LEONORA CARRINGTON

Description

Now available in paperback, Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art remains a definitive study of the life and work of one of Surrealism’s most distinctive and influential figures.

Carrington emerged onto the Surrealist scene in 1936, leaving behind the expectations of her wealthy English upbringing to pursue art and writing in Paris alongside Max Ernst. Her imaginative, often darkly humorous vision quickly attracted the attention of André Breton, and her work was soon featured in Surrealist publications and exhibitions.

Following the upheavals of the Second World War, Carrington settled in Mexico City, where she became a central figure among European Surrealist émigrés and Mexican modernists alike. Maintaining close friendships with figures such as Luis Buñuel, Benjamin Péret and Octavio Paz, she played a vital role in Mexico’s cultural life while continuing to develop her own singular artistic language.

This book offers a compelling overview of Carrington’s richly symbolic body of work, examining her lifelong fascination with alchemy, mythology and the occult, as well as the profound influence of indigenous Mexican culture and belief systems on her paintings and writings.