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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
Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963
Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963

Brunetto Latini - Woodcut Print - 1963

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

Brunetto Latini from the Series "The Divine Comedy" - Song 16 - Hell is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

De Cruce Depositio - Lithograph - 1964
De Cruce Depositio - Lithograph - 1964

De Cruce Depositio - Lithograph - 1964

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

De Cruce Depositio is a Color lithograph on heavy rag paper realized in 1964, It is part of Biblia Sacra vulgatæ edition is published by Rizzoli-Mediolani between 1967 and 1969. Sig...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

original lithograph

original lithograph

By Yves Tanguy

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 ...

Category

1940s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Meeting point
Meeting point

Meeting point

Located in Zofingen, AG

In 2023, the painting was part of the exhibition project “Cosmonia of Senses” at the Korsaks Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Lutsk, Ukraine. Among 300 artists, my painting “M...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

original lithograph

original lithograph

By Julio de Diego

Located in Henderson, NV

Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1950 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Reaching for the stars - Black and white surrealist photography, Edition of 20
Reaching for the stars - Black and white surrealist photography, Edition of 20

Reaching for the stars - Black and white surrealist photography, Edition of 20

By Ugne Pouwell

Located in London, GB

A quiet interplay of light, shadow, and form, 'Reaching for the stars' captures a fleeting, dreamlike moment in surrealist composition. The softly illuminated hand reaches toward blu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Giclée

The Blasphemers - Woodcut  - 1963
The Blasphemers - Woodcut  - 1963

The Blasphemers - Woodcut - 1963

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Roma, IT

The blasphemers is a woodcut print realized in 1963 for a series illustrating the Medieval poem of the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Not signed, as issued. Plate n.14 (as ...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Woodcut

"Hemerocallis I" (2022) by Sybiline, Oil Painting, Pink Day Lily
"Hemerocallis I" (2022) by Sybiline, Oil Painting, Pink Day Lily

"Hemerocallis I" (2022) by Sybiline, Oil Painting, Pink Day Lily

Located in Denver, CO

Sybiline's (CAN based) "Hemerocallis I" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a portrait of a pink day lily. About the Artist: Sybiline is a Canadian artist based in Q...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Bucéphale
Bucéphale

Salvador Dalí­Bucéphale, 1972

$6,532Sale Price|20% Off

Bucéphale

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in OPOLE, PL

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Bucéphale 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. Referen...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist
Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist

Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur) /// Surrealism Salvador Dali Surrealist

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title: "Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur)" *Signed by Dali in pencil lower right Year: 1973 Medium: Original Drypoint Etching on Riv...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching, Intaglio

French Surrealist Still Life Oil Painting Fruit Wine Window Sky Signed
French Surrealist Still Life Oil Painting Fruit Wine Window Sky Signed

French Surrealist Still Life Oil Painting Fruit Wine Window Sky Signed

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title French Surrealist Still Life Oil Painting Fruit Wine Window Sky Signed Key Details Artist: French School, second half 20th century Title: Surrealist Still Life Study Medium: Oi...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fata Morgana
Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana

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

Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood
Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood

Figurative Mixed Media Bust Sculpture in Ceramic Oxides and Carved Fir Wood

By Óscar Aldonza Torres

Located in FISTERRA, ES

This figurative mixed media bust sculpture in ceramic, metallic oxides and carved fir wood opens with a strong emphasis on material expression and emotional tension. The work belongs to the Xentes series, a body of sculptures by the Spanish artist Óscar Aldonza Torres that explores the dialogue between individuality and collective identity. The piece combines high-temperature ceramic for the head—treated with oxides and imitation gold leaf—with a tall fir-wood torso...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Metal, Gold Leaf

Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro Recent Paintings, 1953
Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro Recent Paintings, 1953

