Leonor Fini (1907-1996), La chambre d'echo

Leonor Fini (1907-1996), La chambre d'echo

Color lithograph, 87 x 102 cm (frame) / 62.5 x 76.5 cm (framed).

Signed (in pencil) in lower right corner, numbered (XL/C) in lower left corner.

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Leonor Fini - Argentine-Italian painter. She was born on August 30, 1907 in Buenos Aires, in a family with international roots (her father was Italian, her mother had German-Slavic roots, born in Italy). She grew up in Trieste, her mother's hometown, and at the age of 17 moved first to Milan, then to Paris, where she quickly found herself in artistic and intellectual circles. She met Salvador Dali, Paul Éluard, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Henri Cartier-Bresson, among others, with whom she traveled throughout Europe. These acquaintances had a significant impact on her work, and she is often referred to as a Surrealist painter (although she herself did not necessarily identify with this label).

Her work invariably has a highly symbolic dimension, often personal and somewhat theatrical in nature. She was fascinated by the female body, sexuality - her own personal life and relationships, by the way, have passed into legend*. She painted portraits of many representatives of the Parisian elite - intellectuals, artists, celebrities. She collaborated with fashion designers - her flare for Elsa Schiaparelli's brand became an icon of the company; she designed costumes and decorations for theatrical, opera, ballet performances and even films. She also illustrated the works of great writers and poets, including Shakespeare and Baudelaire, and wrote several novels herself.

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She was strongly associated with the Polish community in Paris. From 1941, she was involved with Italian aristocrat and diplomat Stanislao Lepri. But in 1952 in Rome she met Konstanty Kot Jelenski, a Polish writer and publicist. Soon all three moved in together in a house in Paris, where they led an intensive social and artistic life. Fini also became, to a large extent, the godmother of the success of the Parisian Lambert Gallery - at Jelenski's urging, she provided Kazimir Romanowicz with a list of her contacts - from art dealers to collectors, celebrities to art critics.

Leonor Fini died in Paris, January 18, 1996.

[JR]