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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
Black Devil - Woodcut - 1963
Located in Roma, IT
Black Devil is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Not signed, as issued. Plate n.17 (as repor...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Abstract Composition - Lithograph by J. Mirò - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Abstract Composition is a Lithograph realized by Joan Mirò (1893-1983) within the suite "Mirò Lithographe". The artwork is from gallery "Toninelli Arte Moderna" in Milan. No signat...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Untitled"
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

Idols - Lithograph by Max Ernst - 1972
Located in Roma, IT
Idols is a lithograph on Arches paper realized by Max Ernst in 1972. Belongs to the suite "Judith". Limited edition of 500. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Godd conditions. T...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled - XIII, Framed Surrealist Lithograph by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
Untitled - XIII 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) Frame Size: 21 x 18 inches
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Divine Wood - Woodcut Print - 1963
Located in Roma, IT
The Divine Wood from the Series "The Divine Comedy" - Song 28 - Purgatory is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Marc Chagall - Bath-Sheba at the Feet of David - Original Handsigned Etching
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Marc Chagall - Bath-Sheba at the Feet of David - Original Handsigned Etching 1958 Printed by Tériade Dimensions: 54 x 39 cm Handsigned and numbered handcolored Edition: 100 Reference: Cramer 30. Etching with hand-coloring, circa 1930, initialled in pencil, numbered 75/100 (there were also twenty hors-commerce copies) , published 1958 by Tériade, Paris, on Arches wove paper Marc Chagall (born in 1887) Marc Chagall was born in Belarus in 1887 and developed an early interest in art. After studying painting, in 1907 he left Russia for Paris, where he lived in an artist colony on the city’s outskirts. Fusing his own personal, dreamlike imagery with hints of the fauvism and cubism popular in France at the time, Chagall created his most lasting work—including I and the Village (1911)—some of which would be featured in the Salon des Indépendants exhibitions. After returning to Vitebsk for a visit in 1914, the outbreak of WWI trapped Chagall in Russia. He returned to France in 1923 but was forced to flee the country and Nazi persecution during WWII. Finding asylum in the U.S., Chagall became involved in set and costume design before returning to France in 1948. In his later years, he experimented with new art forms and was commissioned to produce numerous large-scale works. Chagall died in St.-Paul-de-Vence in 1985. The Village Marc Chagall was born in a small Hassidic community on the outskirts of Vitebsk, Belarus, on July 7, 1887. His father was a fishmonger, and his mother ran a small sundries shop in the village. As a child, Chagall attended the Jewish elementary school, where he studied Hebrew and the Bible, before later attending the Russian public school. He began to learn the fundamentals of drawing during this time, but perhaps more importantly, he absorbed the world around him, storing away the imagery and themes that would feature largely in most of his later work. At age 19 Chagall enrolled at a private, all-Jewish art school and began his formal education in painting, studying briefly with portrait artist Yehuda Pen. However, he left the school after several months, moving to St. Petersburg in 1907 to study at the Imperial Society for the Protection of Fine Arts. The following year, he enrolled at the Svanseva School, studying with set designer Léon Bakst, whose work had been featured in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. This early experience would prove important to Chagall’s later career as well. Despite this formal instruction, and the widespread popularity of realism in Russia at the time, Chagall was already establishing his own personal style, which featured a more dreamlike unreality and the people, places and imagery that were close to his heart. Some examples from this period are his Window Vitebsk (1908) and My Fianceé with Black Gloves (1909), which pictured Bella Rosenfeld, to whom he had recently become engaged. The Beehive Despite his romance with Bella, in 1911 an allowance from Russian parliament member and art patron Maxim Binaver enabled Chagall to move to Paris, France. After settling briefly in the Montparnasse neighborhood, Chagall moved further afield to an artist colony known as La Ruche (“The Beehive”), where he began to work side by side with abstract painters such as Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger as well as the avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire. At their urging, and under the influence of the wildly popular fauvism and cubism, Chagall lightened his palette and pushed his style ever further from reality. I and the Village (1911) and Homage to Apollinaire (1912) are among his early Parisian works, widely considered to be his most successful and representative period. Though his work stood stylistically apart from his cubist contemporaries, from 1912 to 1914 Chagall exhibited several paintings at the annual Salon des Indépendants exhibition, where works by the likes of Juan Gris, Marcel Duchamp and Robert Delaunay were causing a stir in the Paris art world. Chagall’s popularity began to spread beyond La Ruche, and in May 1914 he traveled