Irving Norman Art
American, Lithuanian, 1906-1989
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)
to
7
7
4
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 ...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Oil
$200,000
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...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$125,000
Big City
By Irving Norman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Irving Norman. "Big City" is a social surrealism city scape, watercolor on paper in a dark palette of reds, blues, and yellows by artist Irving ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Watercolor
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...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Oil
$100,000
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...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Oil
$150,000
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...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Irving Norman Art
Materials
Color Pencil, Pencil
Related Items
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 ...
Category
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Cotton, Oil, Board
$2,133 Sale Price
30% Off
H 24 in W 30 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...
Category
1940s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,700 Sale Price
22% Off
H 33 in W 28 in D 3 in
Original Post-War Painting of Island in Northern Ireland by Modern Irish Artist
By Denis Thornton
Located in Preston, GB
Original Post-War Oil Painting of Island in Northern Ireland by 20th Century Modern Irish Artist, Denis Thornton (1937-1999)
Art measures 30 x 20 inche...
Category
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
$3,271 Sale Price
30% Off
H 27 in W 37 in D 3 in
Mountain Mystery - Oil Paint by Elena Mardashova - 2023
Located in Roma, IT
Original oil painting on canvas 70X50 cm, entitled Mountain Mystery.
Excellent condition.
Category
2010s Contemporary Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$827
H 27.56 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
French School Impressionist Landscape Le Mont Saint Michel Signed oil painting
Located in Zofingen, AG
➡️Vivid Landscape Le Mont Saint Michel⬅️
⏩It is signed J Moreau, probably Jacques Gaston Moreau (1903-1994) ⏪
Jacques Gaston Moreau (1903-1994) was a French painter renowned for hi...
Category
Early 1900s Tonalist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Gesso, Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
$283 Sale Price
84% Off
H 9.45 in W 13.71 in D 0.79 in
The Crossing - surreal, contemporary, figurative, oil on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary oil painting by Toni Hamel explores the theme of gender in our society.
Highly regarded on the international stage for her provocative paintings, Canadian artist T...
Category
2010s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$11,000
H 31.25 in W 31.25 in
Vintage Oil Painting of Remote Cottage in the Dramatic Mountains of South Africa
Located in Preston, GB
Vintage Oil Painting of Remote Cottage in the Dramatic Mountains of South Africa, by South African Artist, Marthinus la Grange (1920-1999)
Art measures 14 x 10 inches
Frame measur...
Category
1980s Impressionist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Canvas
$900 Sale Price
30% Off
H 14.5 in W 18.5 in D 2 in
Piazza di Spagna Roma
By Yves Brayer
Located in London, GB
'Piazza di Spagna, Roma' oil on canvas, by Yves Brayer (1933). At the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It owes ...
Category
1930s Expressionist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Gathering Vraic on a Jersey Shore.
By Edmund Blampied
Located in Storrs, CT
Gathering Vraic on a Jersey Shore. c. 1937. Ink and watercolor on 'Castle Linen Tolli & Harvey LD London' countermarked paper. 7 1/8 x 13 1/2 (sheet 12 1/2 x 16 1/4). Good condition, apart from small professionally repaired paper losses at the corners, from previous hinges. Dedicated 'To my friend Harold James Bailey E.B.' and annotated 'To wish you a glad glow of happiness for Christmas and the New Year'. From the collection of the famous Blampied scholar and collector, Harold J. Bailey, who wrote an article, 'Edmund Blampied: Artist and Philosopher' in the Print Collector's Quarterly 24 (1937). Housed in a 15 1/2 x 21 1/2-inch Whistler style gold wood frame.
In the left rear section is a Martello or Conway tower, built as a fortiffiction. A Jersey Round Tower Coastal towers stand all along the coast of the island. The British built 22 round towers, one similar square tower, and eight Martello towers towards the end of the 18th Century and in the early to mid-19th Century, but now only 24 remain, including seven of the Martellos.
Vraic is a seaweed found in the Channel Islands. The main use of vraic is for spreading over potato fields during the winter. It is then ploughed into the soil before the potatoes are planted in late winter and spring. Vraic was traditionally gathered by horse and cart in Grouville Bay and St Ouen's Bay, and in smaller quantities at Le Hocq and Havre des Pas. The practice continues using...
Category
1930s Modern Irving Norman Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
20th Century Post-War Painting of Mountain River in Ireland by Modern Artist
By Denis Thornton
Located in Preston, GB
20th Century Post-War Painting of Mountain River Scene in the Mournes in Ireland, by Modern Artist, Denis Thornton (1937-1999)
Art measures 30 x 16 inc...
Category
1980s Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Cotton, Oil
$2,797 Sale Price
30% Off
H 16 in W 30 in D 1 in
Held Inside a Shaft of Light (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Dreamy, ~29% OFF)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Annieo Klaas
Held Inside a Shaft of Light
2023
Oil on Canvas
40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 30.48 cm)
Signed lower right
COA provided
*On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang
...
Category
2010s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
$1,777 Sale Price
28% Off
H 30 in W 40 in D 1.5 in
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, ...
Category
2010s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Previously Available Items
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...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-War Irving Norman Art
Materials
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...
Category
1940s Surrealist Irving Norman Art
Materials
Color Pencil, Graphite
Irving Norman art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Irving Norman art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Irving Norman in paint, oil paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the post-war style. Not every interior allows for large Irving Norman art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Nathan Oliveira, Paul Wonner, and Abraham Straski. Irving Norman art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,400 and tops out at $800,000, while the average work can sell for $150,000.