This is the first book to survey the life and work of Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington (born 1917). Carrington burst onto the Surrealist scene in 1936, when, as a precocious nineteen-year-old debutante, she escaped the stultifying demands of her wealthy English family by running away to Paris with her lover Max Ernst. She was immediately championed by Andre Breton, who responded enthusiastically to her fantastical, dark and satirical writing style and her interest in fairy tales and the occult. Her stories were included in Surrealist publications, and her paintings in the Surrealists' exhibitions. After the dramas and tragic separations of the Second World War, Carrington ended up in the 1940s as part of the circle of Surrealist European emigres living in Mexico City. Close friends with Luis Bunuel, Benjamin Peret, Octavio Paz and a host of both expatriate Surrealists and Mexican modernists, Carrington was at the centre of Mexican cultural life, while still maintaining her European connections. Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art provides a fascinating overview of this intriguing artist's rich body of work. The author considers Carrington's preoccupation with alchemy and the occult, and explores the influence of indigenous Mexican culture and beliefs on her production.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'full of stunning colour reproductions of Carrington's visionary art, whose hybrid forms borrow from nature, culture and religion in order to take themselves beyond all three. A beautiful book.' --Ali Smith, The Sunday Telegraph
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Susan Aberth received her PhD in Art History from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York; her dissertation was on the art of Leonora Carrington. She is currently Assistant Professor of Art History at Bard College, New York, where she specializes in Latin American Art.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The bizarre life and exceptional work of an eccentric artist,
By
This review is from: Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy And Art (Hardcover)
Anyone interested in the Art and the life of Leonora Carrington will welcome this beautiful book. Surprisingly there is next to nothing available about Carrington, and the few books that are out of print only give very little information about her and not enough illustrations of her work. Hence this book was long awaited and is certainly the most extensive book yet published about this original, mysterious and fascinating artist.
In the foreword the author explains that the object of the book is two fold, to outline the artist's life and to provide an overview: "of the full scope of her work in painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and theatrical set and costume design" (p.9). If both of these objects would have been realized this would have been an extensive work and valuable work. The biographical portion of the book attempts to give a biographical sketch of Carrington. The first chapter covers her life from her birth in 1917 in Lancashire, England, to a wealthy Catholic family, as a rebellious adolescent, to her insistence against her family's wishes to attend art school. The second chapter describes her relationship with Max Ernst, their life in France and her "induction" at the age of nineteen to the Surrealist movement. Thee third chapter tells of her war time experiences which included being separated from Ernst who was imprisoned as an enemy alien in France, being put in a Spanish Insane Asylum, breaking with her family and marrying a Mexican Diplomat so that she could get out of war torn Europe. The fourth chapter begins with her move to Mexico in 1943, her marriage to Emerico "Chiki" Weisz, about whom we learn next to nothing, and her emergence as a mature artist, which coincides with her friendship with fellow surrealist painter Remedios Varo. Aberth explains that Carrington and Varo were inseparable and saw each other almost daily for decades. They shared interests in bizarre cooking, the esoteric, alchemy, witchcraft, cats, and of course painting. A look at the painting of the two artists from this time shows a remarkable similarity in subject matter, style and colors, yet both remain distinct. It seems obvious that they deeply influenced one another in many areas. These four chapters are the most interesting of the book and read as a most improbable life story. It is also in the first four chapters were the problems of the book start to show. First of all, there is a heavy reliance on the books by Whitney Chadwick who has written several books on Carrington and on Janet Kaplan, the biographer of Remedios Varo. We are given less and less facts about Carrington's life and it becomes increasingly obvious that very little primary research, if any at all went into this book. This becomes most evident in the last chapter of the book that describes the last fifty years of Carrington's life in barely five pages. The readers can also ask themselves what happened in this period when she became recognized internationally as an artist. Did she remain married? Did she continue having mental problems? What did she do after Varo died? Why did she move to the US? Why did she return to Mexico? How did she deal with success? Was she re-united with her family? The book reproduces about ninety of Carrington's works. Almost all of these are paintings. There are a few sculptures and one photograph of set design and costumes. Only a few paintings are described in any detail, so the readers have to fend for themselves to try decipher the symbolism and meaning. Most of the illustrations are of fairly high quality, but some are too small. The last photograph of Carrington dates from ca. 1960, so we have no idea what she looks like today. The book fails to deliver on both of its "objects" to provide an overview of both life and work, and in that respect it is disappointing. Very little is said about Carrington's numerous published books, which could have been used as source material to a much better effect. Still this book is valuable as it is the only book about Carrington and her art currently in print and it will hopefully attract many readers and new admirers. I can only hope that a Catalogue Raisonais similar to the Remdios Varo Catalogue published a few years ago will be forthcoming with more critical information about Carrington's work. A detailed biography would also be welcome. Despite all of my reservations, I still recommend the book highly, because of Carrington's bizarre life and interests and her exceptional original talent as an artist. Review by Walter O. Koenig
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leonora Carrington: Ave Atque Vale,
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Leonora Carrington (Paperback)
Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) may be gone but her influence on the art world is indelible and still continues to grow as time passes. Born in England, she moved to Mexico in 1942 and lived there until she died on May 25. She lived a life as exotic as her paintings and sculptures and writings. Until her death she was known as the greatest living Mexican artist and one of the leading figures in the Surrealism movement. Her career was associated with the greats - Andre Breton, Luis Buñuel, and her lover Max Ernst. She associated with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and was long considered an icon in Mexican painting -in the world and in her adopted country.
Carrington's art was a strange mixture of 'anthropomorphic whimsy and shadowy darkness'. Fairy tales from the dark side seemed to be her muse and her works are in the major museums of the world. In this very fine book, filled with excellent reproductions of her finest works, author Susan L. Aberth dwells on her preoccupation with alchemy and the occult, explaining how the art and ideas of Leonora Carrington were very much informed by Mexican spiritualism and myths and stories. Among artists and historians Leonora Carrington has been a lighthouse beam, and perhaps after such books as this her name will gradually become a household word throughout the world. She had few peers: she released her own haunting spirit into the world, and left. In her words, 'What death is, I don't know.' Grady Harp, May 11
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tantalizing introduction to a visionary artist & writer,
This review is from: Leonora Carrington (Paperback)
As previous reviewers have mentioned, there's surprisingly very little material available about the life & work of Leonora Carrington, still alive & working until her death at 94 in Mexico City. With such a long life & richly productive career, we could use a much longer & more detailed book! But until that time, this slim volume is a superb introduction to an astonishingly powerful creative force, one that deserves to be better known.
The author wisely focuses on just a few key themes in Carrington's work -- Celtic & pagan myth, childhood Catholicism & Surrealist anti-Catholicism, alchemy & the occult, and the multicultural history of Mexico, her adopted home. From the first, she emerges as a fiercely independent woman who knows her own mind, and who pursues her individual vision wherever it may take her. Always open to new sources of knowledge & wisdom, she seems to have incorporated them into her own strong personality, and used them to deepen both her life & her work. While we're given a basic biographical outline, what really matters here is the work itself, both visually & in print -- because Carrington is one of those rare artists equally adept at painting & sculpture on one hand, and writing on the other. The names of her friends, lovers, and peers is remarkable, encompassing much of the major creative tradition of the 20th Century. But in the end, she is undeniably at the center of that luminous labyrinth. If you're not familiar with her work thus far, go immediately to your favorite search engine & discover her paintings. These are mysterious, visceral, glowing images out of dreams, both archetypal & yet deeply personal. If they touch a primal chord within you, then waste no time in getting a copy of this book. Most highly recommended!
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