Leonora Carrington studied at Chelsea School of Art (1935) and the Ozenfant Academy in London (1935–38).
Quickly gaining recognition in Surrealist circles, she fell in love with Max Ernst (1891–1976), with whom she moved to Paris, forging a prolific collaboration before their separation during WWII after Ernst was arrested. Devastated, Carrington suffered a breakdown and was hospitalised. After escaping to New York, she finally settled in Mexico, where she lived for the rest of her life.
Carrington demonstrated a lifelong rejection of the traditional representation of women, particularly the Surrealist positioning of them as objects of male desire. In Mexico she became a founding member of the Women’s Liberation Movement and author of several books, including Hearing Trumpet (1976). She also showed extensively, including at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in NY (1947), Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in Mexico City (1960) and the Serpentine Gallery (1991). In 2010, she was part of Pallant House Gallery’s Surreal Friends exhibition – a celebration of women’s role in the Surrealist movement.

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