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.
Oiseaux Souterrains, Signed Modern Bird Lithograph by Max Ernst
By Max Ernst
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Max Ernst, German (1891 - 1976) Title: Oiseaux Souterrains Year: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Japon paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 99 Image Size: 13.5 x 24.5 inc...
Lithograph
Portrait d'Emily Bronte, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson
By André Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Andre Masson, French (1896–1987) Date: 1946 Color Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition, 15/30 Image Size: 7.5 x 5 inches Size: 13 x 9.75 in. (33.02 x 24.77 cm) Printer: ...
Lithograph
Installation, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Part of artist Michael Wedge's series explores the contrast between urban and rural environments. This surrealist painting depicts the installation of some digital technology in an unlikely place in nature. A woman prepares to climb up the ladder while another approaches with an open laptop and an extension wire at hand. They are busy in the middle of an open field with a fox wandering between them and deers grazing in the distance.
About the Artist
Michael Wedge works in a variety of mediums: sculpture, painting, mixed media and more. He oftentimes starts with a mental image and creates digital collages, which become the basis for his paintings. A lot of his work references themes from his personal life, such as the experience of living in a city versus in the countryside. If his art seems mysterious, it;s because he enjoys making complex works. "I am attracted to images or moments that seem to have something subtle or hidden under the surface," he explains. When he;s not making art, he teaches it at an elementary school.
Words that describe this painting: surrealism...
Oil
Taiwanese Contemporary Art by Lemoi Ning - Dear Polar Bear No.1
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic on canvas Lemoi Ning is a Taiwanese artist born in 1981 who lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan, She has embarked on a creative journey in 2021 that will bring to life the en...
Canvas, Acrylic
Henry Moore, "Fantasy", original etching
By Henry Moore
Located in Chatsworth, CA
This piece is an original etching created by Henry Moore in 1967. This piece is hand signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 50 on Japon paper. There are also two proofs on...
Etching
$4,400Sale Price|20% Off
Imaginations & Objects of The Future Spectacles with Holograms & Computers
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Imaginations & Objects of The Future Spectacles with Holograms & Computers for Seeing Imagined Objects MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by...
Etching
Act II, Scene III From Romeo and Julie-Lithograph -1975
Located in Roma, IT
Act II, Scene III - From “Romeo and Juliet” is an artwork realized by Salvador Dalí in 1975. Mixed colored lithograph. Signed and dated on plate on the lower...
Lithograph
L'Oiseau Bleu - Etching by Johnny Friedlaender - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
L'oiseau bleu is a print realized by Johnny Friedlaender (Plonia, 1912 - Paris, 1992). Etching on paper. Hand-Signed lower right, edition lower left. Numbered, edition of 5/20 prin...
Etching
De l'Origine des Espèces par Voie de Sélection Irrationelle: Visage
By Man Ray
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color lithograph. Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 180. Signed and inscribed "EA" in pencil. Printed by Mourlot, Paris. Published by Leon Amie...
Color, Lithograph
$22,000Sale Price|20% Off
Mythology: Leda and Swan (Leda et le Cygne)
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Salvador Dali Mythology: Leda and Swan (Leda et le Cygne), Published 1963 -1965 Medium: Copper and Drypoint Etching with Hand-Coloring on Japon Edition: VII/XX Artwork Size: 30 ...
Etching
$6,264Sale Price|20% Off
Le Château des Pyrénées (The Castle of the Pyrenees)
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Framed 40.50 x 30 in The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Magritte Foundation & ADAGP and is countersigned in pencil by Mr. Charly Herscovici, President of the Magritte...
Lithograph
$1,175
"The Post-Truth Era VIII", Surrealist Portrait, Brown, Collage, Acrylic Painting
By John Baker
Located in Franklin, MA
John Baker’s “The Post-Truth Era VIII” is an acrylic painting on canvas with collage 20 x 14 inches in blues, yellows, pinks and whites. In the post-truth era normal interpersonal in...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Le Téléphone Drypoint Etching, Surrealist, Signed, 1975
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Le Téléphone (The Telephone) Drypoint etching with stencil from 1975. The edition 165/450 on Arches paper. Dimensions of sheet: 75 x 56 cm Dimensions ...
Drypoint, Etching
Taiwanese Contemporary Art by Lemoi Ning - MOI Amusement Park-Kitchen
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic on canvas Lemoi Ning is a Taiwanese artist born in 1981 who lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan, She has embarked on a creative journey in 2021 that will bring to life the en...
