The sculptor and painter Pedro Friedeberg worked in a richly detailed, Surrealist and eccentric artistic style that blended influences from neoclassical art, M.C. Escher and native Mesoamerican symbolism. He was best known for his Hand chair — a functional sculpture that is an icon of design-as-art.
Friedeberg was born in Florence to German parents and moved with his mother to Mexico at the outset of World War II. As a university student in Mexico City in the 1950s, he initially studied architecture, but his designs for fantastical buildings ran afoul of his rationalist, Bauhaus-oriented teachers.
By chance, Friedeberg’s drawings came to the attention of Mathias Goeritz, the German-born Dadaist painter and sculptor. He encouraged Friedeberg and made him a protégé. Friedeberg credits his mentor for instilling in him a fanatical attention to detail in his work. Friedeberg produced his first Hand chair in 1961, and has since created numerous iterations. He has also made several variants using other human limbs in different functional forms such as tables and clocks.
While Friedeberg’s sculptures have a gentle character that is sometimes described as spiritual, his paintings and prints are something entirely different. He employs deep perspective to create hypnotic, painstakingly rendered canvases that suggest rooms and cityscapes.
Whatever the medium, Friedeberg’s work is arresting and instantly recognizable. The Hand chair, though familiar, remains a captivating piece — both furniture and artwork — that stands apart in any interior. Examples are often priced between $20,000 and $30,000, depending on formal variations (such as a foot-shaped pedestal), material and condition. Smaller functional items such as tabletop clocks bring about $9,000. His paintings and drawings require space; they are meant to be contemplated. Prices on original examples start at about $30,000; prints generally sell in the region of $900.
As you will see on 1stDibs, the art and design of Pedro Friedeberg is singular and memorable.
$1,280Sale Price|20% Off
Códice Miguelito III, Surrealist Style, Framed, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical architectural scene inspired by “Mickey”. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a ha...
Giclée
$1,200Sale Price|25% Off
Códice Miguelito III Giclée Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical architectural scene inspired by “Mickey”. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a ha...
Giclée
$840Sale Price|30% Off
El Siglo de Pericles Giclée Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical architectural scene. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and ...
Giclée
Encuentro de Dos Mundos, Op Art Screenprint by Pedro Friedeberg
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Long Island City, NY
A serigraph print by Pedro Friedeberg from 1987. A optical abstract image of a surrealist interior. Artist: Pedro Friedeberg, Mexican (1936 - ) Title: Encuentro de dos Mundos Year:...
Screen
$2,400
Ciudad de Medio Millon y 25 Huevos Duros Giclée Print, Surrealist Art
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical surrealistic scene. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and g...
Giclée
$1,200Sale Price|33% Off
Códice Miguelito I Giclée Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Artist and designer Pedro Friedeberg is known for his surrealist paintings, prints, and sculptural furniture. He was the subject of a 2009 retrospective at the Museo del Palacio de B...
Giclée
Silkscreen Pedro Friedeberg, " AMAZONAS ODIOSONAS "
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Pedro Friedeberg signed lithograph featuring a fantastical architectural scene inspired by “Struwwelpeter.” includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. fra...
Etching
Malabaristas Parapsicológicos Giclée Print, Surrealist, Framed, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Artist and designer Pedro Friedeberg is known for his surrealist paintings, prints, and sculptural furniture. He was the subject of a 2009 retrospective at the Museo del Palacio de B...
Giclée
$1,000
SALUDCITA Y PROVECHITO Silkscreen Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, Signed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a collection of various dogs. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and gold ...
Giclée
Pedro Friedeberg "Schloss Struwwelpeter" Silkscreen
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical architectural scene inspired by “Struwwelpeter.” includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed ...
Giclée
Loteria Canina Giclée Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, 1970s, Signed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a collection of various dogs. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and gold ...
Giclée
365 Sueñitos Surrealistas Giclée Print, Framed, Surrealist Style, 2010
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical surrealistic scene. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and g...
Giclée
Mandala Ogolatac Abstract Engraving Print, Framed, 21st Century
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
An artist born in Florence, Italy, who arrived in Mexico at the age of three, he has presented over 180 solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. His work was awarded the Bell...
