The powerful women of Surrealism who took the movement from Europe to Mexico
Surrealism may have been started by men, but it has been noted that ‘no other movement has had such a large number of active women participants’. Alastair Smart traces the contribution of female artists such as Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo, and asks what made Mexico such a welcoming environment for many of them
Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), El mundo mágico de los Mayas (The Magical World of the Mayas), 1963-64 (detail). Casein on wood. 213 x 457 cm. Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City. Artwork: © Leonora Carrington, DACS 2025. Photo: Schalkwijk/Art Resource/Scala, Florence
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