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.
The Sleep
By Arik Brauer
Located in Columbia, MO
Brauer’s 1973 illustrations for The Hasidic Tales are extraordinary examples of etching pushed to its expressive limits. Through the masterful use of layered aquatint, Brauer achieve...
Handmade Paper, Etching, Aquatint
Mr and Mrs Woodman : Up Against the Wall - Original signed silver print
By Man Ray
Located in Paris, IDF
MAN RAY (Emmanuel Radnitsky, known as) (1890–1976) Mr. and Mrs. Woodman (Up Against the Wall), 1970 Photograph: Original silver print Artist’s signature stamp on the reverse On silv...
Silver Gelatin
$90Sale Price|43% Off
Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)
By Jörg Remé
Located in Kansas City, MO
Joerg Reme Untitled IV from "von den Stunden" Folio Color Lithograph on handmade paper with deckled edges 1972 Size: 11.75 x 8.325 inches (29.8 × 21.1 cm) Edition: 31 of 250 Signed i...
Lithograph
Mr and Mrs Woodman : Burning Desire - Original signed silver print
By Man Ray
Located in Paris, IDF
MAN RAY (Emmanuel Radnitsky, known as) (1890–1976) Mr. and Mrs. Woodman (Burning Desire), 1970 Photograph: Original silver print Artist’s signature stamp on the reverse On silver pa...
Silver Gelatin
Family II, Signed Surrealist Etching and Aquatint by John Fenton
By John Fenton
Located in Long Island City, NY
John Nathaniel Fenton is a twentieth century American painter, printmaker and painter who studied at the Art Students League, New York, and at Atelier 17, Paris. He also studied unde...
Etching
Prairie Stories - Architectural Colorful Still Life Mixed Media Collage on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Mixed Media
$4,600Sale Price|20% Off
The Hippies The Pagoda Etching, Surrealist, Hand Signed, 1969
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Hippies The Pagoda MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: XLV/C MEASUREMENTS: 20" x 26.5" YEAR: 1969 FRAMED: No CONDITION: Exce...
Etching
Salvador Dali etching, signed with monogram, Tristan and the Dragon, 1970
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904–1989) Tristan and the Dragon Drypoint etching in colour From the 1970 Tristan and Iseult series, British book edition, printed on Mandeure paper, with ‘A...
Etching
Blossom, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Slav Nedev
Located in Yardley, PA
A work (#6) 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, ...
Oil
Relics
Located in Zofingen, AG
Relics (series “1000 and 1 Night”) In this work, the space of falling in love shifts from the present into the realm of memory. Ordinary objects lose their everyday nature and become...
Canvas, Acrylic
Two of Them. 1997. Oil on cardboard, 91x119 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Janis Zemitis graduated from the Riga Art School of J. Rosenthal in 1958, in 1964 Art Academy of Latvian State, painting department, Head of the diploma work "Working in the forest" ...
Oil, Cardboard
Bibliotheque Surrealist Painting, Oil on Canvas, 21st Century, Signed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Uruguayan artist Leonardo Aguirre creates visually animated surreal scenes in a theatrical environment. Aguirre rearranges whimsical components into unexpectedly harmonious ways of s...
Canvas, Oil
Los sueños de la razón producen monstruos - Óleo sobre tela - 79x120cm.
By Isabel Cid
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Firmado y titulado por la artista en la parte trasera El estado de la obra es bueno Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas obra: 79 cm altura x 120 cm ancho :::::::::::::::::::...
Oil
Dinner in the Sky
By Valton Tyler
Located in Dallas, TX
In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined paintings, prints and drawings, whose style defies convenient labels. Abstract, surreal, cartoonish, sci-fi fantastic, metaphysical, apocalyptic-Baroque - all of these fit but also fall short of fully describing his art." (Edward M. Gomez, "Futuristic Forms Frolic Under Eerie Texan Skies...
Canvas, Oil
"Octopus"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
“Octopus” is the final, twelfth painting in the series “The Pathos of Bureaucracy” — a bitterly ironic full stop rather than a silent ending. The octopus is an allegory of a corrupt ...
Oil, Canvas
$636Sale Price|20% Off
Miro, Sculptures et Ceramics, 1973 Fondation Maeght
By Joan Miró
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: After Joan Miro (1893-1983) Title: Sculptures et Ceramics Year: 1973 Medium: Lithograph exhibition poster on wove paper Size: 32.5 x 22 inches Condition: Excellent Notes: Pub...
Lithograph
Twin Female Portrait Painting with Apples Pop Surrealist Acrylic on Framed Board
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Original twin female portrait painting with apples on metal panel, combining pop surrealist portraiture, symbolic still life and contemporary figurative imagery. This original paint...
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
Watermelon 2, circa 1972 Signed Surrealist Mezzotint by Tomoe Yokoi
By Tomoe Yokoi
Located in Long Island City, NY
Watermelon 2 by Tomoe Yokoi, Japanese (1942) Date: circa 1972 Mezzotint, signed, titled and numbered in pencil Edition of 56/75 Image Size: 12.5 x 11.75 inches Size: 25 x 19.5 in. (6...
