Joanna Moorhead: The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington, 9780349008790, paperback, Virago/ Little Brown UK

The first time I came across Leonora Carrington was during a fascinating art exhibition here in Frankfurt about women painters in Surrealism called " Fantastische Frauen". 

Leonora Carrington's  paintings stood out for me, very detailed, vivid and full of fantasy. I became interested in her life which was colorful, independent, hard and extraordinary to put it mildly, always staying true to her core beliefs.

I belief books always find you; recently I stumbled across her biography by journalist Joanna Moorhead who is also her cousin.  Her book is a detailed portrait of this headstrong artist who came from an extremely priviliged English upper class background which she chucked to live life on her terms.

She is best know for her intense love relationship with the painter Max Ernst in  1930  Paris causing her to be estranged from her family. This was the crucial start of her path as a painter and writer but she and Ernst struggled as many artists do financially.

Leaving her well known Surrealist artist friends behind, she and Ernst eventually fled to the French countryside and she continued via Portugal to New York when the Nazis invaded France. Leonoara had many lovers after Ernst and eventually married a Mexican settling in Mexico City where she spent the longest period of her adult life,  had a family and became a famous, much adored artist.  

Moorhead does an excellent job  writing objectively about her  aunt but still manages to weave in her personal feelings and experiences with Leonora who became a huge influence in her own life and a friend.

If you enjoy biographies about extraordinary lives and female artists , this is a great one, loved it and learned so much.