- 4
Leonora Carrington (b. 1917)
Description
- Leonora Carrington
- Sin Título
- signed and dated 1964 lower left
- oil on canvas
- 13 1/8 by 31 7/8 in.
- 33.3 by 81 cm
Provenance
Acquired from the artist by the previous owner
Gift to the present owner from the above
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
The relationship between Leonora Carrington's visual and written work is nowhere better illustrated than in this remarkable oil on canvas, dated 1964. The Surrealist leader and poet, André Breton, was delighted with Carrington's fantastical and slightly wicked stories and included her in his landmark anthology Black Humor. This work bears thematic resemblance to a short story the artist wrote in 1941 while living in New York City, titled White Rabbits, first published in the Surrealist journal View (nos. 9-10, 1941-42). In this tale, the artist turned-around the status quo by transforming rabbits, those most docile of animals, into ravenous meat-eating creatures.
In the 1950s and 1960s Carrington was actively involved in the theater in Mexico and this painting has the feeling of a staged performance. While ghostly spectators look on from an arena in the background, cages have been opened to let forth a surprising group of creatures. A hybrid monster, part horse, bird, and human, confronts a band of attacking rabbits, to the viewer's quizzical surprise. The delicate pastel tones of the pink sky and green ground lend the scene a fairy tale air redolent of one of the Victorian era nursery rhymes the artist grew up with, full of gleeful violence.
Susan L. Aberth
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY