The Lithuanian-American artist Irving Norman was a social Surrealist who painted large-scale and highly detailed critiques of contemporary life with hopes that viewers would consider the consequences of their actions and change their behavior.
Influenced by the dire conditions of the Great Depression, Norman’s massive canvases feature armies of clone-like figures behaving in the clockwork manner in which they have been programmed. He moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1934 before helping to defend the Spanish Republic from the fascist Franco dictatorship.
Norman survived the Spanish Civil War and in 1939 settled on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, where he began drawing and painting from the atrocities he had witnessed. In 1940, he moved to San Francisco and had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art two years later. Norman then traveled to Mexico City and saw the murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros before moving to New York City to study at the Art Students League from 1946 to 1947. He returned to San Francisco in the late 1940s. In 1988, fire destroyed Norman’s home, studio, artwork and personal papers.
Find original Irving Norman paintings and prints on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Heather James Fine Art)
American Street Scene
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Irving Norman. "American Street Scene" is a macabre social surrealism city scape, oil on canvas in a bold palette of reds, blues, and yellows by artist Irving Norman. T...
Canvas, Oil
$125,000
Bacchanal
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Irving Norman. "Bacchanal" is a macabre social surrealism painting, oil on canvas in a dark palette of reds, blues, and blacks by artist Irving Norman. The artwork is u...
Canvas, Oil
$200,000
How Come
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"How Come" is a Modern surrealist oil on canvas painting by Irving Norman in 1968. The artwork is 90 x 60 inches and 91 1/4 x 61 1/2 x 1 5/8 inches with the fram, weighing less than ...
Oil
$150,000
Snapshots
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Snapshots" is a modern surrealist oil on canvas painting by Irving Norman in 1986. The artwork is 40 x 90 inches and 41 3/8 x 91 1/4 x 1 5/8 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed and dated lower right, "I.N. '68". Norman's surrealist paintings transport viewers into dystopian realms where human figures meld with machinery, creating haunting landscapes of industrialized chaos and existential reflection. This painting uses a series of vignettes or "snapshots" of human couples in various states of health and vigor. The grotesque nature of some of the bodies is juxtaposed in the bright swimsuits as children play under an ominous sky...
Oil
$100,000
Man and Time
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Man and Time" is an American surrealist oil on canvas painting by Irving Norman in 1986. The artwork is 58 x 30 inches and 59 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches with the frame, weighing le...
Oil
Striptease
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A drawing by Irving Norman. "Striptease" is a macabre cultural commentary drawing, pencil and color pencil on paper executed in a dark palette of blacks, grays, and reds by social su...
Pencil, Color Pencil
$3,500
H 33 in W 28 in D 3 in
Stowe Vermont Village Sleigh Ride, Mid Century Winter Figurative Landscape
By Walter Thomas Sacks
Located in Soquel, CA
Stowe Vermont Village Sleigh Ride - Mid Century Winter Figurative Landscape A bright, crisp morning and a sleigh ride through new snow in Stowe, Vermont...
Canvas, Oil
Beach landscape on Atlantic French coast
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Jean-Georges PASQUET (Périgueux 1851 - 1936) Pointe de Suzac at Saint Georges de Didonne Oil on canvas H. 59 cm; W. 85 cm Signed and dated 1885 lower left Provenance: Private collec...
Oil, Canvas
$3,070Sale Price|35% Off
H 26 in W 36 in D 3 in
Original Post-War Painting of Mournes from Duldrum Ireland by Modern Artist
By Denis Thornton
Located in Preston, GB
Original Post-War Oil Painting of Mournes from Dundrum Ireland by 20th Century Modern Artist, Denis Thornton (1937-1999) Art measures 30 x 20 inches Frame measures 36 x 26 inches (...
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
$185
H 16 in W 12 in D 0.13 in
A Stylish, Vintage 1940s Fashion Design, Women's Dresses, Marshall Field & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for women's dresses (day & evening wear). Most likely a design study for a print advertisement for the famed Chicago Department store, Marshall Field & Co. Inscribed: "Above- Irene Castle inspired this dinner gown...
Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil
$4,294Sale Price|20% Off
H 7.68 in W 11.82 in
Circle Wouwerman, Horseman by a Tent, Riders Playing Cards, Dutch Old Master
By Philips Wouwerman
Located in Greven, DE
Circle Wouwerman, Horseman by a Tent, Riders Playing Cards (?), Old Master Dutch Art, Travellers or Riders resting by a tent and gambling
Canvas, Oil
$185
H 16 in W 12 in D 0.13 in
A Stylish, Vintage 1940s Woman's Fashion Design Study, Marshall Field & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring elegant designs for women's winter hat and coat, Likely an illustration study for a print advertisement for the famed Chicago depa...
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
Contact
By Airom
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Painting depicts contact, ambiguous as to whether it could be adverse contact or intimate contact between the focal characters.
India Ink, Oil
Figures in the Mist
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract figurative work by Bruce Killiam (American, 20th Century). Figures are emerging from the mist, creating an ethereal, moody composition made up of subtle tones of tan, grey, ...
Canvas, Oil
$596Sale Price|58% Off
H 27.37 in W 26.78 in
Duska Markotić (Croatian artist) - 20th century winter landscape painting
Located in Varmo, IT
Duska Markotić (Croatia, 20th century) - Winter landscape. 50 x 50 cm without frame, 69.5 x 69.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, within passe-partout in wooden frame. - Work signed ...
Canvas, Oil
$2,120Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 20 in D 1 in
Destiny's Path, Hawaii - Surreal Mid Century Hawaiian Figurative Abstract
By Marguerite Blasingame
Located in Soquel, CA
Destiny's Path, Hawaii - Surreal Mid Century Hawaiian Figurative Abstract Symbolistic and romantic 1940s surreal figurative of pastel orange figure...
Linen, Oil
$1,145Sale Price|20% Off
H 18.12 in W 14.97 in
Spanish Fishing Harbor Oil Painting c.1990, Post-Impressionist Marine Scene
By Josep Serrasanta
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Artist: Josep Serrasanta (Buenos Aires, 1916 – Valldoreix, 1998) Title: Spanish Fishing Harbor Date: c.1990 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 46 × 38 ...
Oil, Canvas
$1,848Sale Price|40% Off
H 24 in W 30 in D 3 in
Original Post-War Oil Painting of Stormy Day in Kerry Ireland by Irish Artist
By Denis Thornton
Located in Preston, GB
Original Post-War Oil Painting of Stormy Day in Kerry Ireland by Irish Artist Denis Thornton (1937-1999) Art measures 24 x 18 inches Frame measures 30 ...
Canvas, Cotton, Oil, Board
My World and Yours
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A drawing by Irving Norman. "My World and Yours" is a macabre social surrealism city scape, graphite on paper in a black and white palette by artist Irving No...
Graphite
NEW SYNTHESIS
By Irving Norman
Located in Los Angeles, CA
"NEW SYNTHESIS" GRAPHITE AND COLORED PENICL ON PAPER SIGNED, DATED 1947 ILLUSTRATED IN THE BOOK ON THE ARTIST "DARK METROPOLIS" 39.5 X 29.5 INCHES Irving Norman 1906-1889 Born Irving Noachowitz in 1906 in Vilna, which at the time was under Russia's control, Irving Norman emigrated to the United States in 1923, settling first in New York's Lower East, where he trained as a barber, and then in Los Angeles, where he opened his own barber shop in 1934. In 1938, Norman joined the Abraham Lincoln battalion of the International Brigade...
Color Pencil, Graphite