Joan Miro, Untitled, from Miro Recent Paintings, 1953

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1953 album Miro Recent Paintings. Published by the Pierre Matisse Gallery, New Y...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)
Untitled IV (Jörg Remé, Jörg Krichbaum, ~43% OFF - MUST GO)

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...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

1970's Large French Surrealist Oil Painting Figures on the Beach
1970's Large French Surrealist Oil Painting Figures on the Beach

1970's Large French Surrealist Oil Painting Figures on the Beach

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Surrealist composition French School, dated 1975 verso oil on canvas, framed framed: 33.5 x 27 inches canvas: 32 x 25.5 inches inscribed verso provenance: private collection, France ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Joan Miro, Woman with a Mirror, from Derriere le miroir, 1956
Joan Miro, Woman with a Mirror, from Derriere le miroir, 1956

Joan Miro, Woman with a Mirror, from Derriere le miroir, 1956

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled La femme au miroir (Woman with a Mirror), from the folio Derriere le miroir, 10 Ans d'Edition 1946–1956, No. 92–93, origina...

Category

1950s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Planetary And Scatologic Vision
Planetary And Scatologic Vision

Planetary And Scatologic Vision

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish surrealist, 1904-1989) Title: Planetary and Scatologic Vision Year: 1974 Medium: Engraving with embossing and color lithograph Edition: Numbered...

Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Engraving, Lithograph

Joan Miro, Composition, from L'Atelier Mourlot, 1965
Joan Miro, Composition, from L'Atelier Mourlot, 1965

Joan Miro, Composition, from L'Atelier Mourlot, 1965

By Joan Miró

Located in Southampton, NY

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Composition (Composition), from the album Les Lithographies de L'Atelier Mourlot, Paris (The Lithographs of the Mourlot Workshop, Paris), originates from the 1965 edition published by Redfern Gallery, London; printed by Mourlot Freres, November, 1965. This artwork reflects Miro’s poetic abstraction, where floating forms, rhythmic line, and vibrant visual symbols coalesce into a dreamlike composition that captures the artist’s exploration of spontaneity, imagination, and the subconscious. Executed as a lithograph on velin d’Arches paper. 10 x 7.5 inches. Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued. The impression reflects the exceptional quality associated with the Mourlot atelier, renowned for its collaborations with the most important artists of the twentieth century. Artwork Details: Artist: Joan Miro (1893–1983) Title: Composition (Composition), from Les Lithographies de L'Atelier Mourlot, Paris (The Lithographs of the Mourlot Workshop, Paris), 1965 Medium: Lithograph on velin d’Arches paper Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued Date: 1965 Publisher: Redfern Gallery, London Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue Raisonne: Cramer, Patrick, and Joan Miro. Joan Miro, Catalogue Raisonne des Livres Illustres. P. Cramer, 1989, illustration 91; Miro, Joan, et al. Joan Miro : Lithographs. Tudor, 1972-1992, illustration 332. Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From Les Lithographies de L'Atelier Mourlot, Paris, published by Redfern Gallery, London, 1965 Notes: Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This album was published on the occasion of the exhibition, "The Mourlot Workshop" at The Redfern Gallery, 20, Cork Street London WI, December 7, 1965 to January 31, 1966. There were printed of this work M examples on velin d’Arches, and C examples on velin de Rives BFK, reserved for the artists, collaborators, and friends of the Imprimerie Mourlot and the Redfern Gallery. About the Publication: Les Lithographies de L'Atelier Mourlot, Paris (The Lithographs of the Mourlot Workshop, Paris), published in 1965 by the Redfern Gallery in London, stands as a landmark publication dedicated to one of the most important print ateliers of the twentieth century. Produced in conjunction with a major exhibition highlighting the achievements of the Mourlot workshop, the album celebrates the collaborative relationship between artists and master printers that defined modern lithography. Mourlot Freres, based in Paris, worked closely with leading figures of modern art, including Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Braque, and many others, providing the technical expertise necessary to translate their visions into lithographic form. The publication presents a curated selection of original lithographs that exemplify the range, innovation, and artistic excellence of the atelier, reflecting both the technical mastery of Mourlot and the creative diversity of the artists it supported. Printed with exceptional care and distributed through an international gallery context, the album represents a significant moment in the history of twentieth century printmaking, bridging the worlds of exhibition, publication, and artistic production. Today, it remains highly regarded by collectors and scholars as a definitive document of the Mourlot workshop’s central role in shaping modern graphic art. About the Artist: Joan Miro (1893–1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist whose imaginative, dreamlike vision helped spearhead the Surrealist movement and left an indelible mark on modern art. Born in Barcelona and deeply rooted in Catalan culture, Miro moved to Paris in the early 1920s where his playful shapes, cosmic motifs, and childlike yet sophisticated abstractions broke new ground alongside the great innovators of his time. His artistic dialogue aligned with contemporaries such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Georges Braque, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, each of whom challenged the conventions of form, color, and symbolism. Miro distilled these ideas into a uniquely poetic visual vocabulary birds, stars, and bold spectral forms emerging from flat planes of color that has inspired scores of artists and continues to influence modern and contemporary masters including Banksy, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns. His works are represented in leading museums worldwide, including MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou, and remain highly sought after by collectors. The highest price ever paid for a Joan Miro artwork is approximately 37.06 million USD, achieved in June 2012 at Sotheby's London for Peinture (Etoile Bleue) (1927). Joan Miro Composition...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Candique - Héliogravure by Marc Chagall - 1960
Candique - Héliogravure by Marc Chagall - 1960

