Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse) 1938

Curator: It’s fascinating to stand before Leonora Carrington's 1938 painting, “Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)," currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The use of gouache lends a certain softness to the surreal imagery. Editor: My initial reaction is one of intrigue. The artist seems to exist in a liminal space, perhaps a dreamscape, populated by potent symbols and unsettling figures. The palette is muted yet the effect is quite jarring. Curator: Carrington, steeped in Surrealist circles and deeply influenced by pre-Christian Celtic mythology, used animal symbolism frequently to explore feminine identity and repressed desires. Here, her seated pose subverts typical portrait conventions. Editor: The hyena-like creature beside her, for example, evokes primordial instincts, almost a daemon familiar guarding the threshold of her unconscious. Notice also the rocking horse motif behind her, echoing a longing for childhood innocence or a yearning for escape. Curator: Exactly. And the framed landscape visible through what could be a window – depicting another galloping white horse – functions as a portal to alternate realms. This visual vocabulary reflects her experiences as a displaced expatriate navigating the sociopolitical chaos brewing in pre-war Europe. Her relocation to Mexico was a significant turn that really pushed those themes of displacement. Editor: The stark juxtaposition of the interior and exterior worlds contributes to the overall dreamlike atmosphere. It invites us to contemplate the artist’s subjective reality, fragmented yet powerful, hinting at the psychic journeys she undertook later in life, particularly during her institutionalization. Curator: Indeed, we can look at it as a study in feminine power, rendered in an intensely personal symbolic code that challenged the masculine gaze and societal restraints on female creativity. The self portrait becomes both an intimate confession and a cultural statement. Editor: I see your point. What stays with me, even now, is this unsettling intimacy she achieves, as if letting us glimpse into her deepest vulnerabilities through a keyhole of coded symbols and mythological metaphors. Curator: It's a powerful piece and thinking about how it pushed boundaries provides such important context. Editor: Absolutely, it speaks volumes beyond the surface.