Leonora Carrington was a British-Mexican Surrealist artist and a founding member of the women’s liberation movement in Mexico. She was born in 1917 in Lancashire, England, and studied at the Chelsea School of Art. Carrington soon established herself as a key figure in the Surrealist movement, and up until her death in 2011, exhibited extensively in England, Mexico, and across the United States.
In 1936, Carrington met and began a romantic relationship with the older German painter, Max Ernst, who would have a notable influence on her work. After Ernst was arrested for “Degenerate Art,” Carrington was hospitalized with a mental breakdown in Madrid. Following her traumatic experience of shock therapy, she retreated to Mexico in 1942 and resumed painting.
Carrington was the only woman included in a major retrospective of Surrealism at the Pierre Matisse gallery in New York in 1947, where she became an overnight art world sensation. Over time she also emerged as one of the leading voices in Mexico’s suffrage movement, designing many of its rally pamphlets.
Carrington’s dreamlike paintings and prints, comprising highly detailed compositions of fantastical creatures and otherworldly settings, are based on intensely personal symbolism. However, themes of metamorphosis and magic have given her art an enduring appeal. As said by the artist, in her classic novella, The Hearing Trumpet, “Art making is a magic which makes the hours melt away and even days dissolve into seconds."
Find original Leonora Carrington art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Heather James Fine Art)
$15,000
Drue
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Columbia, MO
Leonora Carrington (British-Mexican 1917 - 2011) was a painter, writer, and key figure in Surrealism whose work explored the sacred, the mystical, and the magical in everyday life. B...
Lithograph
Leonora Carrington, The Transparent Hen
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Miami, FL
Leonora Carrington The Transparent Hen, 1969 Watercolor and ink on paper 11 x 4 in Provenance: Private Collection, Dr. Salomon Grimberg (Gift from the artist). Private Collection, T...
Ink, Watercolor, Laid Paper
$716Sale Price|20% Off
H 19.625 in W 12.75 in
Ernst, Composition (Spies/Leppien 222), Histoire Naturelle (after)
By Max Ernst
Located in Southampton, NY
Collotype from frottage on vélin paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the album, Max Ernst, Histoire Naturelle, 1972. Published and printed by Verla...
Lithograph
Dali, Femme à tete de Roses (after)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Title: Femme à tete de Roses Year: 2004 Medium: Lithograph on wove paper Size: 30.25 x 22 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Unsigned and unnu...
Lithograph
'Tropical Fish', Psychedelic Piscatorial, Aquatic
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Murray' and painted circa 1990. A large and vibrant study of three colorful fishes shown stacked vertically.
Wax Crayon, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache, Laid Paper
$716Sale Price|20% Off
H 12.75 in W 19.625 in
Max Ernst, The Fugitive, from Natural History, 1972 (after)
By Max Ernst
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite collotype after Max Ernst (1891–1976), titled L’Evade (The Fugitive), from the album Max Ernst, Histoire Naturelle (Natural History), originates from the 1972 edition ...
Lithograph
$850
H 15 in W 18 in D 1 in
Original Mid-Century Red Farmhouse Watercolor Landscape Painting
By Thelma Fike Rodehorst
Located in Soquel, CA
Original Mid-Century Red Farmhouse Watercolor Landscape Painting Beautiful mid-century 1940's watercolor of a bucolic farmhouse scene - sunset, undul...
Watercolor, Laid Paper
$799
H 38.5 in W 24 in D 0.3 in
Original Paris le 14 Juillet Bastille Day vintage travel poster, linen-backed
By Marcel Gromaire
Located in Spokane, WA
Original "Le 14 Juillet à Paris" Poster by Gromaire, Linen-Backed, 1956, Excellent Condition. First edition lithograph poster, an after of a 1956 painting by Marcel Gromaire, spons...
Lithograph
$3,600
H 11.5 in W 14 in
'Au Cirque', Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Pompidou Center, Nice, Petit Palais
By Sylvain Vigny
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left "Vigny" for Sylvain Vigny (French, 1903-1970) and painted, circa 1935, on artists board prepared by Maison Franco, 19 Rue Pastorelli, Nice. Born in Vienna, Sylvain...
