Skip to main content

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.

to
1,738
3,731
1,705
2,167
988
1,063
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
20
29
6,182
3,426
4
19
123
113
154
522
1,555
1,991
518
295
18
118,770
64,543
56,712
28,837
14,605
6,913
6,053
4,191
3,150
2,543
2,320
2,136
607
5,908
2,637
934
4,037
2,555
1,495
1,265
1,233
1,077
1,038
542
334
330
317
316
282
259
247
240
168
137
129
109
2,842
2,517
1,737
1,640
1,620
839
420
328
258
203
1,697
2,668
5,688
3,603
Style: Surrealist
Leonor Fini, Untitled, from The Flowers of Evil, 1964
Leonor Fini, Untitled, from The Flowers of Evil, 1964

Leonor Fini, Untitled, from The Flowers of Evil, 1964

By Leonor Fini

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Leonor Fini (1907–1996), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), originates from the 1964 issue published by Le Cercl...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Fata Morgana
Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana

By Alisa Leonets

Located in Zofingen, AG

Fata Morgana In this work, the experience of love emerges as a fragile illusion — one that distorts perception while at the same time enriching it. The sky transforms into a treasury...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

For Alberti, For Spain! - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975
For Alberti, For Spain! - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975

For Alberti, For Spain! - Etching by Joan Mirò - 1975

By Joan Miró

Located in Roma, IT

For Alberti, For Spain!  it's an original artwork realized by Joan Mirò in 1975. Etching,  90 x 66 cm.  Hand signed. Edition 50/90. Reference: Dupin 926 Printed on Fabriano paper...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

In Spite of it All (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)
In Spite of it All (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)

In Spite of it All (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)

By Annieo Klaas

Located in Kansas City, MO

Annieo Klaas In Spite of it All 2024 Oil on Canvas 84 x 48 inches (213.36 x 121.92 cm) Signed lower right COA provided *On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang Annieo ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature Woman
My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature Woman

My Artificial Gaze -21st Century, Contemporary, Surrealism, African Nature Woman

By Akanji Bolaji

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

A portrait can tell a story, my artistic pieces highlight the exploration of the complexity of human identity, space and existence. My imagery embodies the unconventional expression ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Glitter, Acrylic

La Quete du Graal The Pass of Gadalore
La Quete du Graal The Pass of Gadalore

La Quete du Graal The Pass of Gadalore

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: La Quete du Graal The Pass og Gadalore MEDIUM: Etching EDITION NUMBER: XV/XXV SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Pamela Verlog MEASUR...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

La Plage de Sète (The Beach at Sète)
La Plage de Sète (The Beach at Sète)

La Plage de Sète (The Beach at Sète)

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - La Plage de Sète (The Beach at Sète) Drypoint etching from 1967. The edition of 122/145 on Japan paper. Enhanced with watercolor.. Dimensions of work: ...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Etching, Drypoint

Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970
Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970

Leonor Fini, Untitled, from Satiricon, 1970

By Leonor Fini

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Leonor Fini (1907–1996), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the album Satiricon, originates from the 1970 edition published by Ariane Lancell, Editeur, P...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

"L'été"

"L'été"

By Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: lithograph and pochoir. Catalogue reference: Dupin 1310, Benhoura 396. This lithograph was printed in 1938 at the atelier Mourlot and published in Paris by Teriade for the ar...

Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Joan Miró “Italia 1969” Hand Signed Lithograph, Galleria del Milione, Milan 1970
Joan Miró “Italia 1969” Hand Signed Lithograph, Galleria del Milione, Milan 1970

Joan Miró “Italia 1969” Hand Signed Lithograph, Galleria del Milione, Milan 1970

By Joan Miró

Located in Miami, FL

JOAN MIRÓ (1893–1983) – “ITALIA 1969” Color Lithograph ⚜ Hand Signed and Numbered ⚜ Gilt Wood Frame PUBLISHED FOR ONE OF ITALY’S MOST IMPORTANT MODERNIST GALLERIES “Italia 1969” is...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Salvador Dali "Picasso: a Ticket to Glory"
Salvador Dali "Picasso: a Ticket to Glory"

Salvador Dali "Picasso: a Ticket to Glory"

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Boston, MA

Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: Picasso: a Ticket to Glory Series: After 50 Years of Surrealism Date: 1974 Medium: drypoint engraving with hand coloring Unframed Dimensions: 26" ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Engraving

Madonna  1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm
Madonna  1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm

Madonna 1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Madonna 1997. Paper, mixed media, 20x12 cm "Madonna" is a symbolic and emotionally charged artwork, celebrating the iconic religious figure of the Virgin Mary and the spiritual sig...

Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Dessert Landscape (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)
Dessert Landscape (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Dessert Landscape (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Dessert Landscape, ca. 1975-80. Gouache on Arches rag paper, Sheet measures 23 x 30 inches. Image measures 22 x 29 inches. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Unframed.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Rag Paper

Alegoría al Fútbol club Barcelona - Óleo sobre tela
Alegoría al Fútbol club Barcelona - Óleo sobre tela

Alegoría al Fútbol club Barcelona - Óleo sobre tela

Located in Sant Celoni, ES

La obra va firmada en la parte inferior y fechada del año 1981 Se presenta enmarcada (leves signos de uso en la enmarcación) Medidas de la obra: 92 x 73 cm. Medidas del marco: 103...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Tristan & Isolde
Tristan & Isolde

Tristan & Isolde

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Tristan & Isolde MEDIUM: Lithograph on Rowlux with added color SIGNED: Hand Signed on seperate certificate with corresponding number PUBLISHER: Nabus Fine Art EDITION NUMBER: 307/500 MEASUREMENTS: 25" x 25" Framed: 36" x 40" YEAR: 1972 FRAMED: Yes, museum quality gold...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

(after) Marino Marini - "Composition" pochoir

(after) Marino Marini - "Composition" pochoir

By Marino Marini

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: pochoir (after the lithograph). Printed by the atelier of Daniel Jacomet, and published in Paris in 1955 by Heinz Berggruen. The image measures 5 x 3 1/2 inches (130 x 90 mm)...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Stencil

'L'Obscurité', Trompe L'oeil, Newport Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Yale, Zillman
'L'Obscurité', Trompe L'oeil, Newport Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Yale, Zillman

'L'Obscurité', Trompe L'oeil, Newport Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Yale, Zillman

By Richard Whitten

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

'L'Obscurité' by Richard Whitten, 2009. Trompe L'oeil, Newport Art Museum, Frye Museum, Yale ----- Initialed lower left, 'RCW' for Richard Whitten (American, born 1958) and dated, l...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

'Early Marshes' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17
'Early Marshes' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17

'Early Marshes' — Mid-Century Surrealism, Atelier 17

By Ian Hugo

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Ian Hugo, 'Early Marshes', from the portfolio 'Ten Engravings'. engraving, 1943, edition 50. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '37/50' in pencil. A fine impression, with delicate overall plate tone, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (2 5/8 to 7 inches), in excellent condition. With the blind stamp 'madeleine-claude jobrack EDITIONS', in the bottom right margin. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 5 x 5 7/8 inches (127 x 149 mm); sheet size 15 x 11 inches (381 x 279 mm). Ian Hugo originally created "Ten Engravings" in 1945 and the portfolio included a foreword by his partner and collaborator, Anais Nin. In 1978, Hugo republished the portfolio with Madeleine-Claude Jobrack, an American master printmaker who studied under Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17, Paris, and with Johnny Friedlaender. When Jobrack returned to the States she managed the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Studio in New York before opening her own printing studio, Madeleine-Claude Jobrak Editions. “The sign of the true artist is one who creates a complete universe, invents new plants, new animals, new figures to transfer to us a new vision of the universe in which dream and reality fuse. Ian Hugo's plants have eyes, the birds have the delicacy of dragonflies, their feathers have the shape of fans. Humor is apparent in every gesture. He uses a fine spider web to give a feeling of flight, speed, lightness. The body of a woman reveals the structure of a leaf, a plant. Wings are moving in a world unified by mythological themes. This is an animated world, humorous and levitating, elusive and decorative, which by its unique forms and shapes gives us the sensation of a rebirth, a liberation from the usual, the familiar, a visit to a new planet.” —Anais Nin, from the forward to the portfolio ‘Ten Engravings’ ABOUT THE ARTIST Ian Hugo was born Hugh Parker Guiler in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1898. His childhood was spent in Puerto Rico—a "tropical paradise," the memory of which stayed with him and surfaced in both his engravings and his films. He attended school in Scotland and graduated from Columbia University where he studied economics and literature. Hugo was working with the National City Bank when he met and married author Anais Nin in 1923. The couple moved to Paris the following year, where Nin's diary and Guiler's artistic aspirations flowered. Guiler feared his business associates would not understand his interests in art and music, let alone those of his wife, so he began a second, creative life as Ian Hugo. Ian and Anais moved to New York in 1939. The following year he took up engraving and etching, working at Stanley William Hayter’s experimental printmaking workshop Atelier 17, established at the New School for Social Research. Hugo began producing surreal images often used to illustrate Nin's books. For Nin, his unwavering love and financial support were indispensable—Hugo was the "fixed center, core... my home, my refuge" (Sept. 16, 1937, Nearer the Moon, The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin, 1937-!939). Fictionalized portraits of Higo and Nin appear in Philip Kaufman's 1990 film drama of a literary love triangle, Henry & June. Inspired by comments that viewers saw motion in his engravings, Hugo took up filmmaking. He asked the avant-garde filmmaker Sasha Hammid for instruction but was told, "Use the camera yourself, make your own mistakes, make your own style." Hugo embarked on an exploration of the film medium as a vehicle to delve into his dreams, his unconscious, and his memories. Without a specific plan, He would collect resonant images, then reorder or superimpose them, seeking a sense of self-connection through the poetic juxtapositions he created. These intuitive explorations resembled the mystical evocations of his engravings, which he described in 1946 as "hieroglyphs of a language in which our unconscious is trying to convey important, urgent messages." In the underwater world of his film ‘Bells of Atlantis,’ the light originates from the world above the surface; it is otherworldly, out of place, yet essential. In ‘Jazz of Lights,’ the street lights of Times Square become in Nin's words, "an ephemeral flow of sensations." This flow that she also calls "phantasmagorical" had a crucial impact on Stan Brakhage, who said that without Jazz of Lights (1954), "there would have been no Anticipation of the Night" his autobiographical film which ushered in a new era of experimental modernist filmmaking. Hugo lived the last two decades of his life in a New York apartment high above street level. In the evenings, surrounded by an electrically illuminated man...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Engraving

Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)
Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Raccoon (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Raccoon Watching Fish, ca. 1975-80. Gouache on Arches rag paper, Sheet measures 23 x 30 inches. Image measures 22 x 29 inches. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Unframed.

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Gouache, Rag Paper

Miro a l'Encre II, Surrealist Lithograph by Joan Miro
Miro a l'Encre II, Surrealist Lithograph by Joan Miro

Miro a l'Encre II, Surrealist Lithograph by Joan Miro

By Joan Miró

Located in Long Island City, NY

Joan Miro, Spanish (1893 - 1983) - Miro a l'Encre II, Year: 1972, Medium: Lithograph, Image Size: 13.75 x 9.75 inches, Size: 14 x 10 in. (35.56 x 25.4 cm), Frame Size: 21 x 17 inch...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

La Piscine
La Piscine

La Piscine

By Henri Matisse

Located in OPOLE, PL

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) - La Piscine Lithograph from 1958. Dimensions of work: 103 x 35.5 cm. Publisher: Tériade, Paris. Each copy of this Lithograph was originally published w...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Cubist Angel
The Cubist Angel

The Cubist Angel

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Bronze, hand-patinated and partially polished cast in 1982 using the lost-wax (""à cire perdue"") technique bearing the foundry stamp ""Strehle Kunstguss"" height (including base): 5...

Category

1980s Surrealist Art

Materials

Bronze

"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel
"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel

"Night Swim" (2024) Original Oil Painting on Panel

By Nadezda

Located in Denver, CO

Nadezda's beautiful handmade oil on panel painting "Night Swim" (2024) is a portrait of a young girl in a surreal scene, laying in ocean waters while carried by a shiver of sharks. ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Joan Miro, The Flowered Ram, from Derriere le miroir, 1971
Joan Miro, The Flowered Ram, from Derriere le miroir, 1971

Joan Miro, The Flowered Ram, from Derriere le miroir, 1971

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled L'Oiseau s'envole (The Bird Takes Flight), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 193-194, originates from the 1971 edition...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Wifredo Lam, Untitled, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979
Wifredo Lam, Untitled, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979

Wifredo Lam, Untitled, from Ediciones Poligrafa, 1979

By Wifredo Lam

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Wifredo Lam (1902–1982), titled Sin titulo (Untitled), from the album Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona - Redfern Gallery, London, originates from the 1979 ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Another Form
Another Form

Another Form

Located in Zofingen, AG

A mythical creature emerges as a new form of consciousness, born after numerous internal transformations. The human, the animal, and the celestial merge into a single image, where ev...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Modern Midden - Critical Masses
Modern Midden - Critical Masses

Modern Midden - Critical Masses

By Marie Cameron

Located in Burlingame, CA

Artist's statement: In my series Critical Masses, I explore the relationship between our species and various small marine creatures to illustrate in symbolic form various narrative...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Figure on a blue background" original lithograph

"Figure on a blue background" original lithograph

By Joan Miró

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. Catalogue reference: Mourlot 244. This charming Miro lithograph was printed by Mourlot for XXe Siecle in 1957 for issue number 8 "Art et humour au XXe Si...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Salvador dali 'Passiflora lauigera - 1968' Lithograph/Etching, Signed & numbered
Salvador dali 'Passiflora lauigera - 1968' Lithograph/Etching, Signed & numbered

Salvador dali 'Passiflora lauigera - 1968' Lithograph/Etching, Signed & numbered

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Pembroke Pines, FL

Artist: Salvador Dali Title: Passiflora laurigera (Le vine, Passionflower) Portfolio: 1968 Flora Dalinae Medium: Photolithograph, etching, and pochoir in colors on BFK Rives Date: 19...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching, Photographic Film, Lithograph

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.