Leonora Carrington

This catalog accompanies the major exhibition Leonora Carrington at Palazzo Reale in Milan (September 20, 2025 – January 11, 2026), the first large retrospective in Italy devoted to the British-born Surrealist painter and writer.

Featuring more than sixty works – paintings, drawings, and archival materials, the book traces Carrington’s extraordinary artistic journey from her native Lancashire to Florence, Paris, and New York, and finally to Mexico, where she lived for most of her life and became one of the most celebrated women artists of the twentieth century, alongside Frida Kahlo and Remedios Varo.

The volume is part of the Cultural Olympiad Milano Cortina 2026 program and offers a deep insight into Carrington’s artistic and intellectual identity. Richly illustrated in color, the catalog includes essays by leading scholars, exploring the mythic and visionary dimensions of her work.

The essays examine Carrington’s Celtic roots, her fascination with alchemy, feminism, and the occult, and her lifelong exploration of transformation and freedom through art. Through its interdisciplinary approach, Leonora Carrington illuminates the imagination and independence of one of the twentieth century’s most singular and visionary figures.