Candique - Héliogravure by Marc Chagall - 1960

By Marc Chagall

Located in Roma, IT

Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, no signature. Héliogravure  on bot sheets, recto and verso. Edition of 6500 unsigned copies. Printed by Mourlot and published by Tériade on the A...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Photogravure

Joan Miro 'Les Fauves' Vintage Lithograph Exhibition Poster, 1966
Joan Miro 'Les Fauves' Vintage Lithograph Exhibition Poster, 1966

Joan Miro 'Les Fauves' Vintage Lithograph Exhibition Poster, 1966

By Joan Miró

Located in Brooklyn, NY

Vintage original poster for an exhibition of original lithographs by Joan Miró, titled Les Fauves, held at Le Vallauris in Paris from April 5 through May 1, 1966. This poster reflects Miró’s distinctive visual language—playful abstraction, bold forms, and a vibrant sense of movement—capturing the spirit of his graphic work during a highly creative period of his career. Produced in the pre-digital poster era, it exemplifies the authenticity and craftsmanship of mid-20th-century exhibition materials. A collectible and visually engaging piece, ideal for collectors of modern art, Miró’s lithographic work, and vintage French exhibition posters...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Birds in Flight (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)
Birds in Flight (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Birds in Flight (Comanche Native American surrealist painting)

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Birds in Flight, 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

A False Narrative - Figurative Black, White & Red Mixed Media Surrealist Art
A False Narrative - Figurative Black, White & Red Mixed Media Surrealist Art

A False Narrative - Figurative Black, White & Red Mixed Media Surrealist Art

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Robert Lebsack creates artworks using mixed media with ink, acrylic, and charcoal on archival copies of newspapers, textbooks, and sheet music. As a visionary artist, Lebsack weaves ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic

French Surrealist Figurative Male Nudes Seascape Oil Painting on Board
French Surrealist Figurative Male Nudes Seascape Oil Painting on Board

French Surrealist Figurative Male Nudes Seascape Oil Painting on Board

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title French Surrealist Figurative Male Nudes Seascape Oil Painting on Board Key Details Artist: French School Subject: Surrealist figurative scene with male nudes and seascape Mediu...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

