Leonora Carrington's Painting in Philadelphia Surrealism Show.

3 hours ago7 min read

The rapturous painting 'Les Distractions de Dagobert' by Leonora Carrington, which recently commanded a staggering $28. 5 million at Sotheby's, now takes its rightful place as a crown jewel in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's centennial exhibition, 'Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100.' This isn't merely a transaction; it's a critical realignment in the art world's firmament, a belated but thunderous acknowledgment of a mystical visionary whose work was long overshadowed by her male counterparts. Carrington, an English-born artist who fled the turmoil of World War II to find refuge and her unique voice in Mexico, created this masterpiece in 1945, a period of intense personal mythology-building.The painting is a dense, symbolic tableau, far removed from the more clinical, dream-logic of Dalí or the violent eros of Ernst. Here, Dagobert I, the Merovingian king, is not depicted in regal splendor but is surrounded by a menagerie of hybrid creatures and alchemical symbols, his distractions representing a plunge into the subconscious, a rejection of patriarchal order for a world governed by magic and the feminine psyche.The painting’s narrative complexity operates like a filmic sequence, each element—the white horse, the crescent moons, the enigmatic figures—a carefully framed shot contributing to a larger, esoteric plot about spiritual transformation. Its record-breaking sale price is a seismic market correction, a verdict that finally places Carrington’s symbolic lexicon on the same financial and artistic plane as the boys' club of Surrealism.Its starring role in Philadelphia does more than just celebrate its value; it re-contextualizes the entire Surrealist movement, forcing a re-examination that centers on the esoteric and the autobiographical, qualities Carrington wielded with unparalleled depth. This exhibition, by giving her work such prominence, acts as a powerful curatorial statement, suggesting that the true 'dreamworld' was not in Parisian cafes, but in the expansive, borderless interior landscapes explored by artists like Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Leonor Fini. The painting’s journey from a private collection to a public museum spotlight mirrors the artist’s own journey from obscurity to canonization, a narrative arc as compelling as any Oscar-winning biopic, proving that the most enduring masterpieces are those that reveal their secrets slowly, frame by symbolic frame.

#Leonora Carrington

#Les Distractions de Dagobert

#Surrealism

#Art Auction

#Philadelphia Museum of Art

#Dreamworld Exhibition

#featured