Mezzotint
Théatre Pacifique Lithograph, Surrealist, Signed, 1978, Excellent
Located in OPOLE, PL
Pierre Alechinsky (1927) - Théatre pacifique Lithograph from 1978. Dimensions of work: 50 x 88 cm. Hand signed. A special edition - hand written the complete edition run. Dedicat...
Lithograph
Mask, Signed Surrealist Embossed Lithograph by Byron Gálvez
By Byron Gálvez
Located in Long Island City, NY
From an edition of 250, this dynamic cubist nude print fractures details of the female form into matters of base anatomy. This piece is signed and numbered in pencil by the artist. ...
Lithograph
Giorgio de Chirico-Horses on the Shore-1965 First Edition NY Graphic Society
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Published by New York Graphic Society, circa 1960. Plate signed. This elegant composition by Giorgio de Chirico features two majestic horses standing along a quiet shoreline, render...
Screen
La Dulce Aqua Vita, Signed Surrealist Etching by Roberto Matta
Located in Long Island City, NY
"La Dulce Aqua Vita" means the "Sweet Water of Life". In this colorful print, Chilean Surrealist, Roberto Matta's surreal figure turns an urn upside-down to pour out the magical wate...
Handmade Paper, Etching
Untitled Landscape 2
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Untitled (Landscape 2), 1968 Ink on paper. 30 × 28 inches. Signed and dated lower right. Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 19...
Paper, Ink
Artist Inscription
By Marcel Dzama
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Marcel Dzama is one of the most successful contemporary Canadian artists, beloved for his unmistakable version of Surrealism. Born in Winnipeg in 1974, Dzama achieved an internation...
Ink, Mixed Media
Tristram's Testament, Original Etching, Surrealist, 1969, Signed
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Tristram's Testament Etching from 1969. Dimensions of work: 45 x 33 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Pamela Verlag, New York. Reference: R. Michler, L.W....
Etching
Samuel Called by God - 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. Edition of 275+30 out of commerce copies. Not signed nor numbered, as issued. ...
Etching
Untitled 1
Located in Winterswijk, NL
The City of Women from the serie Lollipop Edition: 3 ex "Victoria Lykholot, an artist and lecturer from Ukraine. After graduating from the Faculty of Philosophy in 2007. For severa...
Photographic Paper
The Child Resurrected by Elie - 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. Edition of 275+30 out of commerce copies. Not signed nor numbered, as issued. ...
Etching
Surrealist Portrait, 1977 Signed Oil Painting by Roberto Soto
Located in Long Island City, NY
Surrealist Portrait by Roberto Soto, Argentinian (1926–1986) Date: 1977 Oil on Masonite, signed and dated l.r. Size: 28 in. x 23.5 in. (71.12 cm x 59.69 cm) Frame Size: 31 x 27 inches
Masonite, Oil
La Desse de Cythère Woodcut Print, Surrealist, Signed, 1978, 133/250
Located in Roma, IT
La Desse de Cythère (The Goddess of Cythera) is a woodcut print on Arches Paper realized by Salvador Dalì in 1978 to illustrated "L'Art d'Aimer" (The Art of Love) by Ovid. Hand sig...
Woodcut
"Mr Knife, Miss Fork"
By Max Ernst
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: gelatin silver print (photogram). Printed in 1931 and published in Paris for the journal Arts et Metiers Graphiques. A photogram was an experimental technique conceived by Ma...
Photogram
City Night - Architectural Still Life Gray Tone Mixed Media Collage on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Mixed Media
Townhouses - Architectural Colorful Still Life Mixed Media Collage on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Mixed Media
A Forgotten Flying Machine - Romanian French Surrealism
Located in London, GB
This oil painting by Romanian artist Jules Perahim is hand signed by the artist "Perahim" in the lower right image. It is also dated “78” [1978] next to the signature. The work is ...
Canvas, Oil
The Humanization
Located in Edinburgh, GB
One of Three Works from the Series “BECOMING HUMAN” Compositionally, the work resembles a fragment of a map. The human soul is a separate planet, much like our own, except that its c...
Oil
Blue Bird
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Blue Bird' c.1990 is a dye sublimation print on aluminium by Ukrainian/American artist Anatole Krasnyansky. It is hand signed and number...
Other Medium
L'Aigle et l'Escarbot - Etching by Marc Chagall - 1952
By Marc Chagall
Located in Roma, IT
Etching on Montval paper, realized between 1927 and 1930. Table from "Les Fables de La Fontaine", published in 1952 in and edition of 200. Signed in the plate. Very good condition...
Etching
The Struggle, Original Etching, 1974, Framed, Signed
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - The Struggle Etching from 1974. The edition of 38/350. Dimensions of work: 56 x 38 cm. Hand signed. Publisher: Leblanc. Referencja: R. Michler, L.W...
