Leonor FINI (1907-1996) - Lot 150

Leonor FINI (1907-1996) "Mister Venus 1972 Original etching signed in pencil by the artist, numbered. Size: 28.5 x 19 cm. Leonor Fini, born in 1907 in Buenos Aires and died in 1996 in Paris, was an Italian-Argentinian painter, illustrator and scenographer, known for her dreamlike, sensual universe, close to Surrealism without ever officially adhering to it. Raised in Trieste, she developed a singular artistic sensibility early on, influenced by the Italian Renaissance, ancient myths and themes of the sacred feminine. Moving to Paris in the 1930s, she frequented Surrealist circles (André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst), but soon distanced herself from them to assert a fierce artistic independence. Her work is characterized by a recurrent depiction of powerful, mysterious, androgynous female figures, often set in baroque, fantastical settings. For Fini, femininity is neither passive nor submissive, but sovereign, erotic and transgressive. Leonor Fini is also renowned for her illustration work (notably for the works of Sade, Apollinaire and Lautréamont), as well as for her costumes and sets for theater and opera. Her flamboyant, refined style left its mark on the visual imagination of the 20th century, particularly in the fields of fashion, fantasy literature and theater. Free-spirited and eccentric, she lived a life as theatrical as her art, surrounded by cats and lovers. Even today, her work is being rediscovered and hailed for its modernity, implicit feminist commitment and singular beauty.