Open: Wed-Sat 12-6pm

47 West 28th Street, NY 10001, New York, United States
Open: Wed-Sat 12-6pm


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Surrealism (on paper)

Nagas, New York

Wed 2 Sep 2026 to Sat 24 Oct 2026

47 West 28th Street, Floor 2, NY 10001 Google

Wed-Sat 12-6pm

Nagas presents the exhibition Surrealism (on paper). The show brings together works by Victor Brauner, Toyen, Leonor Fini, Max Walter Svanberg, Bona de Mandiargues, Myriam Bat-Yosef, Suzanne Van Damme, Reuben Mednikoff, and Grace Pailthorpe.

Artworks

Victor Brauner, Sybille, 1943

Pastel and pencil on paper

20.1 × 14.8 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Toyen, Untitled, 1933

Toyen

Untitled, 1933

Watercolor and ink on paper

18.8 × 13.2 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Leonor Fini, Face

Ink on paper

9 × 11 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Leonor Fini, Face II

Ink on paper

11 × 8.5 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Bona de Mandiargues, Cadavre Exquis, 1998

Felt pen on paper

30 × 21 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Reuben Mednikoff, Untitled, 1946

Watercolor on paper

23 × 30 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Suzanne Van Damme, Untitled, 1940s

Watercolor on paper

14 × 10 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Grace Pailthorpe, Untitled, 1946

Watercolor on paper

28.6 × 38.4 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Max Walter Svanberg, Untitled, 1952

Mixed media on paper

33 × 32 cm

Courtesy Nagas
Max Walter Svanberg, Man's journey towards the millennial kingdom, 1943

Graphite on paper

33 × 26 cm

Courtesy Nagas

Paper played an important role in Surrealism, particularly as a medium for experimentation. Automatic drawing, collage, frottage, decalcomania, and the cadavre exquis all developed through works on paper. There, artists could work quickly, test unfamiliar procedures, and incorporate chance into the process. For many Surrealists, drawing was not simply a preliminary stage for painting, but an autonomous form of expression in its own right.

Spanning six decades, the exhibition follows this process from the 1930s to the end of the twentieth century. Rather than tracing the history of a style, Surrealism (on paper) examines the persistence of a method. Across different generations, geographies, and artistic positions, the works reveal a shared commitment to expanding the possibilities of representation through works on paper. Hybrid beings, unstable landscapes and prophetic figures emerge across the exhibition.

Seen together, these works on paper demonstrate the remarkable continuity of Surrealism across generations. Whether through the solitary act of drawing or collective practices such as the cadavre exquis, paper remained the place where the movement could question its own methods, absorb new ideas, and renew itself.

all images © the gallery and the artist(s)

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