Leonora Carrington RIP

Leonora Carrington, whose death was announced today, has long been a heroine and a favourite artist of mine: the works of hers I saw at West Dean courtesy of The Edward James Foundation were a delight to see, and there is something wonderfully magical about her style.

In the past I've written and researched a little about Carrington - my alter life as a scholar of Surrealism, especially English Surrealism demanded it - but her works across all media were so vibrant and compelling, I loved finding out more about her.

Obituaries from the Guardian, and especially the New York Times are worth looking at and reading.

I was rather amused that the Lancashire Telegraph got the local angle in on this "Chorley-born artist", especially given that it was Mexico's national council for culture and the arts that announced her death earlier this week (she had lived in Mexico since the 1940s).

Names

Loved the original article by Joanna Moorhead on women changing their names when they marry which the Guardian published just after Xmas (even if it is a well-trodden path for the paper). Loved even more the letters generated. Always fun to read this kind of thing.

Still, I was even more intrigued to find another article by Joanna Moorhead when I was looking online for the links today: a piece by her on the obscure name and persona of Leonora Carrington, surrealist artist.

For those who know me, and my long-term interest in Surrealism, they will certainly know that Leonora's name is well-known to me. She remains one of the most fascinating of Surrealist artists, and certainly one of the most magical in the way her painting and writing capture the excess of reality embodied by Surrealism.

Lovely to see that she is still going strong. There are some nice images of her work here and I especially love Portrait of the Late Mrs Partridge from 1947.

Conroy Maddox: the (almost) farewell of British Surrealism

Back in my undergraduate days, I wrote my dissertation on a rather obscure British, Birmingham-born, Surrealist artist called Emmy Bridgwater. As part of my research, I was put in contact with Conroy Maddox. Conroy, a familiar face to all researchers of Surrealism in England, maintained a profile on the conference circuit and was always thrilled to talk to people about the ideals of the movement and its practices from its 1930s-1940s highpoint. I last saw him four years ago at the opening for an exhibition of the Birmingham surrealists (Conroy Maddox and Emmy Bridgwater being two key figures) [NB link has my name misspelt].

So it was with some sadness that I found his obituary in the Guardian today even though I knew he had been ill for some time. He was a vibrant character and a prolific artist - some would argue the latter was to his detriment. But his bustling manner was a thrill to those scholars who met him and he was a mine of (often hilariously erroneous or exaggerated) information and anecdotes. I feel like part of my life has passed in his passing.

His work can be seen in the Tate Gallery collection and, more recently, work was acquired by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery as well.

Later adherents of the movement survive him, but Conroy's death marks the ending of one of the key moments in 20th century British art.