Leonor Fini
Face and Flowers
1970

About the Item

Leonor Fini was born in Argentina in 1907 but travelled and lived in Europe with her mother from a young age. By 1931, she was in Paris, in the full swing of the Surrealist movement. Her work, like that of the other Surrealists, dealt in imagery of the subconscious. It is interesting to consider, with Fini, the difference between what one sees and what one envisions. Her initial, surreal works came about after an eye infection that kept her bandaged - essentially blindfolded - for nearly a year in her adolescence. Shortly after, she began to paint the waking dreams and visions she had experienced while without sight. While Fini was a full participant in Surrealism, living, painting, and exhibiting with those of its inner circle in Paris, her treatment of her subjects - the female figure, in particular - was distinct. The fantasy of her Surrealism was one in which women were central, powerful, and even magical, with the ability to transform and rule. Portraiture was a way for Fini to exhibit her skill and make a living, alongside her work on larger, Surrealist scenes. She was such an undisputed master of portraiture that her talent was sought out by elite figures all over Europe, even before she was 20 years old, and despite being a woman working in a field of men. When the other artists of her circle migrated, predominantly to the United States, to flee World War II, Fini stayed in Europe, travelling the continent to avoid conflict for nearly six years before settling for good in Paris in 1946. Fini’s artistic career spanned 70 years, and included costume and set design in addition to painting. Throughout her life, she shirked societal expectations and held her own in a notoriously misogynistic professional circle. In full command of her media, she conveyed her personal attitudes toward power, sex, and politics, yielding a vast portfolio rich in dreamlike scenes and reimaginations of social roles.

Creator:
Leonor Fini (1908 - 1996, French)
Creation Year:
1970
Dimensions:
Height: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)Width: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)
More Editions & Sizes:
e.a. 1Price: $5,040
Medium:
Etching
Movement & Style:
Surrealist
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Columbia, MO
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1976214382772

Shop All Leonor Fini

Leonor Fini

Leonor Fini was the life of the party during the French Surrealist movement. A socialite with connections to some of the movement's biggest names, Fini was also an astoundingly gifted artist in her own right. In fact, many consider her to be the most fiercely independent female artist of the 20th century. A theatrical personality, Fini created prints, paintings and drawings that are widely revered for their sensuous qualities and raw energy.

Fini's life started off in a dramatic fashion, which was perhaps a portent of things to come. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1907, but her parents separated soon after and her mother took her away to Trieste, Italy. Due to her father's attempts to kidnap her, Fini was often dressed as a boy throughout her childhood.

Fini was surrounded by artistic women in Trieste, and she naturally developed a love for art as well. By the time she was 17, she had become familiar with Renaissance art and Mannerist painting and was exhibiting her own portraits. In 1931, at just 24 years of age, Fini moved to Paris and became acquainted with influential artists Giorgio de Chirico and Carlos Carrà. She also met and started a romantic relationship with Surrealist pioneer Max Ernst, who introduced her to others in the movement.

Though she had no formal art education, Fini proved herself to be both technically masterful and creatively exceptional. Her work and her flamboyant personality attracted the attention of many of the 20th century's most celebrated artists and thinkers, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus and Jean Genet, just to name a very few. She exhibited her work in many Parisian art galleries, including the gallery of Christian Dior before the fashion icon became a designer.

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