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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
Momotaro (Peach boy)
Momotaro (Peach boy)

Momotaro (Peach boy)

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Momotaro (Peach boy) Drypoint etching with stencil from 1974. The edition of XVII/LXXV on Richard de Bas paper. Dimensions of work: 66 x 52 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Gerschmann, Stockholm/ Yayoi, Tokyo. Reference: Field 76-1 A; Michler/Löpsinger 745. The work is in Excellent condition. -- Momotaro (Peach Boy) - The brave child born from a peach who defeats demons with courage and loyalty. Momotaro is Japan’s quintessential folk hero — a child miraculously born from a giant peach, raised by humble farmers, and destined to defeat the oni (demons) on a distant island. In Dalí’s version, the narrative becomes a surreal allegory of rebirth and moral strength. The floating organic forms...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson
French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson

French Abstract Surrealist Color Lithograph Andre Masson

By André Masson

Located in Surfside, FL

Published Benincasa Carmine. Edizioni SEAT, Torino, Italy. Offset directly from the original plates. Limited edition. This is not hand signed or numbered. Signature in the printing p...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

The Cycles of Life Suite
The Cycles of Life Suite

The Cycles of Life Suite

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Cycles of Life 3 Piece Suite Vigor of Youth One's Identity Reflection MEDIUM: 3 Etchings SIGNED: Each piece is Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 182...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

L'Ange du 7e ciel - Etching - 150 copies
L'Ange du 7e ciel - Etching - 150 copies

L'Ange du 7e ciel - Etching - 150 copies

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Paris, IDF

Salvador Dali L'Ange du 7e ciel (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: - ...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Rune Andersson's The Hands  A Remarkable Swedish Conversation Piece
Rune Andersson's The Hands  A Remarkable Swedish Conversation Piece

Rune Andersson's The Hands A Remarkable Swedish Conversation Piece

Located in Stockholm, SE

Rune Andersson (1936– ) Sweden Händerna (The Hands), 1968 signed and dated a tergo oil on panel and relief framed approximately 66 × 57 cm (26 × 22.4 in) Provenance: Private colle...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Plaster, Oil, Board

pochoir, 1947

pochoir, 1947

By (after) Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir stencil print (after the drawing). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miró" portfolio. Size: 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Stencil

pochoir, 1947

pochoir, 1947

By (after) Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir stencil print (after the drawing). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miró" portfolio. Size: 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Stencil

pochoir, 1947

pochoir, 1947

By (after) Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir stencil print (after the drawing). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miró" portfolio. Size: 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Stencil

pochoir, 1947

pochoir, 1947

By (after) Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir stencil print (after the drawing). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Stencil

Six of Swords, Oil Painting
Six of Swords, Oil Painting

Six of Swords, Oil Painting

By Rachel Srinivasan

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Part of her series about the divinatory meanings of the swords tarot cards, artist Rachel Srinivasan paints a minotaur with blades and a caduceus. She feature...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

"The Cat", Surrealist John Devoluy (1903-1982) Oil on canvas
"The Cat", Surrealist John Devoluy (1903-1982) Oil on canvas

"The Cat", Surrealist John Devoluy (1903-1982) Oil on canvas

Located in New York, NY

John Devoluy (1903-1982) The Cat, 1950 c. Oil on canvas 28 3/4 x 24 inches l 73 x 61 cm With frame: 30 3/4 x 26 inches l 78 x 66 cm Signed lower left John Devoluy was born in 1903 a...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dream Of The Inca.  Contemporary Abstract Painting
Dream Of The Inca.  Contemporary Abstract Painting

Dream Of The Inca. Contemporary Abstract Painting

By Sax Berlin

Located in Brecon, Powys

Something of a departure for Berlin, this highly figurative painting use motifs from ancient central American cultures to create a piece that writhes and turns on the canvas. Beautif...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Acrylic

