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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
Que Font Ces Gens - Ink Drawing by Salvador Dalì - 1945
Que Font Ces Gens - Ink Drawing by Salvador Dalì - 1945

Que Font Ces Gens - Ink Drawing by Salvador Dalì - 1945

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Que font ces gens is a beautiful modern artwork realized by Salvador Dalì in 1945. China Ink Drawing on paper. Original outstanding drawing realized to illustrate the book "The Labyrinth" by Maurice Sandoz, published in 1945. Signed and dated on the lower right recto. Executed on thick cream wove paper, not laid down and taped to the mount along the upper edge. The upper, right and lower edges are slightly unevenly cut. There are two pinholes towards the upper right and upper left corners. The sheet is time stained and there is a spot of foxing beneath the lower edge of the drawing. There are some remnants from previous mounting at the upper two corners not visible when framed. There are handling marks to the perimeter of the sheet. The ink is strong and well preserved. The artwork is accompanied by authentication of Robert P. Descharnes, Paris 2003, reference archive: D-3461. Prov. Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Sale...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

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

Anagrom

Anagrom

By Leonor Fini

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, Etching

Salvador Dali "Apricot Knight"
Salvador Dali "Apricot Knight"

Salvador Dali "Apricot Knight"

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Boston, MA

Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: Apricot knight Series: Flors Dali (The Fruits) Date: 1969 Medium: Lithograph with original drypoint remarques Unframed Dimensions: 29.92" x 22.05" ...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Drypoint

Symphony Bicyclette
Symphony Bicyclette

Symphony Bicyclette

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Symphony Bicyclette MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: 52/200 MEASUREMENTS: 35.25" x 25.5" YEAR: 1970 FRAMED:...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue Floral Artwork on Canvas
The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue Floral Artwork on Canvas

The House at the End of the Road - Original Framed Blue Floral Artwork on Canvas

By Carlos Gamez de Francisco

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Carlos Gamez de Francisco’s "The House at the End of the Road" is a striking blend of hyperrealism, figurative surrealism, and imaginative narrative art. This 12-inch round acrylic p...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

The bellwether.

The bellwether.

By Maggie Taylor

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

Classical Sculpture Fragments Painting Cut Paper Relief Sunset Landscape Art
Classical Sculpture Fragments Painting Cut Paper Relief Sunset Landscape Art

Classical Sculpture Fragments Painting Cut Paper Relief Sunset Landscape Art

By Gozo

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Surrealist acrylic painting on cut paper and mounted panel, depicting fragmented sculptures across a dreamlike sunset terrain. This original work by Gozo Collective is part of the Fr...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Spray Paint, Acrylic

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper
Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

Valentines Night - Original Romantic Playful Still Life Collage Artwork on Paper

By Maria C. Bernhardsson

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Mingjun Wang Impressionist Original Oil Painting "Unnamed Paper Plane II"
Mingjun Wang Impressionist Original Oil Painting "Unnamed Paper Plane II"

Mingjun Wang Impressionist Original Oil Painting "Unnamed Paper Plane II"

By Mingjun Wang

Located in New York, NY

Title: Unnamed Paper Plane II Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 19.5 x 15.5 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: This painting is unstretched Year: 2011 Artist: Mingjun Wang...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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

Grayish Pink, Oil Painting
Grayish Pink, Oil Painting

Grayish Pink, Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
The artwork offers a geometric reimagining of a coastal village from a unique perspective with a thoughtful color palette. The high vantage point shifts focus f...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Welcome to the water planet.

Welcome to the water planet.

By Maggie Taylor

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

"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

A View from the Platform, Oil Painting
A View from the Platform, Oil Painting

A View from the Platform, Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Benjamin Xu renders the familiar landscape of Venice, Italy, into an idealized, dreamlike painting by exploring color, form, and stillness. A stone moori...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph
Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph

Tribute to Magritte - Original handsigned lithograph

Located in Paris, IDF

Jean-Pierre HENAUT (1942-) Tribute to Magritte Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Limited /275 copies On vellum 76 x 56 cm (c. 29.9 x 22 in) Excellent condition

Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

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

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

By the Pool, Pink Towel, Florance Italy

By the Pool, Pink Towel, Florance Italy

By Giacomo Piussi

Located in Hudson, NY

“Friends of Friends” explores a playful world where dreams and reality meld together to create surreal moments. When engaging with Piussi's work, we enter an arena where we are imme...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Petals in Reverie II - Framed Botanical Flowers Still Life Acrylic Painting
Petals in Reverie II - Framed Botanical Flowers Still Life Acrylic Painting

Petals in Reverie II - Framed Botanical Flowers Still Life Acrylic Painting

By Carlos Gamez de Francisco

Located in Los Angeles, CA

The figurative surrealistic paintings of Carlos Gamez de Francisco are heavily influenced by his Cuban upbringing in a Russian-governed academic setting. This presence exposed Franci...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

'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

Les Betes Sauvages Dans le Desert
Les Betes Sauvages Dans le Desert

Les Betes Sauvages Dans le Desert

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Betes Sauvages Dans le Desert MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Levine & Levine EDITION NUMBER: 189/450 MEASUREME...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Untitled - Lithograph by J. Hérold - 1974

Untitled - Lithograph by J. Hérold - 1974

By Jacques Herold 1

Located in Roma, IT

Original artwork realized by Jacques Hérold in 1974. Colored lithograph. Not signed, as issued. Printed by Mourlot , France. Excellent condition.  This lithograph was realized  b...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Femme avec Parapluie from Derriere Le Miroir
Femme avec Parapluie from Derriere Le Miroir

Femme avec Parapluie from Derriere Le Miroir

By Marc Chagall

Located in Naples, Florida

Lithograph in colors on Arches paper Signed and numbered, edition 22/75 Printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris Published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris (Mourlot 412) ...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

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

"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

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

Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting
Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting

Two Figures 1939 - British Surrealist art figurative painting

Located in Hagley, England

This superb British 1930's modern art tempera Surrealist painting is by noted interwar artist Blair Hughes-Stanton. Painted in 1939 it is entitled two Figures 1939 verso and may rela...

Category

1930s Surrealist Art

Materials

Tempera

Syrene. By Victor Minko. Bronze. 50x24x15 cm
Syrene. By Victor Minko. Bronze. 50x24x15 cm

Syrene. By Victor Minko. Bronze. 50x24x15 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Viktor Mikhailovich Minko 1967 - Born in Smorgon, Belarus. 1996 - Graduated from the Belarusian Academy of Arts, Sculpture Department. 1996 - Soros Foundation Grand Prize. 2005 - "Go...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Art

Materials

Bronze

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.