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Surrealist Photography

SURREALIST STYLE

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.

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Style: Surrealist
Happiness is the Chrysler Building
Happiness is the Chrysler Building

Happiness is the Chrysler Building

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

In the present image, we see people engaged in more than just a moment of fleeting pleasure. This tightly packed group of mostly tourists exhibits a profound level of joy and well-be...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

The Pigeon and The Chrysler Building
The Pigeon and The Chrysler Building

The Pigeon and The Chrysler Building

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Perched upon a New York City street sign, a orange-eyed pigeon is captured in a moment of deep bird contemplation. Behind him rises the permanent Art Deco facade of the Chrysler Bui...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Chrysler Building:  The Smokestack and the Skyscraper
Chrysler Building:  The Smokestack and the Skyscraper

Chrysler Building: The Smokestack and the Skyscraper

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Before Long Island City blossomed into a landscape of high-rise residential development, it was a gritty industrial area. One of the iconic images of the LIC was four monumental smo...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

The Sun Beckons -Step into the Light -Three Black Woman Stroll into Manhattan
The Sun Beckons -Step into the Light -Three Black Woman Stroll into Manhattan

The Sun Beckons -Step into the Light -Three Black Woman Stroll into Manhattan

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Follow the light and cast away rational assumptions. It will lead you to the sublime. Street Photographer Mitchell Funk captures three statuesque Black Women in formation as they hea...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Weehawken 4
Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Weehawken 4

Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Weehawken 4

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Mitchell Funk takes skyscraper photography to new heights in his current exhibition: Mitchell Funk Photographs the Chrysler Building for 50 Years. The present work reimagines the m...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Two New York Skylines in One Fantasy Picture - Chrysler Building at Sunset
Two New York Skylines in One Fantasy Picture - Chrysler Building at Sunset

Two New York Skylines in One Fantasy Picture - Chrysler Building at Sunset

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

In 1980, conventional thinking suggested that one highly dramatic photograph of the New York skyline would be a sufficient artistic statement. Photographer Mitchell Funk felt there w...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Williamsburg
Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Williamsburg

Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Williamsburg

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

In 1974, wherever you looked, you could see the Chrysler Building. In this image, from Williamsburg, the distinctive Art Deco spire of the Chrysler Building peeks its head out above ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

New York City Skyscraper Super Tall  in Angelic Light
New York City Skyscraper Super Tall  in Angelic Light

New York City Skyscraper Super Tall in Angelic Light

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

New York City Skyscraper Super Tall in Angelic Light Signed and dated on lower right, numbered 3 of 15. Unframed. Other size available, Printed later - Printed on Hahnemühle Fine...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Flock of Birds on Wire Against Dramatic Sky Dramatic Clouds
Flock of Birds on Wire Against Dramatic Sky Dramatic Clouds

Flock of Birds on Wire Against Dramatic Sky Dramatic Clouds

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

After a 55-year career creating originally powerful images, Photographer Mitchell Funk outdoes himself. Flock of Birds on Wire was shot in the Windwood section of Miami. End-of-the-d...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Yellow Moon Over Manhattan in the 1970s
Yellow Moon Over Manhattan in the 1970s

Yellow Moon Over Manhattan in the 1970s

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

A recurring motif in Mitchell Funk's work is the inclusion of an oversized moon. It signifies a celestial presence. This work, "Yellow Moon Over Manhattan," is an early example, but ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Mystical Transcendent Orange Sunset Big Sky
Mystical Transcendent Orange Sunset Big Sky

Mystical Transcendent Orange Sunset Big Sky

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

A spectacular vast orange sunset dominates the sky as tiny onlookers gaze up and out with amazement. The image has a surreal quality to it and the relationship to the sky and people...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Picture of the Unknown - Plein Air Painter's Surreal Dream
Picture of the Unknown - Plein Air Painter's Surreal Dream

Picture of the Unknown - Plein Air Painter's Surreal Dream

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

It's a picture of the unknown. We do not know who the artist is. We do not know what the subject is. We do not know where the location is. It is all left to conjecture, yet the image...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Surreal Kayak Party in Foggy Metaphysical San Francisco Bay with Muted Skyline
Surreal Kayak Party in Foggy Metaphysical San Francisco Bay with Muted Skyline

Surreal Kayak Party in Foggy Metaphysical San Francisco Bay with Muted Skyline

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

The weather phenomenon that defines San Francisco, fog, separates a party of Kayakers from the iconic skyline. It puts them into an enigmatic limbo-like state. Photographer Mitchell ...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Surreal City Scene with Man and his Shadows in Manhattan
Surreal City Scene with Man and his Shadows in Manhattan

Surreal City Scene with Man and his Shadows in Manhattan

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Surreal City Scene with Man and his Shadows - Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso Edition 3 of 15. Unframed. Other size available, Printed later - Printed on Hahnemühl...

