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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
Le Temps Menacant - 20th Century, Surrealist, Lithograph, Figurative Print
Located in Sint-Truiden, BE
Numbered: 138/275 Color lithograph after the 1929 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 275. The lithograph features the dry...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

1a
Located in Columbia, MO
Lithograph on Arches Exemplaire B/165 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...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Archival Paper

Dalí Holding his Walking Stick - Original Gelatin Silver Photography
Located in Paris, IDF
Marc LACROIX (1927-2007) Dalí Holding his Walking Stick, 1971 Original Gelatin Silver photograph Signed in ink Numbered on 99 copies On Gelatin Silver paper 58.5 x 48.5 cm (c. 22.8 ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Construction d'un Temple en Ruine - Plate n. 10 - Etching by Paul Delvaux - 1973
Located in Roma, IT
Construction d’un temple – Plate n. 10  is a  b/w   original etching  realized in 1973 (as reported on plate on the lower right margin) by Paul Delvaux. From the collection “ Constr...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

original lithograph
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

Daydream No. 2 (Window, Warm, Dreamy, Subtle, ~29% OFF LIST PRICE)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Annieo Klaas Daydream No. 2 2024 Oil on Canvas 30 x 24 inches (76.2 x 60.96 cm) Signed lower right COA provided *On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang Annieo Klaas i...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas, Stretcher Bars

Nancy Baker, Alien Nation , 2010, Oil on board, Surrealist Landscape
Located in Darien, CT
These paintings reflect the love Nancy Baker has for combining classical imagery with an image that is strange. The most direct example is in Alien Nation where i have a potter at a ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Tree of People, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Hank Laventhol
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hank Laventhol, American (1927 - 2001) - Tree of People, Year: circa 1980, Medium: Aquatint Etching, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, AP XXXV, Image Size: 19.5 x 16 i...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Dalia, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) - Dalia from Je Reve Portfolio, Year: 1975, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 93/125, Size: 20 in. x 26 in....
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Ripe Sky, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Hank Laventhol
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hank Laventhol, American (1927 - 2001) - Ripe Sky, Year: circa 1980, Medium: Aquatint Etching, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, Image Size: 16 x 24 inches, Size: 22 ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

"Cloud"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
To find me is simple, just follow the breeze, Let it dance on your face with effortless ease. A towering cloud will come into sight, When you see it—turn to the right! Cloud. Ente...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Silk

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - "Moments of Insight"
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: 1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - "Moments of Insight" Medium: Oil on board, unframed Signed: Verso Size: 5.25 height x 4.5 width Condition: Good Provenance: all the p...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Nude 1, Surrealist Lithograph by Hans Graeder
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hans Graeder, German (1919 - 1998) - Nude 1, Year: circa 1979, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 100, Size: 23 in. x 34 in. (58.42 cm x 86.36 cm)
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Sans titre (Rivière 212), Société internationale d'art XXe siècle
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Zao, Wou-ki. Zao Wou-Ki: Les Estampes, 1937...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Le Philosophe au Papillon, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) - Le Philosophe au Papillon from Je Reve Portfolio, Year: 1975, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 93/125, Si...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

L'homme ressuscité par l'holographie de l’écureuil - Original etching - 1973
Located in Paris, IDF
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) L'homme ressuscité par l'holographie de l’écureuil (1973) Original Etching on Auvergne vellum Handsigned in pencil Numbered /Z Size : 15.3 x 22,4 inch (3...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Wandering Ghost Sisters" By Timothy Von Rueden, Original Graphite Drawing
Located in Denver, CO
"Wandering Ghost Sisters" (2024) by Timothy Von Rueden is an original handmade graphite drawing that depicts two ghosts floating next to each other, both holding the same lantern.
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Lagune
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Lagune" 1986 is an original color etching with aquatint on Arches paper by French artist Jean Solombre, 1948-2005. It is hand signed...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Treasures In The Flames (colorful abstract surrealist painting) Armenian Artist
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Treasures In The Flames is a colorful, abstract, surrealist painting by Armenian artist, Vatche Geuvdjelian. Artist’s Statement “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 �...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Cotton Canvas

"Acupuntura Neoecléctica" contemporary figurative patterns human figure print
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
The repetition of patterns and rhythm is present in almost every piece of Pedro´s work. The hybrid topographies that Pedro Friedeberg´s unclassifiable practice recreates we must rec...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Ink, Paper, Digital

