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)
$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
$1,742Sale Price|31% Off
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
$1,800
H 41 in W 30 in D 1 in
Walking Creature: Contemporary Surreal Figurative Abstract, 2005
By Michael William Eggleston
Located in Soquel, CA
Walking Creature, Contemporary Surreal Figurative Abstract by Michael William Eggleston Bold and imaginative contemporary figurative abstract by San Francisco artist Michael William...
Oil, Board
$114,452
H 19.77 in W 24.1 in
Victor Brauner - La récapitulation de l'amour, surreal, surrealist, painting
By Victor Brauner
Located in London, GB
Victor Brauner (1903-1966) La récapitulation de l'amour 1934 oil on canvas 50.2 x 61.2 cm Price: £85,000 GBP Provenance: Edouard Léon Théodore Mesens, Brussels Thence by descent N...
Canvas, Oil
$2,500
H 35.75 in W 47.5 in
Large Modernist Italian Oil Painting Surrealist Abstract Figures
By Marco Cingolani
Located in Surfside, FL
Marco Cingolani was born in Como in 1961 and moved to Milan at a very young age, in 1978. He began to frequent the underground creative environment, where art was mixed with fashion ...
Paper, Oil
"Card Illusion" - Surreal Portrait
By Vadim Kurov
Located in Soquel, CA
Modern abstract interpretation of a traditional European aristocratic portrait complete with crown, elongated neck, bustier neckline and a hint of a cinched waist titled "Card Illusion" "Иллюзия карты" by Vadim Kurov (Russian Federation, b-1947). Signed by the artist lower right corner Вадим Куров (Bagum Kypot) (Vadim Kurov); signed and dated "99" on verso. Presented in a rustic giltwood frame. Image, 37.13"H x 26.13"W. Vadim Kurov graduated Art Industrial School. VM Mukhina. Member of the Russian Union of Artists and the International Association of Artists. Lives and works in St. Petersburg. Born in the city of Kazan, USSR, in 1947, graduate of the Kazan School of Art, graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Art and Design. The main topics of work: theatrical compositions, ballet world, a fantastic portrait, literary - philosophical still-life and landscape. His paintings are in the collections of European countries, as well as in the collections of the Museum of Theatre Arts of St. Petersburg, the Ministry of Culture, the State Museum of Fine Arts in Kazan, the Georges Pompidou Museum, the Cultural Center of Los Angeles, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami Museum, Prague Modern Art, the Museum of the Soviet and Russian Art Shanghai. EXHIBITIONS (partial list): 1989/90 – participation in the exhibitions/auctions of Drouot-Richelieu, Paris 1991 – 10-10 Gallery, St. Petersburg1991 – Nurland, Norway 1991 – Hamilton, Canada 1992/1993/1994/1995 – “New Romantics of St. Petersburg” (Zerkalo/ATUS Galleries) 1994 – MALAUKSIA Gallery, Helsinki, Finland1996 – Bremen, Germany 1997 – personal exhibition at the Zerkalo Gallery, St. Petersburg 1998 – Vincent Louis Gallery...
Oil, Linen
$3,900
H 27 in W 22 in D 1 in
Keeper of the Red Thread: framed oil painting, abstract landscape, figure, birds
By Rachel Romano
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is a signed, original oil painting by PA-based artist, Rachel Romano. It depicts a central figure in a white cloak surrounded by small white flowers and holding a long, red thre...
Linen, Oil, Panel
$5,800
H 67 in W 54 in D 1.5 in
"Au Debut dele Printemps" - "Early Spring" Surreal Figurative Tree Man
By Michael Pauker
Located in Soquel, CA
Surreal figurative abstract depicting a half man, half tree figure on a pedestal in a dream-like, abstracted white and blue space by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b. 1957...
Canvas, Oil
$16,500
H 30 in W 23 in
"Two Seas and a Moon" Surrealism American Scene WWII Modern WWI Denver WPA Era
By Arnold Rönnebeck
Located in New York, NY
"Two Seas and a Moon" Surrealism American Scene WWII Modern WWI Denver WPA Era Arnold Ronnebeck (1885 - 1947) Two Seas and a Moon 30 x 22 1/2 inches Oil on Canvas, c. 1943 Signed u...
Canvas, Oil
ShaoHua Nong Surrealist Original Oil Painting "Separate"
By Shaohua Nong
Located in New York, NY
Title: Separate Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 11.5 x 8 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: This painting is unstretched Year: 2015 Artist: ShaoHua Nong...
Canvas, Oil
ShaoHua Nong Surrealist Original Oil Painting "Embrace"
By Shaohua Nong
Located in New York, NY
Title: Embrace Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 16 x 12 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: This painting is unstretched Year: 2015 Artist: ShaoHua Nong...
Canvas, Oil
$4,800
H 12 in W 12 in
"Black Light" (2024) By David Cheifetz, Oil on Aluminum Panel Painting
By David Cheifetz
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Black Light" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a surreal still-life featuring a variety of candles on a white tablecloth. About the Artist:...
Oil, Panel
$4,200
H 9 in W 12 in
"Cool Specter" (2024) By David Cheifetz, Oil on Aluminum Panel Painting
By David Cheifetz
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Cool Specter" (2024) is an original, handmade oil painting on aluminum panel that depicts a surreal still-life featuring vases and fruits, all having a thick black ...
Oil, Panel