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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington dies aged 94 | Reuters

British painter Leonora Carrington, one of the last surviving artists from the golden age of Surrealism, has died aged 94 in her adopted home of Mexico City, where she had lived quietly for decades.
Mexico's national arts council said Carrington died on Wednesday night in the Mexican capital. Local media reported she died of pneumonia.

An arresting beauty in her youth who became famous for her paintings of women and mythical beasts, Carrington was embraced by the Surrealists in the late 1930s, when she had a passionate affair with German artist Max Ernst.
Viewed as a national treasure in Mexico, her eccentric bronze sculptures dot the capital's main avenue Reforma. One piece was ripped from its bolted base and stolen from a public exhibition in 2000, though the thieves later abandoned it.
"She created mythical worlds where magical figures and animals predominate. Cobras become goats, crows transform into blind spirits and inhabit trees and houses," Conaculta said in a statement. "They are images that emerged from a mind obsessed with representing the transcendent reality we live in."
Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington dies aged 94 | Reuters

Here's more on Ms. Carrington, from Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: Nobody's Muse.
I didn’t have time to be anyone’s muse,” said Carrington. “I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist.”

3 comments:

Bruce Duensing said...

Thank you for posting this as I was unaware this remarkable woman and visionary had passed. How unique she is in a realm of averaged realities.
Kathleen Scarboro, a contemporary artist living in France, has a similar yet an equally unique gift for communicating the unseen whose paintings might be worth your time to enjoy.

Dia Sobin (Araqinta) said...

Thanks so much for the notice, Regan. Carrington is one of my favorite artists - a surrealist who bravely painted despite the misogynistic biases of both her fellow surrealists (whom she mostly out-lived!) and the art world in general.

I went thru my black vault of old bookmarks and found this one... instant enchantment: http://www.tendreams.org/carrington.htm

Regan Lee said...

Thank you dia and Bruce. Even though I'm an artist and married to one as well, and surrealism and the expressionists -- Max Ernst being one of my favorites -- I wasn't familiar with Carrington. An amazing woman! dia, I'm off to look at the link you provided... thanks