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

Bull, the Dog
Bull, the Dog

Y.m.LoBull, the Dog, 2017

$360Sale Price|40% Off

Bull, the Dog

By Y.m.Lo

Located in East Hampton, NY

Bull dog in a suit Animals dressed up fantasy, surreal Comes ROLLED in a tube Needs framing Artist Y.m.Lo is known for his Wheat Pasted Animals in proper ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Oil

Vanilla

Vanilla

By Maggie Taylor

Located in Sante Fe, NM

Maggie Taylor's digital creations are emblematic, afterimages that invite, transport, and are unforgettable. Taylor's images are built, layer by layer and object by object, through a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Art Deco Embossed Serigraph Print by Erte, 1991, Boudoir
Art Deco Embossed Serigraph Print by Erte, 1991, Boudoir

Art Deco Embossed Serigraph Print by Erte, 1991, Boudoir

By Erté

Located in Washington, DC

Artist: Erté Title: Boudoir Medium: Embossed serigraph Year: 1991 Edition: 290/300 Sheet Size: 41 3/4" x 29 1/4" Image Size: 35 1/4" x 23 1/4" Signature: Stamped signature

Category

1990s Surrealist Art

Materials

Screen

The Mythology Icarus
The Mythology Icarus

The Mythology Icarus

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Hollywood, FL

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Mythology Icarus MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali PUBLISHER: Pierre Argillet, Paris MEASUREMENTS: 18" x 30" YEAR: 1963 FR...

Category

1960s Surrealist Art

Materials

Etching

Last Faint Ember - Abstract Figurative Black & White Mixed Media Romantic Art
Last Faint Ember - Abstract Figurative Black & White Mixed Media Romantic Art

Last Faint Ember - Abstract Figurative Black & White Mixed Media Romantic Art

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Robert Lebsack creates artworks using mixed media with ink, acrylic, and charcoal on archival copies of newspapers, textbooks, and sheet music. As a visionary artist, Lebsack weaves ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Le Singe et le Léopard, Salvador Dali
Le Singe et le Léopard, Salvador Dali

Le Singe et le Léopard, Salvador Dali

By Salvador Dalí­

Located in Fairfield, CT

Artist: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Title: Le Singe et le Léopard Year: 1975 Medium: Engraving with pochoir on Arches paper Edition: E.A.; 682, plus proofs Size: 30 x 22.25 inches Cond...

Category

1970s Surrealist Art

Materials

Engraving

French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier
French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier

French Mod Surrealist Commedia dell'arte Circus Scene Oil Painting J.P. Serrier

By Jean Pierre Serrier

Located in Surfside, FL

Jean Pierre Serrier (French, 1934-1989) Oil on canvas painting depicting four figures Hand signed lower right. Measures (frame) 26.5" x 30" wide, and (sight) 18.25." x 22.25" wide. Jean Pierre Serrier (1934 – 1989) was a French painter known for surrealism and absurdist art. Jean-Pierre Serrier was born in Montparnasse, Paris and attended the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. the son of Louis and Solange Serrier. His father fought in World War II and became a prisoner of war. In 1940, as a six-year-old, he and his mother fled Paris for Corrèze in southwest France. Childhood memories of close escapes from German bombardments would later influence his absurdist philosophy of life. Passionate about drawing, in 1951 he applied and was admitted to the École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art in Paris. He shared an attic apartment in the 16th arrondissement with fellow student Jean-Baptiste Valadié. For income, he decorated shop windows. A trip to Spain provided motifs for early works. His student work might be characterized as art naïf (Naive art). While still a student, he sold a ceramic artwork to the poet and publisher Pierre Seghers, who would later commission drawings from him. He frequented jazz clubs in Saint-Germain des Près, and while listening to Sidney Bechet at the Vieux Colombier, he met his wife, Yvette.One of the last French Surrealist and follower of Nietzsche. His art conveyed the message to all of mankind that we are only human. The other Surrealist to center his art in philosophy was Rene Magritte whose paintings reflect his understanding of Sigmund Freud. He had his first exhibition in 1955, before being sent to Algeria to complete his military service. After graduating in 1955, he was drafted for military service, spent time in Germany and Morocco, and was sent to the front lines of the Algerian War. In 1959 he exhibited works at two Parisian galleries and at Juan-les-Pins on the Côte d'Azur. From 1961, he exhibited annually at the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1962, the City of Paris purchased his painting Un dimanche In 1961, Serrier made his first visit to the United States to exhibit at a New York gallery. In 1975 and 1979, he had successful exhibitions in New Orleans, and his work was included in art and news magazines, including Time and Newsweek. Beginning in the 1950s, his works included stylized portraits similar in some ways to the "big eyes" art of Margaret Keane, though it is uncertain that either artist influenced the other. Keane painted children, and so did Serrier, sometimes from life, but Serrier’s models are usually somewhat older, though uniformly slender and with androgynous features. A gallery owner introduced Serrier to American collectors Edgar Garbisch and his wife, Bernice Chrysler (daughter of Chrysler founder Walter P. Chrysler), who had a particular interest in naïve art; they commissioned a series of portraits from Serrier. At the same time, he met Reine Ausset in Paris, who in 1961 invited him to New York to take part in an exhibition at Galerie Norval on 57th Street. The show also included work by Moïse Kisling, and the exhibition program explicitly linked the two artists, saying that Serrier, who considered Moise Kisling "the Master," had found his own technique, but "the same vision joins the grand Kisling to the young Serrier: plenitude of shapes, sureness of palette, precision in outlines." In the 1960s he began painting slender, young, androgynous figures in groups, set in sparse landscapes with suggestions of the surreal and sometimes wearing costumes of the Commedia dell'arte. In some of these paintings the eyes of the figures are completely black, a motif that would continue in his later work. In 1965, he exhibited at Forest and Reed Gallery in London. Also in 1965, he discovered the small town of Martel, and with his old roommate Jean-Baptiste Valadié purchased a house that they opened as the gallery La Licorne (The Unicorn) in 1967. Responding to the political upheavals of May 1968 in France, and following the advice of Geneva gallery owner Roger Ferrero, Serrier's work became increasingly complex, idiosyncratic, and surreal. Imagery included the Tower of Babel, bodies suspended in space, and crowds of people all dressed alike, with identical features and entirely black eyes. Mannequins, playing cards, nudes, and levitating orbs also figured in the work. In a nod to Magritte, his men sometimes wear bowler hats. Another influence may have been the works of the Franco-Belgian surrealist Gaston Bogaert (1918-2008). Serrier's first major exhibit of these works, in Geneva in 1971, was titled Le Réalisme Fantastique. (Magic Realism) In 1972, he was made a member of the Société du Salon d'Automne, under whose auspices he was invited by the Polish government to exhibit in Warsaw in 1973, as part of a cultural exchange across the Iron Curtain. In 1976, he served on the jury of the Salon d'Automne. In 1975, New Orleans gallery owner Kurt E. Schon brought his work to several cities in the United States. A copiously illustrated monograph in English, Surrealism and the Absurd: Jean Pierre Serrier, was published in 1977. Author Thomas M. Bayer wrote: Serrier's world is one where—to use Friedrich Nietzche's term—the "human herd animal" is being confronted with the overwhelming task of coping with the world, his solitude, and at times, his resignation in the face of its monstrous size and duration. It is a world where the characterless, "blind" man faces the institutions, rules and symbols that made him into the being he now is…But Serrier does not lose himself in this world he portrays. He never forgets the old French tradition, the "black" humor, à la Molière. This classical humor at times is more felt than seen, in a manner that can be terribly funny, because it is horrifying, laughable, poignant and always true. Serrier told a friend, "In each of my paintings there's a message of hope amid the crowd of stereotypical figures. It could be an escaping dirigible, or a nymphet who flees like a deer under the red and blue trees of paradise...

Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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

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.