Pheasant and Tree, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Hank Laventhol
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hank Laventhol, American (1927 - 2001) - Pheasant and Tree, Year: circa 1980, Medium: Aquatint Etching, signed and Numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, AP XXXV, Image Size: 24 x 16 ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Aquatint, Etching

Raspberry, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Hank Laventhol
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hank Laventhol, American (1927 - 2001) - Raspberry, Year: circa 1980, Medium: Aquatint Etching, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, AP XXXV, Image Size: 24 x 16 inches, ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Satan, Surrealist Lithograph by Andre Masson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Andre Masson, French (1896 - 1987) - Satan from Je Reve Portfolio, Year: 1975, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, Signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 93/125, Size: 26 in. x 20 in....
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Star Wars Galaxy Darth Vader 1994 Signed Limited Edition Lithograph
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Ken Steacy 1994 Signed Limited Edition Star Wars Galaxy Darth Vader "Galaxy" 1994 Artist: Ken Steacy Medium: Lithograph Arches Paper Paper Size: 23½" x 30" inches Image Size: 17½" x...
Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Paysage 1800, Surrealist Landscape Etching by Hans Bellmer
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Hans Bellmer, German (1902 - 1975) Title: Paysage 1800 Year: 1968 Medium: Etching on Arches, signed in pencil lower right Image Size: 15.5 x 12 inches Size: 26 x 19.75 in. (6...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Surrealist Woodblock Print Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Magic Red Shoes
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Woodcut

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - Growth, Spiring, Expanding, Dispersing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: 1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - "Growth, Spiring, Expanding, Dispersing" Medium: Oil on board, unframed Size: 4.5 height x 6 width Condition: Good Provenance: all th...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Castle Eye, Surrealist Aquatint Etching by Hank Laventhol
Located in Long Island City, NY
Hank Laventhol, American (1927 - 2001) - Castle Eye, Year: circa 1980, Medium: Aquatint Etching, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, AP XXXV, Image Size: 20 x 16 inches,...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Miró, Prévert, Ribemont-Dessaignes, Composition (Mourlot 236; Cramer 39) (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From volume, Joan Miro by Jacques Prévert and Georges R...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Surrealist composition of José Gerson n°1 - Drawing 67x46 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Green Androgyne
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Signed with initials A.K. lower right. Surrealist, green, androgenous deity in complimentary warm toned forest. Reminiscent symbolically of Green Tara, a significant female Buddha fi...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sans titre (Cramer 22; Mourlot 515), Société internationale d'art XXe siècle
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 28.95 inches, with bifold, as issued. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Cramer, Patrick, a...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Army Of Caine Large Oversize Pop Art Print Signed Limited Edition
Located in London, GB
Army Of Caine by B A T I K Pop art work featuring multiples of Michael Caine in Get Carter mode - possibly his most iconic movie role. Archival pigment pop art print signed & limi...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Fashionable Faces, Surrealist Figurative Line Drawing
Located in Soquel, CA
Fun and playful figurative line drawing with three stylized female faces by SusanBrooks (American, b. 1951), 1985. Signed and dated in the lowe...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Untitled (Vanity)
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Gregory Crewdson (b.1963) is a photographer renowned for his psychologically charged images of seemingly placid domestic scenes. Somewhere between Edward Hopper and David Lynch, Crew...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

C Print

Surrealist Large Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ Female Pink Woods
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative take...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper, Pen

Velasquez Le Reddition De Breda by Salvador Dali 1974 lithograph
Located in Paonia, CO
Velasquez Le Reddition De Breda is one of six graphics from the series Changes in Great Masterpieces published by Sidney Lucas, 1974. Mas...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Immateriality" - Contemporary Figurative Surrealist Painting in Blue and Gray
Located in Carmel, CA
Steven H. Rehfeld (American, born 1954) "Immateriality" 2006 Oil Paint, Pencil, Canvas, Stretcher Bars The artist signed the back of the painting. In "Immateriality", Steven H. Rehf...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Pencil, Stretcher Bars

Klévak (Hand-colored)
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

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Etching

Arrival in the Empyrean - Woodcut - 1963
Located in Roma, IT
Arrival in the Empyrean -  "The Divine Comedy" - Song 30 -  Paradise is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante A...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