to Berlin to help organize his first solo exhibition, at Der Sturm Gallery. Chagall remained in the city until the highly acclaimed show opened that June. He then returned to Vitebsk, unaware of the fateful events to come. War, Peace and Revolution In August 1914 the outbreak of World War I precluded Chagall’s plans to return to Paris. The conflict did little to stem the flow of his creative output, however, instead merely giving him direct access to the childhood scenes so essential to his work, as seen in paintings such as Jew in Green (1914) and Over Vitebsk (1914). His paintings from this period also occasionally featured images of the war’s impact on the region, as with Wounded Soldier (1914) and Marching (1915). But despite the hardships of life during wartime, this would also prove to be a joyful period for Chagall. In July 1915 he married Bella, and she gave birth to a daughter, Ida, the following year. Their appearance in works such as Birthday (1915), Bella and Ida by the Window (1917) and several of his “Lovers” paintings give a glimpse of the island of domestic bliss that was Chagall’s amidst the chaos. To avoid military service and stay with his new family, Chagall took a position as a clerk in the Ministry of War Economy in St. Petersburg. While there he began work on his autobiography and also immersed himself in the local art scene, befriending novelist Boris Pasternak, among others. He also exhibited his work in the city and soon gained considerable recognition. That notoriety would prove important in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution when he was appointed as the Commissar of Fine Arts in Vitebsk. In his new post, Chagall undertook various projects in the region, including the 1919 founding of the Academy of the Arts. Despite these endeavors, differences among his colleagues eventually disillusioned Chagall. In 1920 he relinquished his position and moved his family to Moscow, the post-revolution capital of Russia. In Moscow, Chagall was soon commissioned to create sets and costumes for various productions at the Moscow State Yiddish Theater, where he would paint a series of murals titled Introduction to the Jewish Theater as well. In 1921, Chagall also found work as a teacher at a school for war orphans. By 1922, however, Chagall found that his art had fallen out of favor, and seeking new horizons he left Russia for good. Flight After a brief stay in Berlin, where he unsuccessfully sought to recover the work exhibited at Der Sturm before the war, Chagall moved his family to Paris in September 1923. Shortly after their arrival, he was commissioned by art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard to produce a series of etchings for a new edition of Nikolai Gogol's 1842 novel Dead Souls. Two years later Chagall began work on an illustrated edition of Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables, and in 1930 he created etchings for an illustrated edition of the Old Testament, for which he traveled to Palestine to conduct research. Chagall’s work during this period brought him new success as an artist and enabled him to travel throughout Europe in the 1930s. He also published his autobiography, My Life (1931), and in 1933 received a retrospective at the Kunsthalle in Basel, Switzerland. But at the same time that Chagall’s popularity was spreading, so, too, was the threat of Fascism and Nazism. Singled out during the cultural "cleansing" undertaken by the Nazis in Germany, Chagall’s work was ordered removed from museums throughout the country. Several pieces were subsequently burned, and others were featured in a 1937 exhibition of “degenerate art” held in Munich. Chagall’s angst regarding these troubling events and the persecution of Jews in general can be seen in his 1938 painting White Crucifixion. With the eruption of World War II, Chagall and his family moved to the Loire region before moving farther south to Marseilles following the invasion of France. They found a more certain refuge when, in 1941, Chagall’s name was added by the director of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City to a list of artists and intellectuals deemed most at risk from the Nazis’ anti-Jewish campaign. Chagall and his family would be among the more than 2,000 who received visas and escaped this way. Haunted Harbors Arriving in New York City in June 1941, Chagall discovered that he was already a well-known artist there and, despite a language barrier, soon became a part of the exiled European artist community. The following year he was commissioned by choreographer Léonide Massine to design sets and costumes for the ballet Aleko, based on Alexander Pushkin’s “The Gypsies” and set to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But even as he settled into the safety of his temporary home, Chagall’s thoughts were frequently consumed by the fate befalling the Jews of Europe and the destruction of Russia, as paintings such as The Yellow Crucifixion...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Untitled - Original Lithograph by R. Lindner - 1974
Located in Roma, IT
Untitled from Le XX Siècle is an original artwork realized by Richard Lindner in 1974. Original colored lithograph. Good conditions. Printed by Mourlot, France. This lithograph wa...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Mannequin Meditating" Large Surrealist Abstract Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Large still life painting of a mannequin placed in front of a window. The canvas is signed, titled, and dated by the artist on the back and the bottom corner. The work is framed in a...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic

