Explore surrealist paintings for sale online today. Each and every piece in our online selection has been hand-picked by our team of curatorial experts from surrealist painters around the world. With work ranging from colourful images of fantastical lands to refined scenes of geometric architecture, our online gallery makes it easy for you to discover, own and collect new art today. Whether you’re searching for a painting bursting with colour, or you’re after a moody monochrome piece to hang on the wall, why not start by browsing our urban, landscape or animal surrealist paintings.

Discover new surrealist painters

Lee Ellis creates texture, emotion and undeniable intrigue in each of his striking paintings. Constantly working to bring sensation to the forefront, Ellis combines his bold palette with a distorted perspective to create fascinating surrealist scenes.

A brief history of surrealist paintings

Surrealist paintings reveal the workings and imaginings of the unconscious mind. Emerging in the early 20th century, the Surrealists sought to revolt against realism and rationalism, and instead unlocked the vision of the repressed mind.

Starting off as a literary movement, Surrealism was founded by Andre Breton. Surrealist painting, writing, drawing, sculpture and film-making took inspiration from Freudian theories of the unconscious and was directed towards a natural and unpremeditated form of expression. Characterized by aesthetic beauty and psychological depth, Surrealist paintings rely on a sense of automatism, in which art is expressed by the unconscious mind, rather than by conscious thought.