Brotherhood -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Black Men, Acrylic
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide 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 Authent...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - 'Tree's In The Weather ' Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Stunning original oil painting by Elvic Steele depicting this surrealist fantasy abstract painting. Elvic Steele is a fascinating English painter. Her works entrance the observer, d...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

"Elektra" original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. This impression was printed in 1939 for the art revue XXe Siecle (issue number 5-6) and published by San Lazzaro. A later edition was also published by XXe Siecle in 1959, but this is the original, first edition Max Ernst lithograph...
Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Silent Dancers" - 1977 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
"Silent Dancers" - 1977 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper 1977 surrealist lithograph on paper titled "Silent Dancers" by Jim Crabb (American, b. 1947). Lithograph featuring various ant...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Lithograph

"Aries, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Rhonda Libbey's "Aries" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a white Ram with a orange floral wreath and a golden halo standing among yello...
Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

Red Royal Ostrich Buckingham Palace -original interior wildlife oil painting-Art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. "Red Royal Ostrich" by Nathan Neven is a mesmerizing oil on ca...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

La licorne
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - La licorne Lithograph from 1972. The edition of 187/250. Dimensions of work: 68 x 50 cm On B.F.K Rives paper as stated in the Field catalogue. Refere...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

La licorne
La licorne
$6,584 Sale Price
20% Off
Chien aboyant à la lune (Mourlot 189), Verve: Revue Artistique et Littéraire
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin des Papeteries du Marais paper. Paper Size: 14 x 20.50 inches, with centerfold, as issued. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue r...
Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled (Portrait of Roberta Kimmel Cohn)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Portrait of Roberta Kimmel Cohn) Silver gelatin print on photographic paper c. 1981 Signed with the photographer's hand stamp verso From a presentation portfolio given the ...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Live it Up-original surreal contemporary wildlife interior painting- modern art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. "Live it Up" by Nathan Neven is a captivating masterpiece that...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Silver Gelatin Photograph Surrealist Doll Art Photo, Jazz Photographer
Located in Surfside, FL
These were from a show of her work. Influenced by Surrealism and Dada Photographs these are images of old children's dolls in various states of decay. These bear the influence of Ha...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Notes pour la Nouvelle Justine - Etching by Hans Bellmer - 1968
Located in Roma, IT
Notes pour la Nouvelle Justine is a contemporary artwork realized by Hans Bellmer. Hand Signed. From the Portfolio "Petit Traité de Morale", Paris, Editions Georges Visat, 1968. Co...
Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Etching

Signed and numbered Salvador Dali drypoint and etching on japan paper
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904 – 1989) Immortality of the Itinerant Insect, 1973 Signed and numbered ‘XIII / L (lower left) and ‘Dali’ (lower right) Drypoint with etching and heliograv...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Drypoint

Fini, Sans titre, Fruits de la Passion, XXe siècle (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
Héliogravure on vélin de Rives pur chiffon paper, manufactured by Les papeteries de Rives, Voiron, France. Paper Size: 16.93 x 14.17 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnu...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Royal Insect
Located in New York, NY
Color lithograph on 4 sheets of Arches wove paper. Overall work is 51 x 55 inches with all four sheets together. Individual sheets measure 25.5 x19 inches and 25.5 x36 inches. Si...
Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - 'Rainbow Whirling' Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Stunning original oil painting by Elvic Steele depicting this surrealist fantasy abstract painting. Elvic Steele is a fascinating English painter. Her works entrance the observer, d...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Canal II
Located in New Orleans, LA
Maurice Pasternak usually creates surreal landscapes that include traditional male images along a canal. However, this traditional imagery is not organized or presented in a way that...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Mezzotint

Oval Dove of Peace Abstract Carborundum etching with embossing, Signed/N, Frame
Located in New York, NY
Max Papart Oval Dove, 1982 Carborundum Etching on embossed paper Hand signed and numbered 26/135 by the artist on the front Vintage frame included Elegant carborundum etching on embo...
Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Graphite

1960's British Surrealist Oil Painting - 'Pendants' Fantasy Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Stunning original oil painting by Elvic Steele depicting this surrealist fantasy abstract painting. Elvic Steele is a fascinating English painter. Her works entrance the observer, d...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

French Surrealist Oil Painting Figurative Scene Male Nudes in Desert
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figurative Abstract French School oil painting on board painting: 20 x 24 inches condition: overall very good and pleasing provenance: from a private collection of this artists work ...
Category

20th Century 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.

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