American Family III, Oil Painting on Panel by Ramon Santiago
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Ramon Santiago, American (1943 - 2001) Title: American Family III Year: 1972 Medium: Oil on Panel, signed and dated Size: 40 x 30 inches
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Leanna's Dream
Located in Brooklyn, NY
In my appropriation of Henri Rousseau's painting "The Dream," I replaced his nude reclining on the couch with my sister Leanna. I envisioned her magically transported into a lush ju...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

La Dame Queteuse
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Jean Cocteau (French, 1889-1963) La Dame Queteuse Ink on paper Signed, inscribed and dated `La Dame Queteuse Jean 1922’ (below) 10.1/4 x 7.7/8 in. (26 x 20 cm...
Category

Early 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

Bed, Original Contemporary Surrealist Gouache Painting on Wood Panel
Located in Boston, MA
Bed, Original Contemporary Surrealist Painting, 2012 18" x 11.25" x 1.625" (HxWxD) This muted, dream-like surrealist painting by artist Megan Frazer can be compared to both the subject matter and painterly style of the work of Leonara Carrington...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Wood Panel

Jessica, Surrealist Lithograph by Peter Paone
Located in Long Island City, NY
Peter Paone, American (1936 - ) - Jessica, Year: circa 1965, Medium: Lithograph, signed, titled and numbered in color pencil, Edition: 50, Image Size: 26 x 19 inches, Size: 33 x 23...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Full Moon, Surrealist Etching by Marc Chagall
Located in Long Island City, NY
Marc Chagall, Russian (1887 - 1985) - Full Moon, Medium: Etching on Arches, Image Size: 7.5 x 14.25 inches, Size: 15 x 22.5 in. (38.1 x 57.15 cm), Description: From the collection ...
Category

1920s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Little Flower Bug - Whimsical Fantasy Botanical Figurative Artwork on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian painter Silvia Pavarini is known for her distinctly feminine artworks that resonate with the quiet whispers of nature. Each piece she creates embodies an ongoing dialogue wit...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Pencil

Le Sacre du Printemps
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Le Sacre du Printemps MEDIUM: Lithograph on Japon Paper SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: EA MEASUREMENTS: 22.25" x 30" YEAR: 1966 FRAMED: No ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Salvador Dali - Large Flask
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Salvador Dali - Large Flask - Original Etching Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Edition: 390 1967 On Rives Vellum References : Field 67-4 (p. 32-33) / Michler & Lops...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

The Lady Dulcinea (framed hand signed etching and aquatint)
Located in Aventura, FL
From Historia de Don Quichotte de la Mancha. Etching and aquatint on Japon paper. Edition AP 23/50. Sheet size 29.875 x 22.125 inches. Image Size 15.75 x 17.5 inches. Frame size ap...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Etching, Aquatint