Category

1990s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Ed's at Rockefeller Center,  Sci-Fi  Surreal
Ed's at Rockefeller Center,  Sci-Fi  Surreal

Ed's at Rockefeller Center, Sci-Fi Surreal

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

An unexpected marquee at the base of upscale 30 Rockefeller Center beams neon into the night. The 1930's art deco monolith is lit up like a silver spaceship as it thrusts into an ink...

Category

1990s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Dust bowl Texas Sunset with Dramatic Sky Windmill - Orange and Yellow landscape
Dust bowl Texas Sunset with Dramatic Sky Windmill - Orange and Yellow landscape

Dust bowl Texas Sunset with Dramatic Sky Windmill - Orange and Yellow landscape

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

While on assignment in 1980 for a Life Magazine story on drought in Texas, Mitchell Funk encountered this vast landscape near Wichita Falls. A windmill with a wood fence and barn...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Surreal Blue  Landscape - Early Sci-fi Photography
Surreal Blue  Landscape - Early Sci-fi Photography

Surreal Blue Landscape - Early Sci-fi Photography

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

This image from the imagination of Mitchell Funk was the cover photograph for Popular Photography Magazine, May 1978, It is signed and numbered on lower right, as well as titled ...

Category

1970s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Red Sun. Green Skyline New York, Nikon Advertising Campaign
Red Sun. Green Skyline New York, Nikon Advertising Campaign

Red Sun. Green Skyline New York, Nikon Advertising Campaign

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Red Sun. Green Skyline, Nikon Advertising Campaign Inkjet Archival Print Signature: Signed dated ,numbered lower right recto. Printed Later, Unframed 2/15, other sizes available Nati...

Category

1970s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow
Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow

Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Shipping should be around $100 - Signed, dated, numbered 3/15, lower right, unframed, other sizes available, printed later Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of Sci-fi and did a lot of wor...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Inkjet

Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape
Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape

Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Historically , newsstand magazines have used a standard set of practices when it came to choosing their cover image. Their goal was to use a image that people could instantly relate to. The idea being, if an image pops off the page it will attract more attention and then generate more newsstand sales. For editors, choosing a cover was first a marketing decision and then an aesthetic one. That is why most magazine covers and (that includes art magazines) pretty much looked the same. They used familiar images, mostly of celebrities, beauty people or news items of that would beckon and aggressively reach out to the prospect. In this Modern Photography Cover of August 1983, they chose a radical departure. Their cover image that was the opposite of the norm. Mitchell Funk’s Graphic Surreal Landscape...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow
Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow

Stonehenge and Eclipse with Pink Sci-Fi Glow

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Shipping should be around $100 - Signed, dated, numbered 3/15, lower right, unframed, other sizes available, printed later Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of Sci-fi and did a lot of wor...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Inkjet

Golden Reflections off Manhattan Skyscrapers

Golden Reflections off Manhattan Skyscrapers

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 3/15, Unframed, other sizes available, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper Mitchell Funk is a "Color Photographer Pioneer...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Inkjet

Light Train

Light Train

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Signed, dated, numbered 3/15 recto unframed, other sizes availab

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

End of the World.  Begining of the World

End of the World. Begining of the World

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Mitchell Funk is a pioneer of Sci-Fi photography. In the 1980's He did work for the groundbreaking Bob Guccioni magazine Omni. Signed, dated and number LL recto, 3/15 other size ava...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape
Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape

Modern Photography Cover, Surreal Landscape

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Historically , newsstand magazines have used a standard set of practices when it came to choosing their cover image. Their goal was to use an image that people could instantly relate to. The idea being, if an image pops off the page it will attract more attention and then generate more newsstand sales. For editors, choosing a cover was first a marketing decision and then an aesthetic one. That is why most magazine covers and (that includes art magazines) pretty much looked the same. They used familiar images, mostly of celebrities, beauty people or news items of that would beckon and aggressively reach out to the prospect. In this Modern Photography Cover of August 1983, they chose a radical departure. They used an image that was the opposite of the norm. Mitchell Funk’s Graphic Surreal Landscape breaks the rules of formula magazine cover art...

Category

1980s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

The Dance of Pink Lights on a New York City Snowy Day

The Dance of Pink Lights on a New York City Snowy Day

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Mitchell Funk's hand held pre-dawn New York street scene evokes a simultaneous state of beauty of unexpectedness. This is a straight shot. He used a Nikon D5 and 400mm while he was w...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

New York Skyline from New Jersey

New York Skyline from New Jersey

By Mitchell Funk

Located in Miami, FL

Dreamy and surreal midtown Manhattan with dramatic clouds bathed in grey blue light, signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso 3/15, unframed, other size available

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography

Materials

Photographic Film

Monument, Surrealist Photograph by Herbert Bayer
Monument, Surrealist Photograph by Herbert Bayer

Monument, Surrealist Photograph by Herbert Bayer

By Herbert Bayer

Located in Long Island City, NY

Herbert Bayer, Austrian (1900 - 1985) - Monument, Year: 1932 (Printed 1969), Medium: Gelatin Silver Print, signed, dated and numbered in pencil, Edition: 6/40, Image Size: 13.75 ...

Category

1930s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Bliss

Drew TalBliss, 2000

Price Upon Request

Bliss

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Migration

Drew TalMigration, 2008

Price Upon Request

Migration

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Field of Sorrow

Field of Sorrow

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Fading Beauty

Drew TalFading Beauty, 2009

Price Upon Request

Fading Beauty

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Portraits of Dignity

Portraits of Dignity

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Awakening

Drew TalAwakening, 2013

Price Upon Request

Awakening

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Within

Drew TalWithin, 2003

Price Upon Request

Within

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Porcelain Dynasty

Porcelain Dynasty

By Drew Tal

Located in New York, NY

With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram

Bud of the Bud

Bud of the Bud

By Reka Nyari

Located in New York, NY

“Ink Stories”, which was introduced at Nyari’s very first solo gallery exhibit, consists of large-scale nude photographs that explore the concept of self-identity and female empowerment. The series joins six women together, each who have faced adversity, to demonstrate the creation of a strengthened self-image through tattoos. By highlighting the intricate woven threads of ink on each woman’s skin, Nyari proposes the idea that self-empowerment and reconciliation with one’s traumas can be linked to the act of greeting one’s “own skin” or inventing their own story. Nyari has now elevated these intimate photographs in her new Punctured Ink series through the process of puncturing botanical-like references into the surface of each image (thus making each one of a kind). Her inspiration to physically puncture the previously pristine photographic prints stemmed from a childhood memory that occurred while she was living in Finland: “I remembered my parents had this big pad of paper next to the home phone...

Category

2010s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Photogram, Archival Pi...

Portrait of Roger Parry

Portrait of Roger Parry

By Maurice Tabard

Located in New York, NY

Stamped, verso Vintage silver print 9 x 7 inches 18 x 15.5 inches, framed Roger Parry learned photography from Maurice Tabard by working as his studio assistant in 1928. In 1929 the...

Category

1930s Surrealist Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Cat Woman

Cat Woman

By Kiki Collagist

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Digital photographic collage.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography

Materials

Wood, Birch, Digital

Boy who loves water.

Boy who loves water.

By Maggie Taylor

Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Signed, dated, titled and numbered on print recto. Signed, titled with artist's copyright stamp on mount verso. Available in 15 x 15 inches or 22 x 22 inches. Other sizes may be avai...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography

Materials

Digital Pigment

Untitled (Philosopher's Desk)

Untitled (Philosopher's Desk)

By Jerry Uelsmann

Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Signed on the front. Contact gallery for prices and available sizes as they are subject to change - available as a 11 x 14 or 16 x 20 inch gelatin silver prints. All works are open e...

Category

20th Century Surrealist Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Wagon Wheel

Greg LotusWagon Wheel, 2005

Price Upon Request

Wagon Wheel

By Greg Lotus

Located in Hudson, NY

Print is available in sizes from small to mural. Edition of 25. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph. ABOUT: Inside the gallery, the viewer is surrounded by an arresting display of glamour in the wild. Drawing inspiration from classical paintings and geometric forms, Greg Lotus' work has been compared to Herb Ritts, Man Ray and Richard Avedon, and his exhibition fuses his high fashion background with the rural environment of his youth. Yet Lotus admits to no formal training throughout his career, "I'm completely self-taught, lots of trial and error over the years." His foray into fashion photography was a twist of fate. In the 90s he was sharing living quarters with young models, and began photographing them to help them build their portfolios—work that eventually brought his work to the attention of agencies. When it comes to his own models, Lotus prefers the "unspoiled" types, holding castings to find those with quirk as well as beauty. "Over time, most artists develop their own palette and look using color and light in a very personal way. I express my own aesthetic sense which is what makes my work recognizable, regardless of subject or setting." "Swimmer Cap," is an example of Lotus' signature pop of color. Here, a cast of sinewy models convene in a locker room; their candy-colored swim caps give the piece its surreal, dreamlike quality. In the invitation piece, "Nurses" beauties in black bathing suits pop against a light background while being hosed down by a nurse. "You can almost feel the spray and hear the whoosh under the miniskirt," says Lotus. Besides the visual play on light and dark, he says water is the linking element that turns the piece theatrical and makes it breathe. Greg Lotus was born in 1967 in rural West Virginia. He shot in Paris and New York City before settling in Miami to pursue his craft. After landing his first major job in Europe, Lotus interviewed with the editor of Italian Vogue, Franca Sozzani...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Surrealist photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Surrealist photography available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, orange, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mitchell Funk, Rosemary Ellis, Brian Ziff, and FPA Francis Pavy Artist. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Photographic Paper and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Surrealist photography, so small editions measuring 4.5 inches across are also available. Prices for photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $110 and tops out at $28,800, while the average work sells for $1,750.