Highlights of the MOLAA Collection
LEONORA CARRINGTON
(England, 1917 - Mexico, 2011)
Druida, 1992
Lithograph on paper
30 x 22 inches
Accession: 2013
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
This work takes its name from the druids, religious leaders of ancient Celtic tradition. Several enigmatic figures cluster around a semi-anthropomorphic tree, no doubt an allusion to the sacred position of trees within Celtic religion, the star affixed to its crown perhaps suggesting the pagan origins of the Christmas tree tradition. A shrouded kneeling figure points with what appears to be a flower to a pile of rocks at the center of the image, evoking a magical animation ritual. While this and another similar figure appear human, they are joined in this circle of magic by a bizarre creature somewhere between a seal, lizard, and chicken. While born in Northern England, Carrington had Irish ancestry on her mother’s side and was fascinated by Celtic tradition her entire life. As a child, her maternal grandmother told her folktales from this ancient religion, claiming she was descended from the Tuatha Dé Danann, a mythical ancient Irish race who lived underground and practiced magic. This imagery would reappear in Carrington’s work throughout her career. This 1992 lithograph reproduces in rich color and refined detail an earlier graphite and watercolor work on paper.
Leonora Carrington, Druida, 1992
BIOGRAPHY
Leonora Carrington (Clayton-le-Woods, 1917 – Mexico City, 2011) was a British-born, naturalized Mexican surrealist painter. Her works combined folkloric imagery and dream-like compositions that subverted expectations of femininity. Carrington was born in England to a wealthy and religious family. Stifled by traditional gender roles and societal expectations, she rebelled against her family to pursue art and was inspired by the potential for freedom and subversion explored by artists of the Surrealist movement. She later became an advocate and leader in the Women’s Liberation Movement. In 1936, Carrington attended an academy founded by the French painter Amédée Ozenfant in London and later moved to Paris with her lover and renowned Surrealist artist, Max Ernst. She was forced to flee Nazi-occupied France during the 1940s and settled in Mexico, where she lived for the rest of her life. In Mexico, Carrington was inspired by the vibrancy of Mexico City and the rich Indigenous folklore and mythology. She was part of a thriving artist community with other exiled European artists and began exhibiting her work in Mexico and the United States. Carrington's work can be found in the collections of museums worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Tate in London, The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, among others.