Après Moi le XXème Siècle - Lithograph by Max Ernst - 1971
Located in Roma, IT
Après moi is an artwork reazlized by Max Ernst as deluxe edition for the Art Magazine XXème Siècle. Lithograph on japanese paper, 1971. Edition 14/80. Hand signed and numbered. 29 x...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"L'Entree en scene (The Emergence), " Color Lithograph after Rene Magritte
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"L'Entree en scene (The Emergence)" is a color lithograph after a 1961 original piece by Rene Magritte. A transparent bird flies over the ocean. The body of this bird shows through it a clean light sky with fluffy clouds. The view around the bird is instead the dark night, stars shine at the top of the scene. Clouds blow by and the waves are turbulent. Art: 12.13 x 9.75 in Frame: 22.75 x 20.38 in René-François-Ghislain Magritte was born November 21, 1898, in Lessines, Belgium and died on August 15, 1967 in Brussels. He is one of the most important surrealist artists. Through his art, Magritte creates humor and mystery with juxtapositions and shocking irregularities. Some of his hallmark motifs include the bourgeois “little man,” bowler hats, apples, hidden faces, and contradictory texts. René Magritte’s father was a tailor and his mother was a miller. Tragedy struck Magritte’s life when his mother committed suicide when he was only fourteen. Magritte and his two brothers were thereafter raised by their grandmother. Magritte studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from 1916 to 1918. After graduating he worked as a wallpaper designer and in advertisement. It was during this period that he married Georgette Berger, whom he had known since they were teenagers. In 1926, René Magritte signed a contract with the Brussels Art Gallery, which allowed him to quit his other jobs and focus completely on creating art. A year later he had his first solo show at the Galerie la Centaurie in Brussels. At this show Magritte exhibited what is today thought of as his first surrealist piece, The Lost Jockey, painted in 1926. In this work a jockey and his steed run across a theater stage, curtains parted on either side. Throughout the scene, there are trees with trunks shaped somewhat like chess pawns with musical scores running vertically up their sides and branches sticking out from all angles. Critics did not enjoy this style of art; it was new, different, and took critical thought to understand, but The Lost Jockey was only the first of many surrealist artworks Magritte would paint. Because of the bad press in Brussels, René and Georgette moved to Paris in 1927, with the hope that this center of avant-garde art would bring him success and recognition. In Paris, he was able to become friends with many other surrealists, including André Breton and Paul Éluard. They were able to learn from and inspire one another, pushing the Surrealist movement further forward. It was also in Paris that Magritte decided to add text to some of his pieces, which was one of the elements that made his artwork stand out. In 1929, he painted one of his most famous oil works: The Treachery of Images. This is the eye-catching piece centered on a pipe. Below the pipe is written “Ceci n’est pas un pipe,” which translates to “This is not a pipe.” This simple sentence upset many critics of the time, for of course it was a pipe. Magritte replied that it was not a pipe, but a representation of a pipe. One could not use this oil on canvas as a pipe, to fill it with tobacco and smoke it. Thus, it was not a pipe. In 1930, Magritte and Georgette moved back to Brussels. Though they would travel to his exhibitions elsewhere, their home going forward would always be in Brussels. Magritte had his first American exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1936 and his first show in England two years later in 1938 at The London Gallery...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Let Them Eat Cake (Ed. 20/50)
Located in Dallas, TX
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 24 x 42 inches signed and numbered, limited edition of 50
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Ink

Untitled - III, Surrealist Lithograph by Wojtek Kowalczyk
Located in Long Island City, NY
Untitled - III 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

Dream Of The Inca. Contemporary Abstract Painting
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

Jean Cocteau - Under the Fire Coat - Original Lithograph
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Cocteau - Under the Fire Coat - Original Lithograph Signed "Jean" in the plate and dated 1954 in the plate. Joseph Forêt Editions Dimensions: 41 x 33 cm...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

MONT SAINT-MICHEL Signed Mini Lithograph, Iconic Landmark Normandy France
Located in Union City, NJ
MONT SAINT-MICHEL is a hand drawn, limited edition lithograph by the American surrealist artist Fanny Brennan, created using traditional hand lithography techniques printed on archiv...
Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Spirit with Horns - Abstracted Figurative Composition in Acrylic on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful abstracted surreal figure of a spirit by Michael Eggleston (American, 20th Century). This piece is bold and lively, with bright colors and rich blacks. This horned spirit i...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, India Ink

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

Dierdre, Woodcut Print on Rice Paper by Leonard Baskin
Located in Long Island City, NY
This woodcut print was created by American artist Leonard Baskin. Baskin is well known for his somewhat grotesque, intricate, surreal drawings and natural subject matter. This print ...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Rice Paper, Woodcut

Silent confession. 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 woman whose dress is made out of sea. There is a ship. Artw...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Color

"Rescuer" Black & White Photography 39" x 28" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Rescuer" Black & White Photography 39" x 28" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian Printed on Epson Professional Paper Signed and numbered by the artist Not framed. Ships in a tube. ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Armadillo, Surrealist Lithograph by Aubrey Schwartz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Aubrey Schwartz, American (1928 - 2019) - Armadillo, Year: circa 1962, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 150, Image Size: 10 x 16 inches, Size: ...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Brazilian Flower- Acrylic painting by Frida & Raul - 2019
Located in Roma, IT
Brazilian flowers is a beauty painting with frame by the Italian artists Frida & Raul in 2019. It is realized by mixed three-dimensional technique with acrylic, metal mesh, wood, plastic, concrete...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Moses and Monotheism The Tear of Blood
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

Miró Lithographe I - Plate VII - Lithograph by Joan Mirò - 1972
Located in Roma, IT
"Miró Lithographe I - Plate VII" is a vintage lithograph realized by Joan Miró in 1972. Perfect conditions. It comes from the set of 11 lithographs realized for the catalogue "Mir...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Holopherne - Lithograph by Dorothea Tanning - 1972
Located in Roma, IT
Holopherne, lithograph on Arches paper realized by Dorothea Tanning in 1972. Belongs to the suite "Judith". Limited edition of 500. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. The Suite ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Aquellos Armarios Tinosos - Drypoint and Collotype - 1977
Located in Roma, IT
Aquellos Armarios Tinosos is a contemporary artwork realized in 1977. Drypoint and collotype print. Hand signed by the artist and numbered on the lower margin. Edition of 21/200. The artwork belongs to the Series "Les Caprices de Goya...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Digital

Miró Lithographe I - Plate X - Lithograph by J. Mirò - 1972
Located in Roma, IT
Miró Lithographe I - Plate X is an original artwork realized by Joan Miró. Lithograph on paper. The hallmark on Graphis Arte, Livorno is on the back. Perfect conditions. This encha...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist Sculpture, "Simonetta"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original sculpture by San Diego artist, Cheryl Tall. Its dimensions are 6" x 12" x 8". A Certificate of Authenticity will follow t...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ceramic

Les Captives by Paul Delvaux - Nudes, Work on paper, Ink
Located in London, GB
*PLEASE NOTE UK BUYERS WILL ONLY PAY 5% VAT ON THIS PURCHASE. Les Captives by Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) Pen, Indian ink and wash on paper 35 x 43.5 cm (13 ³/₄ x 17 ¹/₈ inches) Signed and dated lower right, P. Delvaux 1955 Inscribed on the reverse Provenance: Christie's London, 2010 Private collection, London, acquired from the above Artist biography: Belgian artist Paul Delvaux was born in Liège in eastern Belgium. Despite Delvaux’s desire to become an artist, his lawyer father encouraged him to train as an architect at the prestigious Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Thanks to private art tuition undertaken alongside his architectural studies, in 1925 Delvaux gained his first solo exhibition in Brussels. Heavily influenced by contemporary Expressionism and Surrealism, Delvaux was soon drawn to the ‘metaphysical’ paintings of Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico. On a chance visit to a museum of medical curiosities...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Pen

Autumn afternoons - Hand-signed numbered lithograph Leonor Fini Surrealist, 1975
Located in New York, NY
Leonor Fini Pendant les après-midi d'automne, 1975 Colored etching on Arches paper 11 × 15 in 28 × 38 cm Limited edition of 185 Condition: Excellent condition
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Young Shepherd Joseph - Etching by Marc Chagall - 1956
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

