Biography Of Leonora Carrington – A British-Born Mexican Artist, Surrealist Painter, And Novelist

Leonora Carrington was born April 6, 1917 in Clayton Le-Woods, United Kingdom. She was the youngest of four, and had three older brothers that rarely included her when they played, so she kept to herself and created her own world to live in. While her brothers were shipped off to boarding school, Leonora stayed at home and had a governess, who Leonora did not like, until she was eleven. This further encouraged her introverted tendencies, as well as her creativity.

At 11 she was sent to several catholic boarding schools and was later expelled from all of them for not “collaborating” well. Later on, Leonora’s father, in an attempt to push his family into a higher class, made her become a debutante. She predictably did not enjoy this which led to increased tensions with her father, she also chronicled her experiences at this time in her life in her book The Debutante. For college, Leonora decided to attend art school in London, and she found a place where she finally fit in. While in school she read a Max Ernst book, and became enthralled by surrealism. Then she met Max at a friend’s dinner party and they started to date, even though Max was already married. Her father did not like this and tried to get him arrested for the pornographic nature of his art, this attempt was futile. Leonora decided to go live with Max in Paris which of course enraged her parents to the point where she was told that she should never come back. When she got to Paris she was again faced with a boys club that did not include her with the Surrealists.

Nonetheless she stuck with them until Max got arrested twice and went to America, leaving Leonora behind. She then fled to Spain where she had a breakdown that culminated to her being brought to a sanitorium, where she was bound and tortured. After escaping the sanitorium, she had trouble with immigration and could not get back home so she went to Mexico and got married to Emerico “Chiki” Weisz and had two kids with him. She died May 25th 2011 from pneumonia. As far as her art there is a clear influence from the Surrealism movement and Max Ernst, so much that she is considered “The Lost Surrealist. ” Many of her pieces are derived from her dreams actually, most of them being part human and part animal. She normally worked with oil painting (“Mexico City”), bronze sculptures (“Dios Del Mar”), cast iron sculptures (“The Necromancer”) and mixed media sculptures.