Self-Portrait

Leonora Carrington Mexican, born England

ca. 1937–38

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 911

Sporting white jodhpurs and a wild mane of hair, Carrington is perched on the edge of a chair in this curious, dreamlike scene, with her hand outstretched toward the prancing hyena and her back to the tailless rocking horse flying behind her. The daughter of an English industrialist, Carrington spent her childhood on a country estate surrounded by animals and reading fairy tales and legends. She revisited these memories in her adulthood, creating paintings populated with real and imagined creatures. Here, the white horse, which Carrington used as her symbolic surrogate, gallops freely into the verdant landscape beyond the curtained window.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Self-Portrait
Artist: Leonora Carrington (Mexican (born England), Clayton Green, Lancashire 1917–2011 Mexico City)
Date: ca. 1937–38
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 25 9/16 × 32 in. (65 × 81.3 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, 2002
Object Number: 2002.456.1
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Leonora Carrington / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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Illustration from Leonora Carrington, La dame ovale (Paris: G.L.M., 1939)

Multiple artists/makers

1939

Horse, Leonora Carrington Mexican, born England, Watercolor, opaque watercolor, and graphite on paper — Horse
Leonora Carrington
n.d.

Costume design for the play ¦Penelope¦: Fantastic Figure with Leaves, Leonora Carrington Mexican, born England, Opaque watercolor on board with prepared ground — Costume design for the play ¦Penelope¦: Fantastic Figure with Leaves
Leonora Carrington
1959

Untitled, from "VVV Portfolio", Leonora Carrington Mexican, born England, Etching — Untitled, from "VVV Portfolio"
Multiple artists/makers
1942 (published 1943)

Chiki, ton pays (Chiki, Your Country), Leonora Carrington Mexican, born England, Oil, tempera and ink on canvas — Chiki, ton pays (Chiki, Your Country)
Leonora Carrington
1944

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