Portrait of the Late Ms Partridge 1947

Leonora Carrington made "Portrait of the Late Ms Partridge" using oil paint and, like all of her works, with a kind of fantastical imagination. The first thing I notice is how confidently she handled the paint. It is applied thinly, almost like watercolor, and the colors glow from within. Look closely at the bird-like form. See how she uses layers of blue and brown to build up the texture of the feathers. There’s a sense of movement and energy in those brushstrokes, as if the bird is about to take flight. The figure riding the bird is a study in contrasts; the bold orange robe and elaborate blonde head-dress creates a striking focal point. A tiny detail, but I love the almost transparent quality of the figure’s bare feet, which suggests a sense of ethereality, like it is barely tethered to the ground. Carrington reminds me of Remedios Varo, another surrealist painter who embraced the mystical and the alchemical in her work. Like Varo, Carrington invites us into a world of dreams and symbols, where anything is possible and nothing is quite as it seems.