Love Potion
Love Potion

Roman SustovLove Potion, 2007

$200Sale Price|20% Off

Love Potion

By Roman Sustov

Located in Palm Springs, CA

An ex libris print featuring the fantasy figure of an alchemist in her laboratory working with imaginary creatures looking on. Roman Sustov's prints often provide a fantastic blend of classic technique combined with images from the vast worlds of surrealism, eroticism, fantasy and fairy tales. Signed in pencil artists proof from the edition of 100. Roman Sustov was born in 1977 in Minsk, Belarus. In 1995 he graduated from Minsk Art College and six years later he graduated from the Belarusian Academy of Arts (Department of Graphic). Through this long training he has become a master in etching, lithography and linocut prints. His works can be found in collections in the USA, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Japan, Russia and Belarus, and in the Contemporary Fine Art Museum (Minsk, Belarus). Roman notes...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Aquatint, Etching

Les Amours de Cassandre The Fairy
Les Amours de Cassandre The Fairy

Les Amours de Cassandre The Fairy

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Amours de Cassandre The Fairy MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER:...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Untitled (Two Birds) - Etching by Max Ernst - 1972

Untitled (Two Birds) - Etching by Max Ernst - 1972

By Max Ernst

Located in Roma, IT

Etching and aquatint on Japan paper, realized in 1972. Printed and published by Georges Visat, Paris. Edition of 100, numbered 99/100 and hand signed in pencil.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Don Juan: The Banquet (Le Banquet)

Don Juan: The Banquet (Le Banquet)

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Salvador Dali Don Juan: The Banquet (Le Banquet), Published 1970 Medium: Hand-Colored Drypoint Etching on Arches Paper Edition: 38/250 Artwork Size: 25 x 20 in Framed Size: 33 ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Sea Horse Bunnies, Oil Painting
Sea Horse Bunnies, Oil Painting

Sea Horse Bunnies, Oil Painting

By Kat Silver

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Inspired by her relocation from the Midwest to Florida, artist Kit Silver paints a whimsical fusion of seahorses and bunnies. The warm hues and intricate deta...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist
Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist

Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title: "Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur)" *Signed by Dali in pencil lower right Year: 1973 Medium: Original Drypoint Etching on Riv...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching, Intaglio

Feminist Surrealist French Abstract Colorful Lithograph Print Myriam Bat Yosef
Feminist Surrealist French Abstract Colorful Lithograph Print Myriam Bat Yosef