Canvas, Acrylic
"Jackson pollock hedgehog"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
In this creation, I've channeled vibrant energy through the dynamic splatters and interwoven lines. The bright yellow background illuminates the chaos, evoking a sense of life's unp...
Acrylic
$4,900Sale Price|30% Off
"The Wrinkled Sea Beneath Her Crawls, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Alexandra Manukyan's "The Wrinkled Sea Beneath Her Crawls" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a female figure balancing on one foot as blue waves swirl behind her in ...
Linen, Oil
$850
Morning Eye, Magritte-like Surrealist Lithograph with Collage by Beck & Jung
Located in Long Island City, NY
A lithograph and collage by Holger Bäckström from 1978. A mixed media collage and lithograph produced by the company Beck & Jung, a collaborative duo between Holger Bäckström and Bo ...
Mixed Media, Lithograph
$460Sale Price|20% Off
Floating Castle - Contemporary Surreal Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Fantastical surreal landscape with a floating castle in an idyllic, dream-like setting with bright blue sky and green grass by Melissa Barkley (Ameri...
Canvas, Acrylic, Cardboard
$2,473Sale Price|20% Off
Silent cloister. Contemporary Acrylic Painting, Vibrant, Landscape, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary figurative surrealist acrylic on canvas painting by Polish artist Marta Rynkiewicz. Artwork depicts vibrant landscape with architectural elements. Marta Rynkiewicz is ...
Canvas, Acrylic
"Foxy Summer"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Foxy Summer depicts a fox philosopher reclining in a starry Cappadocian cave, sipping tea amid roots and cosmic views— a surreal ode to solitude and freedom. Merging mysticism with e...
Silk, Mixed Media, Digital
Abraham, Pater Multarem Gentium - Lithograph - 1964
Located in Roma, IT
Abraham, Pater Multarem Gentium is Color lithograph on heavy rag paper realized in 1964. It is part of Biblia Sacra vulgatæ edition is published by Rizzoli-Mediolani between 1967 and...
Lithograph
Salvador Dali - Woman Holding a Veil - Original Stamp-Signed Etching
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Salvador Dali - Woman Holding a Veil - Original Stamp-Signed Etching Stamp signed by Dali Edition of 294 copies. Edition number : 7 Paper : Arches vellum. Dimensions : 16x12". Cat...
Etching
The Beloved Feeds Between the Lilies - Lithograph - 1971
Located in Roma, IT
Etching with pochoir and gold overlay. Edition of 121/250. Hand signed and numbered in pencil. Ref. Michler-Lopsinger 477c. Very good condition. The artwork is from the series So...
Lithograph
MUJER MEDITADORA / MEDITATING WOMAN
Located in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
This unique painting begins with her new series in which we can see her surrealist airs shared with her colleague and ex-husband Pedro Friedeberg, like all the works of art by the fa...
Oil, Acrylic, ABS
Surreal San Francisco in a Pen and Ink Drawing
Located in San Francisco, CA
This signed drawing, "Low Fog" by American artist Justin Murray (1912–1987), features a lone caricatured man smoking a pipe amid rolling fog, with distant hills, buildings, and powe...
Paper, Ink, Pen
'Two Women with a Guitar', Large Tonalist Figural Oil, New Orleans, New York
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Inscribed lower right, 'Kimball' for Harold Kimball (American, born 1929) and painted circa 1975. Born in New York City, Harold Kimball lived for sever...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
"To The Shade" (2024) by Morgan Cameron, Original Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Morgan Cameron’s (US based) “To The Shade” (2024) is an oil painting on panel that depicts a surreal portrait of a skeleton cowboy. About the artist: I am an oil painter based ou...
Oil, Panel
"Music of wind"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Music of the Wind is a surrealist silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, portraying a wind-warped cityscape where serpents, faces, wings, and swirling forms animate architecture in a dance...
Silk
Pop Art Ltd Edition 2/5 Etching Lucknow Indian Artist Woman Girl Pink Blue Tree
Located in Norfolk, GB
From emerging Indian artist Sonal Varshneya Ojha are the last available works from her Limited Edition of 7 series Kissa Goi. Art 1821 is selling the last 14, different works, of th...
Archival Paper, Etching
The Furies - Woodcut Print attr. to Salvador Dalì - 1963
Located in Roma, IT
The Furies, from the Series "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri, is a woodcut print by Salvador Dalì realized in 1963. Good conditions. Not signed. Pla...
Woodcut
$1,200
"The Book Mark", Surrealist, Portrait, Woman, Maroon, Collage, Acrylic Painting
By John Baker
Located in Franklin, MA
John Baker’s “The Book Mark” is an acrylic painting on canvas with collage 30 x 24 inches in maroon, orange, white and blue. A young woman, dressed in prim fashion, has looked up fro...
