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Lot Essay
Leonora Carrington's interest in the magical arts predates her entry into the Surrealist circle in 1937. The powerful body of paintings she produced in Mexico record physical and metaphysical events, mundane and transcendental realities. Her passionate interest in the occult and many references to Gnostic doctrines appear in her work, such as allusions to techniques of divination and Celtic mythology.
The late 1960's and early 1970's were a period of political activism and Carrington was very much part of the formation of the women's movement in Mexico City. In the mid-70s, her compositional skills together with a fine technique present us with works of high pictorial quality, as with the present lot. This picture came out of a period when the artist worked on monotypes, painting leaves, gluing them to the canvas and then pulling them off. La Santa hierba is an enigmatic work that successfully embedds both her new investigation in technique and her interest in occultism and alchemy.
The late 1960's and early 1970's were a period of political activism and Carrington was very much part of the formation of the women's movement in Mexico City. In the mid-70s, her compositional skills together with a fine technique present us with works of high pictorial quality, as with the present lot. This picture came out of a period when the artist worked on monotypes, painting leaves, gluing them to the canvas and then pulling them off. La Santa hierba is an enigmatic work that successfully embedds both her new investigation in technique and her interest in occultism and alchemy.