Watercolor, Gouache, Laid Paper
$3,200
H 30 in W 22 in
"Scarlet Ibis, Red Chair" Contemporary Surrealist Painting, red bird on chair
By Thomas Broadbent
Located in New York, NY
A red ibis perches on a red armchair in this contemporary surrealist painting by New York artist, Thomas Broadbent. The long legs of this water bird complement the design of the cha...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
$1,600
H 23.75 in W 27.75 in D 1 in
Mod Surrealist 1970's Drawing Watercolor Painting Jungle Fantasy, Unicorn, Lion
Located in Surfside, FL
Jungle fantasy Scene, Ink, Colored ink and color watercolor surreal fantasy scene, birds, giraffes, alligators, snakes, turtles, storks, unicorn and maiden in a tepee, lions and elephants. Laurence L. Donovan Jr. (1927-2001) was a poet, artist, and English professor at the University of Miami, best known for his poetry, much of which was inspired by Florida’s natural beauty. Donovan grew up in southern Florida. His parents were Ruth and Laurence Donovan...
Ink, Watercolor
$776
H 22.05 in W 19.69 in
Animal Surrealist Painting Royal College of Art LGBTQ+ artist Circle Life Birds
By Isabel Rock
Located in Norfolk, GB
Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. Hugely inspired by Paula Rego, Isabel Rock is part of a formidable group of women artists (Leonora Carrington and Eileen Agar amongst others) working with Surrealism. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams...
Paint, Ink, Archival Paper, Pen
A, Felip, Desolation
Located in New York, NY
the artist, A. Felip is a mystery. The title, Desolation, says it all. Further, this very compelling, post-war subject is so well drawn it has be be by an experienced artist. And th...
Lithograph
Penguin & Cactus, Original Painting
By Heejin Sutton
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A prickly cactus stands on an angular plane while a baby penguin rests in the foreground. Artist Heejin Sutton placed these two v...
Gouache
Ver las estrellas
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Columbia, MO
Leonora Carrington (English, 1917–2011) A visionary artist, writer, and sculptor, Leonora Carrington created worlds steeped in magic, mythology, and the subconscious. Originally from...
Paper, Engraving
Crocodrilos Sueños (Crocodile Dreams II)
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Columbia, MO
Leonora Carrington Visionary artist, writer, and sculptor Leonora Carrington (English Mexican, 1917–2011) created worlds steeped in magic, mythology, and the subconscious. Originall...
Bronze
Sold
H 18 in W 24 in
Leonora Carrington, "Crow Soup, " color lithograph, hand signed
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Chatsworth, CA
Leonora Carrington "Crow Soup" 1997 Color Lithograph Image: 18 x 24 inches, Frame size: 28 x 34 inches Hand signed in the image in the right hand corner Numbered 53/95 from the editi...
Lithograph
Crookhey Hall, Surreal Lithograph by Leonora Carrington
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Leonora Carrington, Mexican/British (1917 - 2011) Title: Crookhey Hall Year: 1987 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150 ...
Lithograph
Crookhey Hall, Surreal Silkscreen by Leonora Carrington
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Limited edition lithograph by British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington. Carrington played a major role in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s and was a founding member of the women's liberation movement in Mexico during the 1970s. Artist: Leonora Carrington, Mexican/British (1917 - 2011) Title: Crookhey Hall...
Screen
Tuesday, Surreal Silkscreen by Leonora Carrington
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Limited edition silkscreen by British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington. Carrington played a major role in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s and was a founding member of the ...
Screen
Tuesday, Surrealist Lithograph by Leonora Carrington
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Limited edition lithograph by British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington. Carrington played a major role in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s and was a founding member of the ...
Lithograph
The Walker
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This bronze is in the manner of Leonora Carrington, it is from the 1960s, purchased in Mexico with another sculpture by Carrington.
Bronze
The Palmist
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Surrealist bronze after Leonora Carrington, important Mexican Surraraist. 17 Inches tall
Bird Bath
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Leonora Carrington, Mexican/British (1917 - 2011) Title: Bird Bath Year: 1974 Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150, AP...
Screen
Tuesday
By Leonora Carrington
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Leonora Carrington, Mexican/British (1917 - 2011) Title: Tuesday Year: 1987 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150; L Size: 25 x 36 inches
Lithograph