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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
Mean Mouse
Mean Mouse

Mean Mouse

By Ralph Steadman

Located in Hollywood, FL

Artist: Ralph Steadman Title: Mean Mouse Medium: One color silkscreen on White Rising Stonehenge Deckle Edge Paper Size: 15 x 22 Inches Edition: of 180 Year: 2001 Notes: Hand Signed...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Silk, Screen

Side by Side, Oil Painting
Side by Side, Oil Painting

Side by Side, Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
The painting presents a tightly cropped geometric scene that explores the quiet relationship between architecture and nature. The close-up focus of a wall, tree...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Impossible Walls, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Impossible Walls, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Impossible Walls, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Marlene Llanes

Located in Yardley, PA

My surrealist paintings are always inspired by nature and the fact that we come from it. I am intrigued by both, nature and the meaning of our own existence. The more connected we ar...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Walking on Thread - Large Original Painting on Canvas
Walking on Thread - Large Original Painting on Canvas

Walking on Thread - Large Original Painting on Canvas

By Mohamad Khayata

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Mohamad Khayata’s original figurative artworks are the result of five years of displacement and deal with themes of migration, memory, and identity. Mohamad’s paintings convey an array of emotions, ranging from bliss and comfort to tension and uncertainty. Many of his paintings portray a sense of transience, which is all the more palpable when considering that Khayata's intimate work is a tribute to displaced people and to their daily life stories that, far from familiar surroundings, are filled with effort and hope. Khayata created this original painting with acrylic on canvas. It is 47 inches high by 39 inches wide. It is signed by the artist on the back of the canvas. This painting is stretched, wired, and ready to hang. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and worldwide shipping. A certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery is included with this original work. Born in Damascus, Syria, artist Mohamad Khayata was forced to flee his home country due to ongoing political conflict. Khayata’s has been living in Beirut, Lebanon since 2012. His work is a resounding call for transformation and unity within his home country. His photography project "Stitching my Syria back" was chosen to be part of Journeys Festival International 2016 as a landmark for the “Look up” project in Leicester, where his photographs were installed on ten buildings. In the last five years, Khayata also participated in ten collective exhibitions across Europe and the Middle East. Holding his BA in Fine Arts obtained at Damascus University, Khayata is a bastion of Syrian legacy, memory, home, and happiness. REPRESENTATION Artplex Gallery Los Angeles, California, USA EXHIBITIONS 2020-23 Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles 2019 “Nota Bene,” Artplex Gallery Los Angeles, California 2018 “Takhalli,” 4th edition of the Laboratory of Arts Programme, partnership with The Goethe Institute, City of Beirut, Lebanon Beirut Art Fair, 392RMEIL393 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon “Umm Al-Zuluf,” 392RMEIL393 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon “Aegean Sea,” 392RMEIL393 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 2017 “Umm Al-Zuluf,” 392RMEIL393 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon Beirut Art Fair, Beirut, Lebanon Sharjah Art Bienalle, SAFIR “Stitching My Syria Back Together,” The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK 2016 “Revealing,” Beirut Art Fair, Gallery One Palestine, Beirut, Lebanon Journeys Festival International 2016 TA’AROF workshop, Sharjah Art Bienalle, SAFIR “Look Up,” Project in Leicester Inside Beirut, The Gallerist, Beirut, Lebanon “The Third Space,” British Council in London and Brussels, UK 2015 “Walking on Thread...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

King of Jazz
King of Jazz

King of Jazz

Located in Zofingen, AG

Ta has a vibrant personality and loves nothing more than a happy toe-tapping audience appreciating melodic jazz. Jazz and lady in red oozes musical finesse and sultry song. Ta is ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967
The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967

The Petrified Origin: Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1967

By Antoni Pitxot

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Title: The Petrified Origin Artist: Antoni Pitxot i Soler (1934–2015) Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 25.6 x 31.9 in (65 x 81 cm) Date: 1967 Condition: Unframed Signature: Signed lower right: Pitxot Provenance: Private collection Notes: Early work from Pitxot’s mature period, featuring the symbolic and meticulously rendered stone forms that would define his artistic identity. 📝 Work Description In The Petrified Origin, Antoni Pitxot presents a haunting and timeless vision of a single, eroded rock suspended in a dreamlike, undefined space. The stone, modeled with sculptural precision, appears to float over a subtly reflective surface, devoid of background or narrative context. Its porous texture, cracks, and shadows evoke a fossilized memory — a silent relic of geological time. Painted in 1967, this piece exemplifies Pitxot's unique visual language, developed through his practice of collecting stones along the Costa Brava and transforming them into anthropomorphic and symbolic compositions. The result is both surreal and solemn, an ode to nature’s memory and the enduring presence of the inanimate. 👤 About the Artist Antoni Pitxot i Soler (born in Figueres, 1934 – died in Barcelona, 2015) was a Catalan painter deeply rooted in the surrealist tradition. Coming from an artistic family —his uncle was Ramon Pichot, a friend of Picasso and Dalí— Pitxot trained as a draughtsman and painter from a young age. In the 1960s, he settled in Cadaqués, where he developed his distinct artistic universe. His paintings revolve around stone as a symbol of permanence, transformation, and memory. Pitxot created sculptural assemblages from real coastal stones and later immortalized them in oil on canvas. His works often hint at human figures, ancient myths, and allegories of time. 🎭 Connection with Salvador Dalí Pitxot was not only a close friend of Salvador Dalí but also one of his closest collaborators. Dalí admired his work and invited him to co-design the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. After Dalí’s death...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Butterfly & The Lips The Lips
The Butterfly & The Lips The Lips

The Butterfly & The Lips The Lips

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Butterfly & The Lips The Lips MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Editions Graphiques International EDITION NUMB...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Mayor Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting
Mayor Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting

Mayor Portrait Surrealism Original oil Painting

By Ashot Yan

Located in Granada Hills, CA

Portrait Figurative Surrealism Original Painting Artist: Ashot Yan Work: Original Oil Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Oil on Linen, Year: 2023 Style: Portrait Surre...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Exquisite Corpse, Cadavre Exquis, Spanish Surrealist Drawing 3 Artists
Exquisite Corpse, Cadavre Exquis, Spanish Surrealist Drawing 3 Artists

Exquisite Corpse, Cadavre Exquis, Spanish Surrealist Drawing 3 Artists

By Xisco Mensua

Located in Surfside, FL

Provenance: This piece was deaccessioned from the Bass museum in Miami Beach florida. This piece is a good museum example of Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from ...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Carbon Pencil

original lithograph

original lithograph

By Enrico Donati

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. Printed in Paris by Mourlot and published by Pierre à Feu and Maeght Editeur for the Marcel Duchamp / André Breton project Surréalisme en 1947. Issued in...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Homenage a Albrecht Dürer - Año 1971 - Edición de 300
Homenage a Albrecht Dürer - Año 1971 - Edición de 300

Homenage a Albrecht Dürer - Año 1971 - Edición de 300

Located in Sant Celoni, ES

Rinoceronte: Homenaje a Alberto Durero, 1971 Obra realizada para el cartel litográfico de la exposición del artista en la Galerie Louis Moufflet en 1971. litografía en color Firma...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Becoming Aware of One's Own Shadow
Becoming Aware of One's Own Shadow

Becoming Aware of One's Own Shadow

Located in Zofingen, AG

A work about observing one’s own transformation. About the moment when hidden parts of the personality emerge from the darkness and become visible. The mythical bird is the process i...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

New Order, Painting, Oil on Canvas

New Order, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Marlene Llanes

Located in Yardley, PA

The sides of this canvas were painted so there is no need for a frame. It's ready to hang! Thank you for looking at my art. :: Painting :: Surrealism :: This piece comes with an off...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Fish in the Sky, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Fish in the Sky, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Fish in the Sky, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Slav Nedev

Located in Yardley, PA

A work (# 12) from the ELEMENTS series Why did I call this series elements? Because there is air in it, there is water, there are earth and fire… There are birth, life and death...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

serigraph

serigraph

By Edward McKnight Kauffer

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: serigraph. Printed in 1936 and published in Paris by Arts et Métiers Graphiques. Image size: 7 1/2 x 6 inches (188 x 150 mm). Signed in the plate, not hand-signed.

Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Screen

From Miroir du Poète Album
From Miroir du Poète Album

From Miroir du Poète Album

By André Masson

Located in New York, NY

Color aquatint on black backround from Miroir du Poete, published by Louis Broder, Paris, 1960. II/VI of 6 on japon of a total edition of 66. Signed and numbered in pencil by the art...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Aquatint

"Untitled"
"Untitled"

"Untitled"

By Nahum Tschacbasov

Located in Southampton, NY

Original etching on archival paper. Signed and dated lower right, 1947. Artist proof. Condition: Good. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Image size 6.75 by 5 inches. Sheet size 15...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Etching

City Mirage
City Mirage

City Mirage

By Alisa Leonets

Located in Zofingen, AG

City as Mirage (from the series “1000 and 1 Nights”) In City as Mirage, the nocturnal city appears not as a physical location but as an inner landscape. Seen through the window, the ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Cash Cow, Oil Painting
Cash Cow, Oil Painting

Cash Cow, Oil Painting

By Keith Thomson

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A lone figure stands before a slot machine set against a wide Western horizon. The barren landscape reflects a sense of modern isolation. The man isn’t gambli...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Shared Identity 2 (A Land Where Miracles Comes in Twos) - 21st Century, Portrait
Shared Identity 2 (A Land Where Miracles Comes in Twos) - 21st Century, Portrait

Shared Identity 2 (A Land Where Miracles Comes in Twos) - 21st Century, Portrait

By Kehinde Mayowa

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

This painting is a heartfelt tribute to my family's rich cultural heritage. I'm proud to hail from Igbo-Ora, Oyo State, Nigeria - famously known as the 'Twin Capital of the World'. W...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Surreal French Lithograph of a Dental Tool “Circus”
Surreal French Lithograph of a Dental Tool “Circus”

Surreal French Lithograph of a Dental Tool “Circus”

Located in San Francisco, CA

Raise your hand if you love going to the dentist. Well, imagine being one. The hours on your feet, the aroma of your patients’ ailing teeth, their complaints about their wife/kids/mother-in-law/politics—and their unbearable pain, ad infinitum. Oh, and the sameness of the problems you are asked to solve day in and day out in the endless battle against dental decay. Brain cell death could be an occupational hazard. Unless you have imagination. The artist of this wonderfully surreal original lithograph, David Solot...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Hello Hen! Large Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Colorful, Signed, 113x94 cm
Hello Hen! Large Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Colorful, Signed, 113x94 cm

Hello Hen! Large Surrealist Oil on Canvas, Colorful, Signed, 113x94 cm

By Frank Docherty

Located in Cotignac, FR

Large surrealist contemporary oil on canvas by Scottish artist Frank McLean Docherty R.S.W. This piece whilst wonderfully colourful, playful and erotic is typical of the witty sense of humour this artist displays in all his work. The title 'Hello Hen !' ( Hen being the scottish slang for 'girl' ) is used playfully as a double-entendre. In the image we see the artist has before him a beautiful naked woman and yet chooses to paint the real hen. Also we notice that the plant's flower heads under the woman are wilting and the artist pictured (a self portrait of Docherty), an older man, suggest that the artist's desires are on the wane. Docherty likes to tease us visually and asks questions and presents conundrums to the viewer. Frank McLean Docherty was born in Glasgow , Scotland in 1942. He became a student at Glasgow School of Art in 1960 and graduated from the Department of Printed Textiles in 1964. He taught in a secondary school in the East End of Glasgow for two years, thereafter departing to work in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland as a textile designer (Marks & Spencer, Heals and Liberty of London). He was also an illustrator for a range of newspapers and an Art Director of magazines. In 1973, he was appointed Principal Teacher of Art in a Scottish High School and in 1978 was honoured by the Queen when he was appointed Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours (R.S.W.) He left education in 1994. Since that time he has developed a vision which is quite unique in Scottish Art. Bank Managers, toucans, lighthouses, penguins, bowler hats, Frank Docherty...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Art Brut figurative abstract Philadelphia Artist
Art Brut figurative abstract Philadelphia Artist

Art Brut figurative abstract Philadelphia Artist

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Jesse Soifer (1932-2013). Untitled #09, 1963. Ink on paper, sheet measures 12 x 14 inches. Dated and signed with artist monogram. Estate stamp on verso sheet with assignation numb...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

Latin American Abstract Surrealist Modern Oil Painting
Latin American Abstract Surrealist Modern Oil Painting

Latin American Abstract Surrealist Modern Oil Painting

Located in Surfside, FL

Interesting piece. it is painted on this cardboard that has been laid down onto foamboard for support. bright vibrant colors. signed illegibly.

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Foam Board, Cardboard

Eight of Cups, Oil Painting
Eight of Cups, Oil Painting

Eight of Cups, Oil Painting

By Rachel Srinivasan

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Eight blue chalices line the composition in two vertical columns, creating a strong sense of symmetry and repetition. Blue, red, and white bands radiate from th...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

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.