Chess Painting Surrealist
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel, Graphite, Epoxy Resin, Plastic
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Epoxy Resin, Archival Ink, Plastic, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Color Pencil, Graphite, Ink
Late 20th Century Synthetic Cubist Interior Paintings
Gouache, Cardboard
20th Century Surrealist Figurative Prints
Etching
1960s Surrealist Abstract Prints
Mixed Media, Screen, Engraving
2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Graphite
Early 2000s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Interior Prints
Lithograph
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Board, Lenticular, Plastic, Mixed Media, Pencil
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Paintings
Mixed Media, Watercolor, Gouache
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Polyester
Early 20th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Turkish Minimalist Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Travertine
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Iron
20th Century American Baroque Paintings
Canvas, Wood
19th Century Rococo Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
2010s American Decorative Art
Limestone
Antique 17th Century European Paintings
Copper
1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Decorative Art
Paper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Wood, Masonite, Paint
Mid-20th Century Tribal Sculptures
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Wood, Masonite, Paint
Vintage 1930s French Folk Art Posters
Paper, Watercolor
Recent Sales
1950s Surrealist Abstract Paintings
Gouache
20th Century Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Mixed Media
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist More Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist More Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1980s Surrealist Abstract Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Contemporary Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1990s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Oil
20th Century Figurative Paintings
Wood Panel, Oil
1970s Surrealist Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Surrealist Figurative Paintings
20th Century American Modern Figurative Sculptures
1970s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Portrait Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Abstract Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Still-life Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 2000s Surrealist Landscape Prints
Lithograph
Surrealist Figurative Prints
1960s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Watercolor
Chess Painting Surrealist For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Chess Painting Surrealist?
A Close Look at Surrealist Art
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.