Feminist Surrealist French Abstract Colorful Lithograph Print Myriam Bat Yosef

By Myriam Bat Yosef

Located in Surfside, FL

Myriam Bat-Yosef Surrealist abstract lithograph print in colorful abstract shapes and shades Hand signed and dated 1971. sheet measures 9.25 X 9.25 inches The envelope and the Peter Buch poster is just for provenance and is not included in this sale. Myriam Bat-Yosef, whose real name is Marion Hellerman, born on January 31, 1931 in Berlin, Germany to a Jewish family from Lithuania, she is an Israeli-Icelandic artist who paints on papers, paintings, fabrics, objects and human beings for performances. Myriam Bat-Yosef currently lives and works in Paris. In 1933, her family fleeing the Nazi Holocaust, Miriam Bat-Yosef emigrates to Palestine and settles in Jaffa. In 1936, she suffers a family tragedy, her father, militant Zionist, is called to fight, still recovering from an operation of appendicitis. The incision will become infected, antibiotics did not exist yet, and her father will die in the hospital after 9 months of suffering. Myriam and her mother leave Palestine to live in Paris for three years. French is Myriam's first school language. In 1939, still fleeing Nazism, she returned to Palestine, leaving France by the last boat from Marseille. She moved to Tel Aviv with her mother, aunt and maternal grandmother. In 1940, she began attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Tel Aviv and took her name as an artist, Bat-Yosef, which means Joseph's daughter in Hebrew, as a tribute to her father. In 1946, Myriam graduated as a kindergarten teacher but wanted to be an artist. Her mother enrolled her in an evening school to prepare a diploma of art teacher. At 19, she performs two years of military service in Israel. In 1952, with a pension of $50 a month that her mother allocated, she went to study at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. To survive, she has several activities while studying. In 1955, she had her first solo exhibition, at the Israeli Club on Wagram Avenue in Paris. Many artists, such as Yaacov Agam, Yehuda Neiman Avigdor Arikha, Raffi Kaiser, Dani Karavan and sculptors Achiam and Shlomo Selinger attended the opening . In 1956, she enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Florence. This is where she meets the painter Errô. They share an icy studio in winter. Myriam moves to Milan with friends. She organizes a joint exhibition with Erro, one room each, at the Montenapoleone gallery. Her works are admired by the sculptor Marino Marini and the painters Renato Birolli and Enrico Prampolini. Myriam and Erro exhibit in Rome, Milan, Florence and meet many personalities: Alain Jouffroy and his wife, the painter Manina, Roberto Matta and his wife Malitte, textile artist who was one of the founders of the Pompidou Center. Back in Paris, Myriam and Erro get married, which allows Myriam to avoid being called into the Israeli army during the Suez Canal War. In 1957, Myriam and her husband went to Iceland. Myriam works in a chocolate factory. Having enough money, she starts producing art again. She exhibited in Reykjavik's first art gallery. She meets the artist Sigridur Bjornsdottir, married to the Swiss painter Dieter Roth . In 1958, Myriam and her husband leave for Israel. They exhibit in Germany, then in Israel. Back in Paris, the couple became friends with artists of the surrealist movement, such as Victor Brauner, Hans Bellmer, the sculptor Philippe Hiquily, Liliane Lijn, future wife of Takis and photographer Nathalie Waag. Erro and Myriam have a daughter on March 15, 1960, named Tura, after the painter Cosmè Tura, but also close to the Icelandic Thora or the Hebrew Torah. Bat-Yosef’s complex trajectory throughout the 20th century is linked as much to the transnational history of what was for a time called the School of Paris as it is to a certain legacy of Surrealism. Her work features the same idea of resolving antinomies that also defined the spirit of surrealism, and is enhanced with her readings of the Kabbalah and her spiritual grounding in Taoism. However, while there are reasons for her approach to be associated with the process of the ready-made, it is important to consider the immediate intrication of these works with her practice of performance, during which the body itself is also painted – a feminist response to Yves Klein’s Anthropometries (1960) and an echo of the happenings which Jean-Jacques Lebel organised at the time in Paris. In 1963, Erró told Myriam that if she wants to be a painter, she can not be his wife. Myriam chose to be a painter and the couple divorced in 1964. Since that time, Myriam Bat-Yosef has exhibited in many countries: Europe, United States, Japan, etc. Although long in the shadows, the work of Myriam Bat-Yosef has been greeted by many artists and personalities: Anaïs Nin, Nancy Huston, André Pieyre of Mandiargues, José Pierre, René de Solier , Jacques Lacarrière, Alain Bosquet, Pierre Restany, Sarane Alexandrian and Surrealist André Breton who, after a visit to her studio, confided to having been intrigued by its phantasmagorical dimension. She was included in the book Pop Art and Beyond: Gender, Race, and Class in the Global Sixties by Mona Hadler and Kalliopi Minioudaki. Extract "World Citizen, Artist of the Pop Era Sarah Wilson; Why do we know so little of Myriam Bat-Yosef, the most important female Israeli artist of the Pop era? Issues of identity and sexuality feature constantly in her work. She exhibited internationally from Reykjavik to Tokyo; she had two shows at Arturo Schwarz’s famous Dada/surrealist gallery in Milan; she participated in feminist art events in Los Angeles. Above all, in 1971, she conceived Total Art, a Pop Gesamtkunstwerk inside and outside the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Painter, performer, and installation artist, she was also a lover, wife, and mother. Of Lithuanian-Jewish descent, she was close to the family of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. An émigré in Paris she would repudiate a national passport, participating in Garry Davis’s short-lived “World Citizens” movement. She continues the lineage of women surrealist artists: Valentine Hugo, Leonor Fini, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Unica Zürn, Jane Graverol...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Exodus from Egypt - Etching by Marc Chagall - 1956

