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
$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
$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
$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
$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
$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
$3,065Sale 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
$4,249Sale 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
$3,500
H 9.06 in W 14.57 in
Beach with pearls, Eric Cederberg, Oil on panel, Scandinavia Surrealism, 1950 c.
By Eric Cederberg
Located in New York, NY
Eric Cederberg (1897-1984) Beach with pearls, ca. 1950 Oil on panel 9 1/10 × 14 3/5 in l 23 × 37 cm Frame included: 13 3/4 x 19 1/3 l 35 x 49 cm Signed lower left Exhibition history...
Oil, Panel
$41,309
H 27.56 in W 35.44 in D 1.97 in
View on the Governor’s Palace in Paramaribo, Surinam
Located in Amsterdam, NL
GOVERT VAN EMMERIK (1808-1882) View on the Governor’s Palace in Paramaribo, Surinam Signed and dated 1856 Oil on canvas, 70 x 90 cm In large gilt...
Canvas, Oil
$1,711
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 ...
Canvas, Oil
$589Sale 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
$2,600Sale Price|45% Off
H 35.875 in W 29.5 in D 1.625 in
Robert White "The Articulated Form" 2017 Oil, Symbolist Study of AI & Identity
Located in Miami, FL
ROBERT KENNETH WHITE – "THE ARTICULATED FORM" ⚜ Oil on canvas ⚜ Hand signed on verso ⚜ Frameless display MECHANICS OF HUMANITY In “The Articulated Form,” Robert Kenneth White presen...
Canvas, Oil
$2,596
H 9.06 in W 6.7 in
Signed Oil Painting Cadaqués 2001 – Organic Surreal Composition on Cardboard
By Antoni Pitxot
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Artist: Antoni Pitxot Title: Untitled (Cadaqués, 2001) Medium: Oil on cardboard Dimensions: 23 × 17 cm (9.05 × 6.69 in) Framing: Unframed Signature: Signed “Pitxot 01” upper right In...
Oil
Italian landscape with bathers
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Félix-Hippolyte LANOÜE (Versailles, 1812 – Versailles, 1872) Italian Landscape with Bathers Oil on canvas, in its original frame D. 41 cm Signed lower right Circa 1840 Trained by Je...
Canvas, Oil
$6,500
H 30 in W 18 in
Mid-20th Century Magical Realism, Surrealist Painting, Cleveland School Artist
By Paul Riba
Located in Beachwood, OH
Paul Riba (American, 1912-1977) Untitled Oil on panel Signed lower right 30 x 18 inches 39.25 x 27.25 inches, framed Paul Riba was a painter of Magic Realism. He explored the unrea...
Oil
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