The Last Fish 1974

Leonora Carrington painted "The Last Fish" in 1974, using oil on canvas, and the way she's worked the surface feels really crucial to understanding the work. The sepia and grey palette is very earthy, suggesting a landscape or a dreamscape, or maybe they are the same thing. The paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the canvas to peek through, which gives it a sense of age, almost like a fresco. The brushwork is smooth blending one tone into the next, the only colour is the pale pink of the fish's eye, staring out at us. The shapes in the background feel like a cluster of igloo structures that have antennae which feel very technological, contrasting with the natural world. The single fish, set against the dark void makes you feel that it is the very last one, set apart, both precious and vulnerable. It’s reminiscent of Remedios Varo’s dreamlike landscapes, where science and mysticism meet, but with Carrington’s distinctively unsettling touch.