Render to Caesar, Surreal Scene with Classical Greek Scupture and Garden
Located in Chicago, IL
Taken from a statue of Julius Caesar by French sculptor Nicolas Coustou from 1669, artist John Hrehov places his copy in an elaborate labyrinth of greenery. The classical elements of sculpture, ionic column and greek temple are tied together by a bright green and blue palette in this perfectly balanced surreal scene. This piece is floated in a white wooden frame measuring 38h x 32w x 2d inches. John Hrehov Render to Caesar oil on canvas 36h x 30w in 91.44h x 76.20w cm JHR025 John Hrehov Education 1985 MFA-Painting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1981 BFA-Painting, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH. Solo Exhibitions 2017 John Hrehov, Paintings and Drawings. Tom Thomas Gallery, Indiana University East, Richmond, IN. 2012 Shades from White to Black, New Drawings. Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY. 2011 John Hrehov: Charcoal. Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne. 2009 John Hrehov: A Survey 1999-2009 Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY. Paintings and Drawings. Seerveld Gallery, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL. 2004 John Hrehov: Drawings and Paintings. Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY. 2002 Paintings. Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY. 2001 Charcoal. Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne. John Hrehov, Paintings and Drawings. Wood Street...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bird - Surrealist print, Limited edition, Established Polish artist
Located in Warsaw, PL
The work comes directly from the artist, is numbered, signed and made on sealed paper. Limited edition of 20. RAFAŁ OLBIŃSKI (born in 1943) He graduated from the Faculty of Archite...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Color

1967 Pop Art, May Wilson, Surrealist Feminist Junk Assemblage Painted Sculpture
By May Wilson
Located in Surfside, FL
May Wilson (1905–1986) was an American artist and figure in the 1960s New York City avant-garde art world. A pioneer of the feminist and mail art movement, she is best known for her Surrealist junk assemblages and her "Ridiculous Portrait" photo collages. Wilson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, into an underprivileged family. Her father died when she was young. She was reared by her Irish Catholic mother, who sewed piecework at home. Wilson left school after the ninth grade to become a stenographer/secretary to help support her family. When she turned 20, she married a young lawyer, William S. Wilson, Jr., and give birth to her first child. She continued to work until the birth of her second child, after which she devoted her energies primarily to mothering and homemaking. In 1942, the couple had prospered enough to move to Towson, Maryland, where she began to take correspondence courses in art and art history from several schools, including the University of Chicago. In 1948, after the marriage of their daughter, the couple moved to a gentleman's farm north of Towson, where she pursued painting and gave private art lessons to neighbors. She exhibited her paintings, scenes of everyday life painted in a flat, purposefully primitive manner in local galleries and restaurants. In 1952 and 1958, she won awards for work submitted to juried exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1956, her son, the writer Williams S. Wilson, gave to Ray Johnson, the founder of the New York Correspondence School, his mother's address. This began a friendship and artistic collaboration between Johnson and Wilson, which would last the remainder of her life. Wilson became an integral part of Johnson's mail art circle and was initiated into the New York avant-garde through letters and small works that she exchanged with Robert Watts, George Brecht, Ad Reinhardt, Leonard Cohen, Arman, and many others. When her marriage dissolved, she moved to New York City in the spring of 1966, aged 61, taking up residence first in the Chelsea Hotel and then in a studio next door, where she threw legendary soirées and became known as the "Grandma Moses of the Underground". By the time she arrived, Wilson was already working with photomontage collage techniques. Encouraged by Johnson, who had sent her magazines through the mail, she scissored patterns into images of pin-up girls and muscle men until they resembled doilies or snowflakes, as Wilson called them. She decorated her hotel room and later her studio on West 23rd Street with these and other manipulated, found object images. Around this time, she also began her series of neo Dada "Ridiculous Portraits", for which she would ride the subway to Times Square, where she made exaggerated faces in photo booths. She then would cut and paste her photo-booth face onto postcards, along with Old Master reproductions, fashion shoots, and softcore Playboy magazine pornography. Long before artists such as Cindy Sherman and Yasumasa Morimura embarked on similar critical projects, Wilson's "Ridiculous Portraits" sent up the ubiquitous sexism and ageism that exists in popular and fine-art images of women. At the age of 70, she converted a nude photograph of herself into a stamp that she pasted on envelopes. Her collages and humorous self-portraits were made as gifts and mail-art items for her friends and were not widely known until after her death. Her work was contemporaneous with the Arte Povera artists Jannis Kounellis and ‎Michelangelo Pistoletto. She was also an innovator of junk art assemblages that incorporated real objects, such as high-heel shoes, bed sheets, sauce pans, toasters, liquor bottles, ice trays, and wrapped baby dolls. Her sculptures were inspired by Surrealist and Dada practices and are similar in spirit to Yayoi Kusama's contemporary accumulations. Wilson was the subject of a 1969 experimental documentary by Amalie R. Rothschild, "Woo Hoo? May Wilson". Since her death, May Wilson's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and retrospectives at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York; the Morris Museum, Morristown, N.J.; the Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York City; and The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Selected Exhibitions 2010 "Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968", University of the Arts, Philadelphia (traveling exhibition) 2008 "1968/2008: The Culture of Collage", Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, City 2008 "Ridiculous Portrait: The Art of May Wilson", Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey 2008 "Woo Who? May Wilson", Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York City 1995 [Retrospective], The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland 2001 "May Wilson: Ridiculous Portraits and Snowflakes", Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York, City 2001 "Inside Out: Outside In-The Correspondence of Ray Johnson and May Wilson", Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, California 1991 "May Wilson: The New York Years", Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York City 1973 "Sneakers", Kornblee Gallery, New York City 1973 "Small Works: Selections from the Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary Art", RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island 1971 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 1970 "Sculpture Annual 1970", Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City 1965 The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland 1962 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 1957 Bookshop Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland Public collections Whitney Museum of American Art (New York City) The Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, Maryland) Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, New York) References William S. Wilson, "May Wilson: Constructing Woman (1905-1986)", in Ann Aptaker, ed., Ridiculous Portrait: The Art of May Wilson, ed. Ann Aptaker, Morristown, N.J.: Morris Museum, Camhi, Leslie, "Late Bloomer", Village Voice, December 18, 2001 Giles, Gretchen, "Cosmic Litterers: Artists Ray Johnson and May Wilson: Taking the Cake", "Northern California Bohemian," June 14–20, 2001 McCarthy, Gerard, "May Wilson: Homespun Rebel", Art in America, vol. 96, no. 8, September 2008, pp. 142–47 Sachs, Sid and Kalliopi Minioudaki, Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968. Philadelphia: The University of the Arts, 2010, ISBN 978-0789210654 Wilson, William S. Art is a Jealous Lover: May Wilson: 1905-1986, andy warhol...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Metal