Exodus from Egypt - Etching by Marc Chagall - 1956

By Marc Chagall

Located in Roma, IT

Etching on Montval wove paper, realized by Marc Chagall in 1931-39 and published by Tériade in 1956. Belongs to the series "The Bible". Edition of 275+30 out of commerce copies. N...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"femme fatal" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper
"femme fatal" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper

"femme fatal" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper

By Jim Crabb

Located in Soquel, CA

"femme fatal" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper 1975 surrealist lithograph on paper titled "femme fatal" by Jim Crabb (American, b. 1947). This piece resembles a surreal landsca...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ink, Laid Paper, Lithograph

Conquest of Cosmos 1 Suite
Conquest of Cosmos 1 Suite

Conquest of Cosmos 1 Suite

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Conquest of Cosmos 1 Suite MEDIUM: 6 color Etchings & Aquatints with embossing SIGNED: Each piece is Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Levine & Levine EDITI...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Public Outcry Signed Lithograph, Surrealist Man with Tree, 1980"
"Public Outcry Signed Lithograph, Surrealist Man with Tree, 1980"

"Public Outcry Signed Lithograph, Surrealist Man with Tree, 1980"

By Michael Hasted

Located in Union City, NJ

PUBLIC OUTCRY is an original hand drawn limited edition lithograph by the British artist, Michael Hasted printed using hand lithography on archival Somerset paper, 100% acid free. PUBLIC OUTCRY is a surrealist portrait composition portraying a semi interior scene showing a man in brown trousers standing positioned on stage-like black and white checkered tile...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled 4

Untitled 4

By Victoria Lykholyot

Located in Winterswijk, NL

The City of Women from the serie Lollipop. Edition: 10 ex "Victoria Lykholot, an artist and lecturer from Ukraine. After graduating from the Faculty of Philosophy in 2007. For seve...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Job in Despair - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960
Job in Despair - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960

Job in Despair - Lithograph by Marc Chagall - 1960

By Marc Chagall

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 an...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Cabeza, Oil Painting by Rodolfo Opazo Bernales
Cabeza, Oil Painting by Rodolfo Opazo Bernales

Cabeza, Oil Painting by Rodolfo Opazo Bernales

By Rodolfo Opazo

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: Rodolfo Opazo, Chilean (1935 - ) Title: Cabeza Year: 1983 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.l. and verso Size: 39 x 32 inches

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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By Oleksandr Khrapachov

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Die Reihe „Spiritualität“ ist abgeschlossen. Die Suche von O. Khrapachov endete jedoch nicht in einer Sackgasse. Seine Theorie der Weltentwicklung zeugt von der Unvollständigkeit des...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The magician.

The magician.

By Maggie Taylor

Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

In 1981 Maggie Taylor (b. 1961) began to photograph while she was a student at Yale University majoring in philosophy. She primarily took photographs of suburban landscapes and stran...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

The Tortoise and the Hare  - Print by Kyu-Baik Hwang - 1983

The Tortoise and the Hare - Print by Kyu-Baik Hwang - 1983

Located in Roma, IT

The Tortoise and the Hare is a vintage poster realized by the artist Kyu Hwang (Pusan 1932), in occasion of the XIV Winter Olympics games in Sarajevo, in 1984. Very good condition. ...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

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

José Manuel Capuletti, Las damas

Located in Madrid, ES

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

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

"Untitled"
"Untitled"

Nahum Tschacbasov"Untitled", 1947

$420Sale Price|20% Off

"Untitled"

By Nahum Tschacbasov

Located in Southampton, NY

Original artist proof engraving, aquatint, intaglio on archival paper by the Russian/American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Signed in pencil lower right and dated 1947. Condition: good...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Engraving, Aquatint, Intaglio

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.