Etching
$2,850
Black Beauty - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Africa, Pattern
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Old Town - Architectural Texas Home Inspired Still Life Watercolor Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Watercolor
$8,750
MIND-BLOWING (Surrealist Oil Painting on Canvas, yellow python, woman, animal)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Rudolf Kosow’s Mind-Blowing presents a surreal and quietly unsettling encounter between a woman and an enormous yellow golden python snake, whose sinuous body coils around her like a...
Canvas, Oil
Hollywood : Mr and Mrs Woodman - Original Handsigned Gelatin Silver Print
By Man Ray
Located in Paris, IDF
Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitsky, called) Hollywood : Mr and Mrs Woodman, 1970 Original gelatin silver print Handsigned on the back Authenticated with the artist stamp "Epreuve originale...
Silver Gelatin
Nabuchodonosor Rex Babulonis - Lithograph - 1964
Located in Roma, IT
Nabuchodonosor Rex Babulonis ("Nebucchadenezzar King Of Babylon") is an artwork realized in 1964. It is part of Biblia Sacra vulgatæ editionis published by Rizzoli-Mediolani betwee...
Lithograph
"A Windy Day on Face Street", Surrealist Portrait, Collage, Acrylic Painting
By John Baker
Located in Franklin, MA
John Baker's "A Windy Day on Face Street" is an acrylic painting on canvas with collage 16 x 12 inches in tans, blues and lavender greys with red accents. On a grey day the wind has ...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
"Un chant d'amour" original lithograph
By Max Ernst
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Catalogue reference Spies/Leppien 71. Printed in 1958 for the art revue XXe Siecle (issue number 11) and published in Paris by San Lazzaro. Sheet size: 1...
Lithograph
Grop #2
By Valton Tyler
Located in Dallas, TX
In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez wrote of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined paintin...
Canvas, Oil
The Big Apple III - Abstract Colorful Architectural Landscape Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Canvas, Acrylic
My Home Town - Architectural Grey Tone Still Life Mixed Media Collage on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Mixed Media
"Origins of Being" canvas, oil, 44x55cm. compozucion, 1991
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Origins of Being" canvas, oil, 44x55cm. 1991 A haunting, surrealist oil painting exploring biblical allegories, human lineage, and cosmic birth. The composition features two ...
Oil, Acrylic
Surrealist Beach - Original handsigned lithograph
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean-Pierre HENAUT (1942-) Surrealist Beach Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Limited /275 copies On vellum 54 x 76 cm (c. 21.25 x 29.92 in) Excellent condition
Lithograph
Wild Blue 1 - Abstract Cool Tone Architectural Landscape Painting on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C Bernhardsson's original artworks are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Born in Sweden, Bernhardsson travels the world photographing and sketching houses ...
Canvas, Acrylic
Weasel, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A tiny weasel stands on a narrow strip of green atop a two-tone beige slope, set against a soft peach sky. In the lower right, an angular close-up of a pink flo...
Mixed Media
Lion Deer
Located in Edinburgh, GB
"Myths of Wild Harmony" This painting emerged from the depths of my subconscious, reflecting both real events and the world of dreams. One night, I dreamt of a two-headed snake, and ...
Acrylic
Austin Skyline - Architectural Texas Still Life Watercolor Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Maria C. Bernhardsson is a colorful artist who lives and paints in Sweden. Most of her works are influenced by the architecture and geometry of houses. Bernhardsson travels the world...
Paper, Watercolor
Man and Spirit Wolf (Native American surrealist painting)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Man and Spirit Wolf, ca. 1975-80. Gouache on Arches rag paper, Sheet measures 23 x 30 inches. Image measures 22 x 29 inches. Signed "Hood" lower left. Excellent condition. Unframed.
Gouache, Rag Paper
The weight of the world.
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...
Digital Pigment
Twisted Meat Artist
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Ralph Steadman Title: Twisted Meat Artist Medium: One color silkscreen on White Rising Stonehenge Deckle Edge Paper Size: 15 x 22 Inches Edition: of 250 Year: 2006 Notes: ...
Screen
$1,800
"Bridging Boundaries" Photography 31" x 31" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Bridging Boundaries" Photography 31" x 31" in Edition 1/7 by Olha Stepanian Printed on Epson Professional Paper Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA issued by the arti...
Photographic Paper
Capitulo XXI, Surrealist Lithograph by Rufino Tamayo
Located in Long Island City, NY
Rufino Tamayo, Mexican (1899 - 1991) - Capitulo XXI, Portfolio: Apocalypse de Saint Jean, Year: 1959, Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives, Edition: 93/255, Size: 13 x 10 in. (33.02 x 25....
Lithograph
Sans Titre 1
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Roberto Matta Title: Sans Titre 1 Medium: Original pastel/drawing on paper Signed: Hand Signed Year: 1969 Measurements: 12" x 16" Framed: 20" x 24" Authentication: Kajsa...
Paper