Art
APR 2024
“Leonora Carrington frees us from the miserable reality of our days.”
― Luis Buñuel
In my last weeks in Mexico, I decided to go on a trip that had been a dream of mine since the moment I arrived three years prior – to see Edward James’ Surrealist Sculpture Garden in Xilitla. Leonora Carrington moved to Mexico in 1942 after fleeing Europe during World War II and remained there until she died in 2011. Carrington found a vibrant artistic community in Mexico, including fellow Surrealist Edward James. The connection between Leonora Carrington and Edward James represents a crucial chapter in Carrington’s life, marked by artistic collaboration, support, and great friendship.
As this edition is centered around my magical, surrealist trip, I wanted the cover story to be about Leonora Carrington as she has the most fantastical paintings, was close friends with Edward James, and is a huge part of Mexican Surrealist history.
Below, I have written a more detailed account of her life and added some pictures and paintings that give you a sense of her wonderful imagination and world. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing and researching it.
Kati Horna, Portrait of Leonora Carrington in her studio, opposite her painting Nunscape at Manzanillo, 1956 © Norah Horna
Leonora Carrington, Zona Maco, 2024
Leonora Carrington, the renowned Surrealist painter and writer, often recounted a peculiar tale about her birth: she wasn’t born but rather created. She described her mother’s moment of conception as a bizarre amalgamation involving a machine designed for extracting animal semen, a scene that seemed to shake England upon her arrival on April 6, 1917.
This whimsical creation story encapsulates the essence of Carrington’s life and artistry, marked by decadence, fanciful imagination, and a profound connection to the natural world. Her unique sense of humor, blending the artificial with the natural, shines through her extensive body of work, including novels, memoirs, and captivating paintings.
Leonora Carrington with her brothers Gerard and Arthur, and her nanny Mary Kavanaugh, aka Nanny Carrington, outside her childhood home, Crookhey Hall
Born into a repressive Anglo-Irish upbringing, Carrington broke free in 1937, traversing through France, Madrid, New York, and eventually settling in Mexico City. Her tumultuous relationship with her father and her eerie family dynamics inspired narratives filled with savage social satire, where hyenas attend balls wearing the faces of maids.
Drawing inspiration from literary giants like Lewis Carroll and Jonathan Swift, Carrington blurred the lines between human, animal, and machine in her surreal tales. Her stories evolved over the years, delving into deeper themes of utopian hopes and the threats posed by ordinary humans.
“Play Shadow.” Surrealism, with its convulsive, outlandish juxtapositions, showed Carrington how to discern the folly of the humans she knew.Art: © 2020 Estate of Leonora Carrington / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images
In Carrington’s writing, ordinary humans appear as aberrations, signaling impending doom. Her narratives critique societal norms and the oppressive machinery of capital, urging readers to question the artificial constructs that govern our lives.
Carrington’s memoir, “Down Below,” chronicles her journey through madness and institutionalization, offering a glimpse into her quest for liberation from societal constraints. However, her narrative takes unexpected turns, reflecting the fragmented nature of her reality.
“The task of the right eye is to peer into the telescope, while the left eye peers into the microscope.”
― Leonora Carrington (Down Below)
Her artistic journey found fertile ground in Mexico City, where she embraced a communal lifestyle with fellow artists, blending traditional craftsmanship with surreal imagination. Through her art and life, Carrington envisioned a world where boundaries dissolved, and care and mutual assistance prevailed over domination and cruelty.
Despite periods of isolation and self-doubt, Carrington remained steadfast in her commitment to her art and her vision of a better world. Her novel “The Hearing Trumpet” epitomizes her unique blend of absurdity, dry humor, and social commentary, offering a glimpse into her utopian ideals.
Ultimately, Carrington’s legacy endures as a testament to the transformative power of art and imagination. Her art continues to inspire and provoke, inviting us to explore the boundless realms of the human psyche and the natural world. (text inspired by this article)
Carrington and Max Ernst. She rejected male Surrealists’ views of women.Photograph by Lee Miller / © Lee Miller Archives, England 2020. All Rights Reserved.
The Love Story between Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington
The relationship between Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst was a significant aspect of Carrington’s personal and artistic journey, characterized by passion, collaboration, and eventual turmoil.
Carrington first met Max Ernst, a renowned Surrealist artist, in London in the 1930s. Despite their considerable age difference—he was twenty-six years her senior—they were drawn to each other both romantically and artistically. Ernst, captivated by Carrington’s vibrant personality and artistic talent, quickly became her mentor and lover.
Their relationship flourished creatively, with Carrington finding inspiration in Ernst’s Surrealist techniques and his exploration of the subconscious mind. She absorbed his influence into her own work, developing a unique style that blended elements of Surrealism with her own imaginative visions.
In 1938, Carrington and Ernst fled to France together, where they lived in a farmhouse in Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche. This period marked a prolific phase in Carrington’s artistic career, as she produced several notable works, including her famous painting “Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse).”
However, their idyllic life was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Ernst, as a German national, was arrested by the French authorities and interned as an enemy alien. Carrington was devastated by his imprisonment, and his absence triggered a period of emotional turmoil for her.
During Ernst’s internment, Carrington experienced a series of psychological crises, culminating in her own mental breakdown and subsequent institutionalization in a psychiatric hospital. This traumatic experience profoundly influenced her artistic output, as seen in her memoir “Down Below,” which recounts her journey through madness and eventual recovery.
Despite Carrington’s deep affection for Ernst, their relationship ultimately unraveled under the strain of wartime upheaval and personal struggles. Ernst’s subsequent marriage to Peggy Guggenheim further strained their bond, leading to their eventual separation.
Although their romantic relationship ended, Carrington and Ernst maintained a mutual respect for each other’s artistic talents. Their connection continued to influence Carrington’s work, as she grappled with themes of love, loss, and personal transformation in her art and writing.
Portrait of Max Ernst by Leonora Carrington, c.1939. National Galleries of Scotland; purchased with assistance from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and the Art Fund, 2018 © The Estate of Leonora Carrington
Below, I have added some more works by Leonora that showcase her incredible talent. Firstly, her paintings and secondly, the incredible sculptures she created that are located in a secret garden and the Leonora Carrington Museum in Xilitla, Mexico.
Leonora Carrington, The House Opposite, 1945
Leonora Carrington painted Down Below in 1940, while she was institutionalised in an asylum in Santander. Joanna Moorhead reads each of these figures – sultry, androgynous, arcane – as different facets of the artist herself, including the moss-covered horse to the right
The Bird Men of Burnley, 1970
A Minotaur painted by Leonora Carrington in Plutarco´s home in Xilitla
Leonora Carrington Museum, Xilitla, Mexico
Leonora Carrington at 84, photographed in late 2000 during an interview with Reuters in her house and studio in the bohemian Roma district of Mexico City, where she had lived for the past 50 years. Courtesy Reuters / Alamy Stock Photo
