Surrealist Mixed Media
In the wake of World War I’s ravaging of Europe, artists delved into the unconscious mind to confront and grapple with this reality. Poet and critic André Breton, a leader of the Surrealist movement who authored the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, called this approach “a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that resulted from centuries of rationalism.” Surrealist art emerged in the 1920s with dreamlike and uncanny imagery guided by a variety of techniques such as automatic drawing, which can be likened to a stream of consciousness, to channel psychological experiences.
Although Surrealism was a groundbreaking approach for European art, its practitioners were inspired by Indigenous art and ancient mysticism for reenvisioning how sculptures, paintings, prints, performance art and more could respond to the unsettled world around them.
Surrealist artists were also informed by the Dada movement, which originated in 1916 Zurich and embraced absurdity over the logic that had propelled modernity into violence. Some of the Surrealists had witnessed this firsthand, such as Max Ernst, who served in the trenches during World War I, and Salvador Dalí, whose otherworldly paintings and other work responded to the dawning civil war in Spain.
Other key artists associated with the revolutionary art and literary movement included Man Ray, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Frida Kahlo and Meret Oppenheim, all of whom had a distinct perspective on reimagining reality and freeing the unconscious mind from the conventions and restrictions of rational thought. Pablo Picasso showed some of his works in “La Peinture Surréaliste” — the first collective exhibition of Surrealist painting — which opened at Paris’s Galerie Pierre in November of 1925. (Although Magritte is best known as one of the visual Surrealist movement’s most talented practitioners, his famous 1943 painting, The Fifth Season, can be interpreted as a formal break from Surrealism.)
The outbreak of World War II led many in the movement to flee Europe for the Americas, further spreading Surrealism abroad. Generations of modern and contemporary artists were subsequently influenced by the richly symbolic and unearthly imagery of Surrealism, from Joseph Cornell to Arshile Gorky.
Find a collection of original Surrealist paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art on 1stDibs.
20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Archival Paper
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Monoprint
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Monoprint
Late 20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Wood, Plywood, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Gel Pen, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Inkjet
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Color Pencil
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Wood, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Found Objects, Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Wood Panel, Graphite
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Found Objects, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Found Objects, Oil
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Graphite
Artist Comments
The composition weaves elements of nature and psychology with paint and twigs forming a nest. A collage of hand-painted maps decorating the surface of the eggs....
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1970s Surrealist Mixed Media
Ink, Watercolor
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Early 2000s Surrealist Mixed Media
Offset
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Board, Laid Paper
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Felt, Mixed Media, Oil, Laid Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Spray Paint, Screen
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Mixed Media, Canvas
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Screen, Porcelain
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Porcelain, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Screen
1990s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Clay, Canvas, Charcoal, Oil
Late 20th Century Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Watercolor, Etching, Drypoint, Paper
1970s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Pastel, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Clay, Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Clay, Charcoal, Oil
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Watercolor, Drypoint, Etching
Artist Comments
This piece blends collaged pages from an old novel with translucent oil glazes as a background. The subjects—a primate, a tennis ball, and a shoe—are rendered in opaque and calm tones. The piece delves into the human condition...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Three songbird eggs lay nestled in a meticulously woven nest of twigs, delicately adorned with fragments of sheet music. A precursor to the melodies that the yo...
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Charcoal
1930s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1930s Surrealist Mixed Media
Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
1930s Surrealist Mixed Media
Archival Paper
1960s Surrealist Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Screen, Engraving