Lenora Carrington was born today, April 6, 1917, to a wealthy textile manufacturer. An unruly child, Carrington was finally sent to a private art school, in Florence, Mrs. Penrose's Academy of Art. She became enchanted with Surrealism and after studying art in London, met Surrealist, Max Ernst. The two were immediately compatible and relocated to Paris, then Southern France, where they lived and worked until the outbreak of World War II and German born Ernst was forced to flee to America. He eventually married his benefactor, Peggy Guggenheim.
The devastated Carrington was in and out of hospitalization for her heartbreak and finally found herself in Mexico. She lived and worked there until her death at age 94. While in Mexico, she met and married photographer Emerico Weisz and had two sons. Her work seemed to always center around her life at the time, whether it be her joy and commitment to Ernst and their relationship, or her freedom later from mental anguish. It often contained magical, imaginative creatures. She also became a spokesperson for the Women's Liberation in Mexico and designed a poster for the cause. Although she never expected it, her work was widely exhibited and she was appreciated as one of the last Surrealist artists of the 1930's. In 2005 her work El Juglar (The Juggler) was sold at Christie's auction for $713,000 USD, the highest price to ever be fetched for a living Surrealist work. I have included an image of that painting below.
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