Canvas, Acrylic
'Preparing for the Recital', Woman Artist, Michoacán, Mexico City, San Francisco
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Patricia Torres' (Mexican, born 1963) and dated 1987. Previously with: Robert Dana Gallery from accompanying label and titled 'Duo'. Patricia Torres was born in...
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
"Spontaneous Connections"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Spontaneous Connections is a surreal cosmic silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, where celestial beings orbit a red vortex in blissful ignorance of an impending universal shift. Blending...
Silk, Mixed Media, Digital
"Doggy Surfing"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Doggy Surfing is a surreal coastal silk print by Natalia Kolpakova, featuring a DJ dog riding a pufferfish amid partying sea creatures in teal underwater paradise. Evoking Cornwall s...
Silk, Mixed Media, Digital
"Rainbow Hole" Oil Painting
By Caitlin Hurd
Located in Denver, CO
Caitlin Hurd's (US based) "Rainbow Hole" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a wide open grass plain where mountains sway majestically in the background and a rainbow shoots straight into the blue sky from a hole in the ground. About the Artist: Born 1978, in Massachusetts, Caitlin Hurd grew up in Salem and the suburbs north of Boston. In 2000, she received a BFA in furniture design from The Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She went on to lead school-age children in the creation of public murals for their communities. In 2006, she graduated with an MFA in painting from The New York Academy of Art. In 2017 Hurd founded the Artists Off Grid Residency program. She is also the founder of Spark Portraits, where she paints commissioned oil portraits from photographs...
Wood, Oil
VIII from Les Marionnettes, Surrealist Gouache and Drypoint by Hans Bellmer
By Hans Bellmer
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Hans Bellmer, German (1902 - 1975) Title: VIII from Les Marionnettes Year: 1969 Medium: Hand-colored Drypoint Etching on Rice Paper, signed in pencil Image Size: 12 x 11 inch...
Gouache, Rice Paper, Drypoint
$4,640Sale Price|20% Off
Florals Water-Hybiscus Swan Etching, Surrealist, Signed, 1972, 62/350
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Florals Water-Hybiscus Swan MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Editions Graphiques Internationals EDITION NUMBER: 62/35...
Etching
Composition, Original Lithograph, Modern, 1967, Excellent
By Joan Miró
Located in OPOLE, PL
Joan Miro (1893-1983) - Composition Lithograph from 1967. Unsigned edition. Dimensions of work: 38 x 83.5 cm. Publisher: Maeght Éditeur, Paris. Reference: Mourlot 509, Cramer 11...
Lithograph
Femme au Cochon (Woman with Pig) - Etching - 1968
Located in Roma, IT
Femme au cochon (Woman with Pig) is an artwork from the Series "Faust" (La Nuit de Walpurgis), realized in 1968/69. Etching, Drypoint, Watercolor and Roulette on Japon Paper. Hand...
Etching
$5,500
Carlos Almaraz - Los Angeles Olympics lithograph Deluxe hand signed Edition +COA
By Carlos Almaraz
Located in New York, NY
Carlos Almaraz Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games (with COA from Olympic Committee), 1982 Offset Lithograph on Parson's Diploma paper, accompanied by COA from Olympic Committee. Signed i...
Lithograph, Offset
The Spirit Is Willing, But The Flesh Is Weak - Lithograph - 1964
Located in Roma, IT
Holy Bible - The Spirit Is Willing, But The Flesh Is Weak is Color lithograph on heavy rag paper realized in 1964. It is part of Biblia Sacra vulgatæ edition is published by Rizzoli...
Lithograph
Gleaning, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Part of artist Michael Wedge's series exploring the contrasts between various periods with urban scenes and rural environments. This piece shows two figures g...
Oil
$638Sale Price|20% Off
DAYTIME KEY Signed Lithograph 1992, Surrealist Mini Beachscape 6x7 in.
Located in Union City, NJ
DAYTIME KEY is a rarely seen, hand drawn limited edition lithograph by the American surrealist artist Fanny Brennan, created using traditional hand lithography techniques printed on archival Arches paper, 100% acid-free. DAYTIME KEY is an engaging miniature beachscape scene depicting a sandy shoreline, blue sky, and vibrant red locking...
Lithograph
Ivory Tower: Surrealist Figurative Oil Painting, Signed, 31 x 38
By John Nathaniel Fenton
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Ivory Tower Modern Figurative Oil Painting Artist signed lower left corner. John Nathaniel Fenton was born in 1929 in Mountaindale, New York. He is a 20th-century American painter an...
