Sphinx The Life and Art of Leonor Fini Author:Peter Webb Talented, glamorous and ambitious, Leonor Fini was one of the most influential female artists of the 1930s. From her opulent, bohemian childhood in Italy to her debut in a group exhibition at the age of seventeen and her rise in the international art world, Fini was legendary for both her vivacious personality and her ethereal subjects. This is... more » the first comprehensive look at Finis life and art.
Fini?s figures?sphinxes, felines, nymphs, priestesses, nudes? are bold proclamations of female sexuality that convey a powerful feminine subconscious. Also renowned for her theatrical set-design, costumes and posters, the artist developed close relationships with other avant-garde Surrealists including Andre Breton, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, and Max Ernst, who became her lover. Henri Cartier-Bresson?s nude portrait of Fini in a pool, taken while they were vacationing together, recently sold at auction for a record sum. Sphinx is a fascinating portrait of a magnetic woman who lived her life with panache and elegance, deftly wrapping drama into her art. ?Fêted for her paintings, illustrations, theatre designs and, above all, her flamboyant bohemian lifestyle.?
~ The Sunday Telegraph: Stella Magazine
?One of the most flamboyantly potent female artists of the mid-20th century ? outspoken, provocative and willfully contrary.?
~ The Times
?A sort of female Dalí?colourful, extravagant, as famous in her heyday for her personal appearance as her art.?