The Surrealist

The 20th century was a very significant era for women not only because it was known as the era where women started fighting for themselves but because the great amount of opportunities that opened up for women. Women had an active role not only in the art world but with social issues, technological and cultural changes occurring with the United States and Western Europe educational opportunities were presented. Women were actually being admitted into art schools where they can work in public spaces as well as work with nude models. This was a significant mile stone for women considering they did not always have the opportunity to attend art schools, which fundamentally enhanced their talents in art. Technological advancements in the 20th century such as photography and modern sculpting played a huge role within the art world in this era. Opportunity grew tremendously woman in the 20th century as they played key roles in performance arts, digital media and conceptual art. Women were smart about their resources and used their art and the media to fight against the status quo and making sure that all women were treated equal.

Self Portrait 

One the most significant artist during this time was Leonor Fini who was born in Argentina in 1907 and her life was far beyond normal considering at only 18 months her mother escaped from her dictatorial, browbeating husband to the cultured Polyglot Italian city of Trieste. Although Leonor’s mother may have thought she had escaped her ex-husband but he actually attempted to secure Leonor’s custody either legally or illegal, so he traveled to Italy to kidnap Leonor and take her back to Argentina. Indeed, “this experience surely established her life-long aversion to all displays and expressions of machismo” considering with Leonor’s life in danger her mother disguised her as a boy for 6 years whenever they set out the house (Peter Webb, 2). As crazy as it may sound the idea of dressing Leonor as a boy worked, considering her ex-husband actually quit his search and went back to Argentina where he was never seen again.

Labyrinth

This was only the beginning considering Fini’s career had a traumatic start. In her early teens Fini suffered from rheumatic conjunctivitis a severe eyes disease that forced her to wear bandages on both eyes. Although this may seem like a horrible thing it was very much what made Fini the unique artist she grew to become in many ways, for the fact that “living in a world of darkness for quite some time, she had little to do but develop her inner vision” (“Leonor Fini Biography”, 1). Fini spent most of her days visualizing fantastic images and after her recovery Fini decided she wanted to be an artist. Fini than pursued her passion for art and visited museums quite often and even studied renaissance masters. Fini became quite the artist “as vivid recollections of her childhood furnished the content of many of her later paintings, with their sepulchral, enclosed interiors, the life dolls and planarian governess” (Webb, 2). Fini’s talents were extraordinary and enhanced over time and her fame came from her first debut exhibit in a Trieste gallery. Fini’s visuals and works truly revolutionized the world’s perspective on art and its meaning especially to women. Fini drew the identification of women with an inventive nature but also using an analytic outlook and ironic stance.

Red Visions

Fini the surrealist artist was widely known for her gothic paintings that examines female sexuality as well as identity. The emblem of her work consisted of mythological imagery, in specific that of a sphinx. Fini’s work holds great meaning behind them as she demonstrates “her motifs developed into fairly unambitious testaments of resentment against male assumptions of power, sexual” Fini stated that “women have been mistreated for so long no wonder they are cruel” (Webb, 3). The message strongly favored women and reduces the masculine position to unimportance. Within her work the women are seen as beautiful of course but also powerful and intimidating, which not only demonstrates female sexuality but that which had been taught exclusively to males. Fini’s work as a female protagonist “are unyielding sphinxes and breast plated warriors, prone youths or victims under threat of castration or dismemberment” (Webb, 3). 

Although during this time period it was extremely rare for women to have their work placed in exhibitions, Fini did not have this issue but other very famous artists such as Frida Khalo who first got her work exhibited a year before she died. Many women faced this issue where there work was not exhibited until they there were 6 feet deep. Fini on the other hand linked with the Surrealist and not only got her art exhibited but custom like clothing and theatrical behavior. In 1936 her work was introduced to the United States where her work was included in a landmark exhibition “Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism” at the museum of Modern Art. After World War II Fini’s career took an even bigger leap as she designed theatre sets as well as do book illustrations.

Leonor Fini was a great artist and revolutionized art especially in the perceptive of women and her work was well known being exhibited in major museums all over the world. Yet she has always rejected being surrealist yet it continued to follow her even after her attempts to switch up diverse techniques and media trying to remove this woman surrealist image. Fini’s art is of great importance and it is almost impossible to praise her work without considering her surrealist. 

Work Citied:

"Leonor Fini | Biography - Argentine-born Artist." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web.           04 Apr. 2015.

"Leonor Fini." Leonor Fini (1907 - 1996) : Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.

Webb, Peter. "Sphinx: The Art And Life Of Leonor Fini ." The Art Book 17.2 (2010): 50-51. Web.