Discovering a visionary artist
Painter, writer, and major figure of surrealism, Leonora Carrington left behind a legacy as extraordinary as it was radical. The exhibition presented at the Museum from February 18 to July 19 looks back on the career of this free-spirited and visionary artist, who was initially close to Parisian surrealist circles before going into exile in Mexico, where she became a cultural icon. Through a chronological and thematic approach, it reveals the richness of her universe and presents her diverse creations in a new light.
Childhood and imaginary worlds
Born in 1917 in Lancashire, England, Leonora Carrington grew up in the upper industrial bourgeoisie under the distant authority of an absent father and a mother of Irish origin. Nurtured by Celtic tales and mythological stories passed down by her maternal family, she began drawing fantastical animals and inventing hybrid worlds at an early age. As a young girl, she rebelled against the strict rules of boarding school and forged her own imagination.
The decisive encounter with surrealism
As a teenager, she continued her training in Florence, Italy, where she discovered the masters of the Trecento and Quattrocento and produced her series of watercolors Sisters of the Moon, populated by rebellious female figures.
Returning to London, she attended the Chelsea School of Art and discovered surrealism at the International Surrealist Exhibition of 1936. It was there that she met Max Ernst.