Engraving
"Ciudad de un millón" contemporary neobarroque arquitecture city blue landscape
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
The repetition of patterns and rhythm is present in almost every piece of Pedro´s work. The hybrid topographies that Pedro Friedeberg´s unclassifiable practice recreates we must rec...
Screen, Ink, Paper, Digital
Loteria Canina Giclée Print, Surrealist Style, Framed, 1970s, Signed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a collection of various dogs. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and gold ...
Giclée
Mathias en Cuernavaca Giclée Print, Surrealist, Framed, 2010-
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical surrealistic scene. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and g...
Giclée
Teatro Microbiotico, Geometric Op Art Screenprint by Pedro Friedeberg
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Long Island City, NY
A serigraph print by Pedro Friedeberg from 1987. An optical abstract image of a surrealist interior. Artist: Pedro Friedeberg, Mexican (1936 - ) Title: Teatro Microbiotico Year: 1...
Screen
Clarividencia Roja Digital Print, Op Art, Framed, 21st Century
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
The piece, by Pedro Friedeberg is unique and special because it powerfully executes the illusionistic principles of Op Art (Optical Art) while injecting the surreal, complex geometr...
Digital
A Sunday in Avocadoland: Surrealist Digital Print, Framed Art
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This artwork presents an imaginative architectural landscape where sacred geometry, optical patterns, and playful surrealism converge. Against a bright sky-blue background, intricate...
Digital
Observatorio Planetokirómano Color Print, Abstract Expressionism
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
presents itself as a symbolic and mental architecture: an interior space that functions simultaneously as a temple, a laboratory, and a cosmic map. The composition constructs a centr...
Color
Otebafla Surrealist Digital Pigment Print, 21st Century, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This serigraph, is a special blend of Surrealism, Pop Art, and esoteric symbolism. Each letter of the alphabet is meticulously rendered as a colorful, three-dimensional architectural...
Digital Pigment
Tapiz Festivo Giclée Print, Abstract Design, Signed, 21st Century
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Tapiz Festivo by Pedro Friedeberg is a striking example of the artist’s mastery of geometric symbolism, optical rhythm, and bold color. The composition unfolds like an intricate text...
Giclée
Ecología II Gold Leaf Serigraph, Contemporary, Signed, 2010, 47/60
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This striking gold leaf serigraph by Pedro Friedeberg is a unique convergence of Mexican Surrealism, Pop Art, and ancient iconography. The piece is a meticulous grid of about 48 gold...
Digital
Flash Solar Digital Print, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 21st Century
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
The piece, "Flash Solar," by Pedro Friedeberg is unique and special because it powerfully executes the illusionistic principles of Op Art (Optical Art) while injecting the surreal, ...
Digital
Medallas III Serigraph Print, Surrealist, Signed, Limited Edition
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This vibrant serigraph by Pedro Friedeberg is a captivating fusion of Op Art, Surrealism, and esoteric architecture. The unique design consists of over 70 colorful medallions, each c...
Digital
Soles de Ninive Giclée Print, Surrealist Framed Art, 2010+
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical surrealistic scene. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a hand-painted black and g...
Giclée
La Mosca Negra Print, Surrealist Op Art, Limited Edition 37/70
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This striking piece by Italian-Mexican Surrealist Pedro Friedeberg is unique for its mesmerizing Op Art and horror vacui style, featuring a densely packed composition of nearly 100 g...
Gold Leaf
Wenn wir nicht haben Digital Print, Surrealist Style, 2010, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This is a striking, surrealist work by Italian-Mexican artist Pedro Friedeberg, blending architectural drawing, Op Art, and whimsy. Its uniqueness lies in the impossible perspective,...
Digital
"Ejército del amor" pattern, red, contemporary, mexican, graphic
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This new Pedro Friedeberg piece was developed in collaboration with CAM Galería as a special edition. Pedro Friedeberg is an artist and designer from Mexico of Italian origin, known...
Screen
Códice Miguelito III Etching, Surrealist Print, Framed, 2010- Present
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
-Pedro Friedeberg signed print featuring a fantastical architectural scene inspired by “Mickey”. Includes whimsical figures, optical art elements, and surreal details. framed in a ha...
