps 28 and printed by Fequet et Baudier, typographers. The unpublished compositions numbered from I to IV were specially made by Rene Magritte for this album. The compositions of the Enchanted Domain, are the renderings of the eight paintings of the mural of the Casino de Knokke. They were printed with the benevolent authorization of Mr. Gustave J. Nellens. Justification of the draw, this album was taken from CCCL examples on grand velin dArches numbered from I to CCCL, plus a few examples for collaborators and assistants. About the Publication: Les Enfants Trouves de Magritte (The Found Children of Magritte), published in 1968 by A.C. Mazo et Cie, Paris, represents one of the most significant late life print projects devoted to Rene Magrittes work. Conceived as both a literary and visual tribute, the folio pairs texts by the Belgian writer Louis Scutenaire, Magrittes close friend and fellow Surrealist, with lithographic interpretations produced at the Mourlot atelier, the premier lithographic workshop of twentieth century France. The album includes compositions by Magritte alongside lithographic renderings of the celebrated Enchanted Domain mural from the Casino de Knokke, printed with the authorization of Gustave J. Nellens, who commissioned the original mural. Issued in a single edition of CCCL examples on grand velin dArches, the folio stands as a testament to the collaboration between artist, writer, publisher, and master printer, and remains one of the most culturally important Surrealist print albums of the post war era. About the Artist: Rene Magritte (1898–1967) was a Belgian Surrealist painter whose visionary, intellectual, and poetic imagery redefined twentieth century art and forever changed how the world perceives reality and illusion. Celebrated for his calm precision and thought provoking juxtapositions of ordinary objects in extraordinary contexts, Magritte used painting as a philosophical tool, transforming the everyday into visual paradoxes that challenged the boundaries between what is seen and what is known. Born in Lessines, Belgium, and trained at the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels, he absorbed early influences from Cubism, Futurism, and Symbolism before embracing Surrealism, where he found his true voice. In Paris, he became part of the avant garde circle that included Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray—all artists whose radical ideas helped him forge his distinctive synthesis of logic and mystery. Unlike Dalis dream...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Figures in the Mist
Figures in the Mist

Figures in the Mist

Located in Soquel, CA

Abstract figurative work by Bruce Killiam (American, 20th Century). Figures are emerging from the mist, creating an ethereal, moody composition made up of subtle tones of tan, grey, ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Tete sur fond rouille" pochoir

(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Tete sur fond rouille" 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 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches (133 x 98 mm...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

Cat Duo

Cat Duo

By Leonor Fini

Located in Columbia, MO

LEONOR FINI Cat Duo 1973 Color lithograph Ed. 157/230 12.5 x 9 inches

Category

1970s 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.