unexpected journeys the art and life of remedios varo

Though there is indication that she felt the influence of another Spanish Surrealist, Dalí, to some degree, Varo’s work is more closely related to Greek proto-Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico, and Surrealist artists like Paul Delveaux and Max Ernst.

However, like other female Surrealist artists (see my posts on Dorothea Tanning), Varo was dismissed as inconsequential by her male counterparts in the movement (who were not known for being open minded and egalitarian, particularly in their relegation of women to the role of “muses”). Through a series of associations, friendships and marriage, she fell in with likeminded artists and eventually became part of the original Surrealist circle in Paris. In her frequent visits to the Prado, she recounts an early fascination with Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. Remedios Varo (María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga) was originally from Madrid. Varo is the kind of artist I would have sought out years ago in my teenage fascination with Surrealism and Magic Realism, and I immediately saw in her work a source of inspiration for a number of contemporary magic realists, not to mention other areas in which pop culture may bear her influence.

My stepdaughter recently wrote me while vacationing in Mexico and mentioned that she had encountered the work of an artist I might like, if I was not already familiar with her, named Remedios Varo.Īs it happens, I was not familiar with Varo, and on investigating (bless the internet’s glowing electronic heart) I’m genuinely surprised to say that.

Unexpected journeys the art and life of remedios varo