Etching
"Sanas distancias" Safe distances - figurative, hands, post COVID art
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
During the pandemic, the artist stayed for 4 months in Oaxaca on a beach called San Aguistinillo, where he developed the Sana Distancia (safe distance) collection, he created each da...
Gold Leaf
Universal Vaccination Digital Print, Abstract Geometric, Framed Art
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Vacunación Universal (2022) is unique for its extraordinary density of imagery and its meticulous, almost architectural composition. Constructed through repetition, optical patterns,...
Digital
"La nariz de Cleopatra" Cleopatra's nose - geometric, perspective, city
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Pedro Friedeberg is an artist and designer from Mexico of Italian origin, known for his surreal work full of lines, colors, and ancient religious symbols. His best-known piece is the...
Paper, Screen, Cotton
Salud, Energúmeno Screen Print, Surrealist Style, 2010, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
"Salud, Energúmeno" by Pedro Friedeberg is a quintessential example of the artist’s surrealist genius, blending intricate architectural precision with irreverent, mystical symbolism....
Screen
Schloss Struwelpeter Surrealist Digital Print, Signed Edition 34/50
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Work by Pedro Friedeberg, a renowned Mexican surrealist artist celebrated for his meticulous detail and visual humor. In this piece, Schloss Struwwelpeter, he combines fantastical ar...
Digital
Ferretería Canina II Digital Print, Surrealist Style, 2010s, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This unique serigraph by Surrealist artist Pedro Friedeberg is a vibrant, graphic commentary on repetition and pop culture. The name Ferretería Canina (which translates to "Canine Ha...
Digital
$2,212Sale Price|25% Off
Arquitectura Alfabetizada (custom framed, hand signed serigraph)
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Aventura, FL
Serigraph in colors on paper. Hand signed lower front by Pedro Friedberg. Hand numbered 29/42 lower front. Image size: 9.5 x 25.5 inches. Framed as pictured in the signature Frie...
Paper, Screen
$2,212Sale Price|25% Off
Ciudad de un Millon de Huevos y Veinticinco Duros (hand signed)
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Aventura, FL
Serigraph in colors on paper. Hand signed lower right by Pedro Friedberg. Hand numbered 15/50 lower left. Sheet size: 29 x 29 inches. Image size: 27 x 27 inches. Framed as pict...
Paper, Screen
Aves IV Mixed Media Artwork, Contemporary Silver, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Maestro Pedro Friedeberg's works take us to a universe where birds serve as metaphors for freedom and transcendence. Against a light, profound background, the birds rise in metallic ...
Silver
Laberinto Serpentino Screen Print, Abstract Geometric, 2010+, Unframed
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Laberinto Serpentino is a striking and enigmatic work that invites the viewer into a dreamlike maze of fluid motion and layered symbolism. Rich in texture and depth, this piece evoke...
Screen
Templos de la Amistad Serigraph, Op Art, Signed Limited Edition XIII/C
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
This striking serigraph by Pedro Friedeberg is a unique illustration of his rebellious architectural imagination. It is a dense grid of roughly 35 fantastical, stylized temples, kios...
Screen
$2,900
"Cromaticornios II" - surrealist pattern, unicorns, gold leaf, silver leaf
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Pedro Friedeberg is an artist and designer from Mexico of Italian origin, known for his surreal work full of lines, colors, and ancient religious symbols. His best-known piece is the...
Gold Leaf, Silver
"Triperio lunar I" Lunar triperium, geometric, cube perspective, black and white
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
Pedro Friedeberg is an artist and designer from Mexico of Italian origin, known for his surreal work full of lines, colors, and ancient religious symbols. His best-known piece is the...
Paper, Cotton, Screen
"Divagaciones espontáneas" Zebras and mexican pyramids surrealist print
By Pedro Friedeberg
Located in Ciudad de México, MX
During the pandemic, the artist stayed for 4 months in Oaxaca on a beach called San Aguistinillo, where he developed the Sana Distancia (safe distance) collection, he created each da...
Cotton, Ink, Paper