Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Mythology, and the Unconventional Life of a Visionary

Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Mythology, and the Unconventional Life of a Visionary

Leonora Carrington was one of those fascinating, very rebellious, and incredibly creative artists born before her time. Born in Lancashire, England, on April 6, 1917, she was the daughter of a wealthy man, Harold Carrington, a textile manufacturer, and Maureen Moorhead, a former fashion model.

Following a privileged upbringing, the family saw a traditional aristocratic life in their daughter’s future. However, Leonora had different plans. She was an independent woman more interested in art and writing than complying with the gender roles expected of women at the beginning of the 20th century. She was a difficult, defiant, and often lonely child.

At 16 years old, Leonora was sent to the renowned Florence Academy of Art in Italy, but she quickly became bored with the institution’s formal teaching methods and didn’t stay long. After returning to England, she enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art but was again dissatisfied with the traditional, academic approach. She gave Florence Academy of Art another go, but again felt constrained by its rigid methods and left abruptly. Academia just didn’t satisfy her fantastical intellect or her visions and expectations.

painting of max earnst with a white ghostly horse

In 1937 at the age of 20, Leonora met Max Ernst in Paris. They had a passionate, intense romantic and creative relationship that played a significant role in both of their lives. Max at the time was married and 26 years her senior. When she met Max, Leonora was already forging her own path as an artist, but meeting Ernst marked the beginning of a transformative period in her life and career. Their relationship would significantly influence her artistic development, pushing her further into surrealism and providing her space to develop her unique style, which blended her dreams and personal mythology with surrealist techniques.

A small side note here: Max Ernst (1891-1976), a German surrealist poet, painter, and sculptor, had three wives who were either artists or art dealers. First Wife: Louise Straus-Ernst, married 1927, divorced 1935. Second Wife: Peggy Guggenheim, married 1942, divorced 1946. Third Wife: Dorothea Tanning, married 1946, remained married until his death in 1976. (Leonora Carrington wasn’t one of his wives.)

Leonora and Max moved to France, where they lived together in a rural farmhouse. During this time, Carrington’s art began to show the influence of surrealism, characterized by dreamlike scenes, mythological motifs, and anthropomorphic creatures. Her work often depicted themes of transformation, the supernatural, and the feminine mystique, drawing heavily on her own psychological experiences.

However, their relationship became strained in the early 1940s, especially after Ernst was arrested by the Nazis. As a German citizen living in France, he was interned for several months before being released. During this period, Carrington faced her own psychological crises. In 1940, Ernst was sent to the United States, and the couple separated, though they remained in touch for some time.

In the 1940s, while Max was imprisoned, Leonora suffered a mental breakdown. She was hospitalized in a psychiatric institution in Spain, where she was treated for what was then diagnosed as a nervous breakdown. During this time, she experienced vivid dreams and hallucinations, which would later influence her art and writing. Her time in the psychiatric hospital marked a period of personal and creative turmoil.

In 1942, escaping the horrors of World War II, Leonora left Europe for Mexico to rebuild her life and find a place where she could express herself freely. In Mexico she was welcomed by various surrealist artists and soon became part of a community of artists and intellectuals, including the painter Remedios Varo, who became one of her closest friends.

painting of a man wearing a red scarf and women wearing a blue heard scarf with only eyes showing. 8 figures in white with black headscarves and a wolf standing on 2 legs with walking sticks

In Mexico her work flourished, and she began to incorporate elements of Mexican culture, mythology, and indigenous traditions into her surrealist works. This new life allowed her to escape the restrictions of European society, and she became an important figure in the Mexican avant-garde.

In addition to her visual art, Leonora wrote several short stories, novellas, and plays. Many of her literary works explore themes of female empowerment, mythology and the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy.

During her time in Mexico, Leonora had relationships with other artists and intellectuals. She was briefly married to the Hungarian photographer and filmmaker Emerico “Chiki” Weisz, with whom she had two children. Her personal life was a blend of tumult and creativity, with relationships that were often unconventional, mirroring the themes of freedom and transformation that appeared in her art.

Leonora Carrington continued to live and work in Mexico for the rest of her life, exhibiting her works internationally. Her late works, created in her seventies and eighties, continued to explore themes of dreams, the unconscious, and the supernatural, but with a more mature, introspective lens.

In the later years of her life, Leonora Carrington was celebrated for her contributions to surrealism as both a painter and a writer. In the 1990s, she received numerous accolades, including retrospectives of her work in major museums. Her work influenced generations of artists, particularly women, and she was recognized for her radical and feminist reinterpretations of surrealist themes.

She died on 25th May 2011 at 94 years old, in Mexico City. Her legacy lives on through her art and literature, which remain deeply influential in the realms of surrealism and feminist art history.

Recently, there has been increased appreciation for the contribution of women to the Surrealist movement, reflected in the high prices of her works sold by prestigious auction houses worldwide. In May 2024, Leonora Carrington’s painting Les Distractions de Dagobert (1945) sold for $28.5 million at Sotheby’s New York, making her one of the top-selling female surrealists and the most expensive UK-born female artist at auction. Her previous record of $3.3 million was set in 2022.

As her record-breaking auction sales illustrate, Carrington’s influence continues to grow, placing her among the most celebrated surrealist artists.

Browse through more articles and artists below.

Mariana Gómez

Mariana Gómez is a visual artist whose work explores the intersection of contemporary art, feminism,…

Read More

Tom Holland

Tom Holland is a contemporary British artist whose practice is rooted in a lifelong engagement…

Read More