Oil, Canvas
$2,040
Anagrom
By Leonor Fini
Located in Columbia, MO
Leonor Fini was born in Argentina in 1907 but travelled and lived in Europe with her mother from a young age. By 1931, she was in Paris, in the full swing of the Surrealist movement....
Paper, Etching
Tiger and Magpie, Surreal Acrylic and Pencil Painting on Paper, 2025
Located in FISTERRA, ES
A striped tiger turns its head toward a black-and-white magpie in this surreal animal painting by Nico Pearleyes. Its elongated tail curves across a grassy landscape beneath a dark s...
Paper, Acrylic, Color Pencil
$284
Surrealist Still Life with Lemon - Original Lithograph Handsigned and Numbered
Located in Paris, IDF
Georges ROHNER Surrealist Still life with Lemon, 1972 Original lithograph (Mourlot workshop) Handsigned in pencil Justified HC (hors commerce) On Japan paper 76 x 54 cm (c. 29,9 x 2...
Lithograph
$368Sale Price|20% Off
HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE Signed Lithograph, Mini Seascape, Islands, Beach, Blue Water
Located in Union City, NJ
HIGH TIDE, LOW TIDE is a hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by the American surrealist artist Fanny Brennan, created using traditional hand lithography techniques printed on arch...
Lithograph
(after) Julio Gonzalez - "Tete aux cheveux defaits" pochoir
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: pochoir (after the watercolor). Printed in Paris in 1957 by Jacomet and published by the Galerie Berggruen for a rare catalogue. Image size: 5 1/2 x 4 inches (142 x 98 mm). S...
Lithograph, Stencil
Lys from Anamorphoses suite by Salvador Dali
Located in Paonia, CO
Salvador Dali’s Lys ( Anamorphoses ) is one of five lithographs from the suite “Anamorphoses ” published by Jean Schneider, Basil 1972. According to Albert Field when one of these prints is placed flat on a table with a cylindrical mirror...
Lithograph
"Hemerocallis I" (2022) by Sybiline, Oil Painting, Pink Day Lily
By Sybiline
Located in Denver, CO
Sybiline's (CAN based) "Hemerocallis I" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a portrait of a pink day lily. About the Artist: Sybiline is a Canadian artist based in Q...
Oil, Panel
"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...
Silk
Language of the Birds Woodcut Print, Surrealist, 1963, Limited Edition
Located in Roma, IT
Language of the Birds - The Divine Comedy is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Not signed, as ...
Woodcut
"Salvador Dalí"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This painting was inspired by girls. On a nudist beach, they froze on a rug. Like a city in the steppe. Eventually I met them, they became my muses, I repeatedly painted them naked i...
Oil
"Musicis Tulips" (2023) by Sybiline, Oil Painting, Yellow Still Life
By Sybiline
Located in Denver, CO
Sybiline's (CAN based) "Musicis Tulips" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts three yellow tulips with musical notes swirling around them. About the Artist: Sybiline i...
Oil, Panel
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
The Ballerina And The Angel - Original Surrealist On Board
Located in Soquel, CA
The Ballerina And The Angel - Original Surrealist On Board Dramatic and dynamic fantasy scene by Russell R. Tripp (American, 1942-2025). This piece depicts a ballerina sitting in the bottom left corner against stone pillars, wearing a deep red leotard, white leggings and pink ballerina shoes...
Oil, Board
Registering a Dimension - Handsigned Original Lithograph
Located in Paris, IDF
Alain LE YAOUANC Registering a dimension Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil On Arches vellum, 76 x 56 cm (c. 30.4 x 22,4 inch) Excellent condition
Lithograph
Salvador Dali "Romeo and Juliet"
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: Romeo and Juliet Series: Much Ado About Shakespeare Date: 1968 Medium: original drypoint engravings Framed Dimensions: 22.5" x 18.5" Signature: P...
Drypoint
$1,575
"Celestial Bodies 2" - Realist Cosmic Still-Life, Acrylic and Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
This piece was created at 15 x 6 inches, and is framed at 16.25, 7.25 inches ready to hang. Artist Bio: Shelli Langdale is an American artist living and painting in Chattanooga, TN....
Oil, Acrylic, Panel, Wax
The Giants - Original etching - 150ex
Located in Paris, IDF
Salvador Dali The giants (1960) Heliogravure reworked with drypoint Printed signature in the plate On BFK Rives Vellum paper Size 32.8 x 26.4 cm (c. 13 x 10") References: - Field p...
Etching