Neon Ovoids, Mid-Century Abstract neon orange, green, pink acrylic painting
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Neon Ovoids, c. 1960s Acrylic on paper 9 x 12 inches Mid-Century Abstract neon orange, green, pink acrylic painting. Clarence Holbroo...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Modern Figurative Surrealism Watercolor, Drawing - "You Must Die For Yours"
Located in Surfside, FL
On heavy Arches deckle edged paper. This combines text or poetry in calligraphy on the side. Gary Hansmann (1947-2008) was active/lived in California. He is known for abstract, Surr...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Watercolor

Vintage Surreal Landscape Original Watercolor C.1970
Located in San Francisco, CA
Vintage Surreal Landscape Original Watercolor C.1970 Remarkable original surreal landscape Notes on the back indicate "Robert Uala" is the artist The signature in the lower right ...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Watercolor

"Gods at the Beach 2" Photography 31" x 31" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Gods at the Beach 2" Photography 31" x 31" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian Printed on Epson Professional Paper Signed and numbered by the artist Not framed. Ships in a tube. A...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

La Venus aux Fourrures Lady Leaf
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: La Venus aux Fourrures Lady Leaf MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 34/145 MEASUREMENTS: 11" x 15" Framed: 17" x 20" YEAR: 1968 ...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Miró Lithographe I - Plate X - Lithograph by Joan Mirò - 1972
Located in Roma, IT
"Miró Lithographe I - Plate X" is a vintage lithograph realized by Joan Miró in 1972. Perfect conditions. It comes from the set of 11 lithographs realized for the catalogue "Miró...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Convict and his Companion
Located in London, GB
This original etching and aquatint is hand signed in white pencil by the artist "Miró" in the lower right image. It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, at the low...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Les Amours Jaunes Good Fortune and Fortune
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Amours Jaunes Good Fortune & Fortune MEDIUM: Etching + Gold Flakes SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: CLXII/CC MEASUREMENTS: 11" x 14.75" Fra...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Learning to Fly, Drawing 2015
Located in Greenwich, CT
Sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning “thread”, is a word or small group of words that summarize an entire complex web of ideas, truths, wisdoms, or teachings all woven together into a sing...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Foam Board, Pencil, Graphite

