Leonor Fini • The Dark Masquerade
On this episode, we learn that Leonor Fini did not limit art to the confines of the frame, for her, it spilled out into all of life itself. Every year, Fini and her two lovers, Stanislao & Kot, would host soirees at an abandoned monastery on the island of Corsica.
Join me on a masquerade through Fini’s imagination. Along the way we will witness a battle of wits between Dalí and Fini, we will also appreciate selected artworks from Fini’s mid-to-late career and interview Lissa Rivera, the curator for the first Leonor Fini retrospective exhibition in the USA.
(This is Part 2 of the Leonor Fini series, Part 1 is episode 30.)
DALI'S BANQUET
Leonor Fini (1907-1996) was a notorious figure in the modern art circles of France and Italy of the 20th century. Known equally for her early surrealist associations and her elaborate costumes as she was for her charismatic personality.
In the opening scene of Codex 31, we explore a banquet hosted by Salvador Dali at Le Train Bleu, in which Fini plays a perfect counterpart to Dali. Despite their frequent disagreements, they were early admirers of each other’s work.
Fini once mentioned that Gala (Dali’s wife) once offered to be her manager. She declined the offer, suspecting that Gala was being sent by Dali to spy on her painting techniques.
Gala, Salvador Dali, Leonor Fini, Andre de Mandiargues (1940)
Gala, Salvador Dali, Leonor Fini (1940)
MASTER PORTRAITIST
In her 20’s, Leonor Fini realized she could pursue two parallel paths to her career as an artist. In the one, she was a visionary artist, depicting scenes from the deepest parts of her being, and exhibiting alongside the most notable Surrealists of her day. In the other, she was a master portraitist, who was paid handsomely for her craft.
Collected here is a selection of her portrait work. Many of these oil paintings have never been photographed more than once, decades ago, by Fini herself. This is why they appear in only their black & white versions. They were commissioned works, done for aristocrats and royalty––echoing the work habits of the artists of the Renaissance, whom she so greatly admired.
Prince Alessandro Ruspoli & Princess Francesca Ruspoli
Portrait of Princess Francesca Ruspoli (1944)
In 1944, Fini painted a portrait of Princess Francesca Ruspoli, at that time known as Princess Francesca dei Baroni Blanc. While Princess Francesca sat before Fini, posing for the painting, Fini felt a certain darkness in her character, and represented her in this dark and imaginative manner; with a dagger and monster emerging from under her dress.
A few years after her divorce from Prince Ruspoli, she tragically died by suicide, in 1962, by jumping through her Milan apartment window. In hindsight, Fini’s portrait of her now seems imbued with an air of darkness and power.
COMPANION GALLERY: PORTRAITS
Note: for full view, after clicking a painting, click on the top left rectangle icon to see the higher resolution paintings in full.
To save an image, right-click, and choose ‘Save Target As.’
FINI'S MASQUERADE
THE ANATOMY LESSON
The Anatomy Lesson (1966)
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632)
Hans Holbein, The Body of Christ in the Tomb (1520)
Little Hermit Sphinx
L’Escalier dans la tour / The Staircase In The Tower (1952)
Little Hermit Sphinx (1948)
Sphinx Regina (1948)
COMPANION GALLERY
Note: for full view, after clicking a painting, click on the top left rectangle icon to see the higher resolution paintings in full.
To save an image, right-click, and choose ‘Save Target As.’