Crying Mask with Unicorn, Variant #1
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Crying Mask with Unicorn" c.1975 is an original color etching with aquatint on wove paper by American surrealist artist Michael Bowen, 1937-2009. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist. The plate mark (image) size is 21.85 x 17.5 inches, sheet size is 30 x 20.75 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed. About the subject: Nowhere is the intertwining of metaphysical, biographic and social narratives more evident than in the Café Life series painted in the 1980’s. Though the “series” was done in the 80’s, the pieces really revive the spirit of the Beat café scene, which began in the mid-1950’s and which was so instrumental to the particular spiritual and social vibe of the counter culture. And his Café Life observations continue over his artist life with scenes, such as the ones here, from Los Angles, Bolinas, Mexico and Italy. About the artist: Michael Bowen (December 8, 1937 – March 7, 2009) was an American fine artist known as one of the co-founders of the late 20th and 21st century Visionary art movements. His works include paintings on canvas and paper, 92 intaglio etchings based on Jungian psychology, assemblage, bronze sculpture, collage, and handmade art books. An icon of the American Beat Generation and the 1960s counterculture, Bowen is also known for his role in inspiring and organizing the first Human Be-In in San Francisco. Chronicled in books and periodicals reflecting on the turbulent 1960s, Bowen's historical impact on both the literary and visual art worlds is well documented. He remains influential among avant-garde art circles around the world. He started his art career at age 17, when he joined the American installation artist Ed Kienholz in his Los Angeles studio. There he met and joined with other influential Beat Generation artists including Wallace Berman, John Altoon, and Dennis Hopper. Bowen participated in the construction of the Ferus Gallery and Now Gallery created by Ed Kienholz and curated by Walter Hopps. Bowen attended the Chouinard Art Institute for several years during his formative artistic experiences in Los Angeles. In the late 50s and early 60s, Bowen continued his spiritual training and research. He investigated and practiced a variety of occult topics, Eastern philosophies, and mysticism, and his artwork reflected these themes. Bowen is often referred to as a mystic artist. As a lifelong student of the Bhagavad-Gita, Bowen's entire career has emulated the spiritual warrior archetype of Arjuna, fighting for the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. Michael Bowen moved to San Francisco in the late 1950s, and along with fellow artist comrades Arthur Monroe...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Saturn Over Titan Tower, UT, by Astronomical Artist Joe Bergeron
Located in New York, NY
Joe Bergeron (American) Saturn From Titan, 1980 Oil on canvas Framed: 40 x 30 x 1 1/2 in. Signed lower right: Bergeron 80 Inscribed verso Joe Bergeron grew up in the twin hamlets of Endicott and Endwell in upstate New York. As a boy he taught himself the constellations using a cardboard star wheel, watching in awe as stars he had never before identified rose according to prediction. Later he began a more thorough examination of the heavens using various small telescopes. A devoted hiker, Joe prowled his surroundings at all hours of the day and night, often discovering semi-abandoned sites of human activity which his imagination invested with the mystery of ancient ruins. Joe was known as a "class artist" in high school, mostly by virtue of superhero drawings done in ballpoint pen. His early efforts at painting were clumsy at best and disastrous at worst, leading him to be intimidated by the brush. Finally, called upon to produce planetarium shows during a summer job, Joe taught himself to paint so he could create visuals for the shows. Soon he was selling paintings and drawings at science fiction art...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Poems Secrets Nude at The Fountain
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Poems Secrets Nude at The Fountain MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMB...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Pout
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....
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Surrealist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Leonor Fini. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Lithograph and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Surrealist art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $1,450,000, while the average work sells for $1,426.

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