Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)

Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse) is a painting executed by the English artist Leonora Carrington and is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1][2][3] She began the painting in London in 1937 and completed it in Paris in 1938.[4] It is one of her most recognized works and has been called her "first truly Surrealist work."[5]

Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)
ArtistLeonora Carrington
Year1937-1938
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions65 cm × 81.2 cm (25.5 in × 32 in)
LocationMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Description

Self-Portrait features an interior space consisting of two walls meeting at a corner, a ceiling, a tiled floor, and an ornately curtained window that reveals a lush, green forest view and a white horse galloping in the distance. Carrington depicted herself seated on a chair in the foreground, gesturing to a lactating hyena on her right. Her wild tresses appear to mimic a horse's mane and the hyena's fur color. Above her head is a floating white rocking horse. The white of her breeches mirrors the white color of both the rocking horse and the horse seen in the distance, and her green jacket reflects the forest exterior. She gazes out to the viewer directly and sternly.

Symbolism and interpretations

Horses

Horses, in Carrington's work, appeared frequently and as early as 1929; they represented an aspect of her animal self as symbols of freedom and liberty.[6] Because of Carrington's interest in Celtic mythology, she would have been familiar with the Celtic goddess Epona, who appeared before her followers on a white horse. The white rocking horse floating above Carrington is most likely a reference to Pénélope, a play Carrington wrote about a young girl who is in love with her rocking horse Tartarus (or Tartar as he is known in the French version)[7]

Hyena

The inclusion of the hyena may suggest an "intrusion of the wild into a domestic space," which Carrington is ultimately aligning herself with as noted by her gesture towards the female hyena and their mirrored stares towards the viewer.[8] Carrington often identified with the hyena, in the same way she identified with horses, saying in an interview from 1999, "I'm like a hyena, I get into the garbage cans. I have an insatiable curiosity."[9]

Provenance

At the beginning of World War II, Carrington left the painting with German artist Max Ernst, who took it to New York in 1941. He gave it to art dealer Pierre Matisse, the youngest son of French painter Henri Matisse, sometime after December 1942, and upon his death, the painting was transferred to his widow Maria-Gaetana Matisse. In 2002, Self-Portrait was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation.[10]

Exhibition history
  • New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," December 9, 1942–January 24, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 122; lent by Marx Ernst, New York).[11]
  • Baltimore Museum of Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," February 12–March 7, 1943, unnumbered cat.
  • Worcester, MA. Worcester Art Museum. "Twentieth Century Portraits," March 21–April 18, 1941, unnumbered cat.
  • Arts Club of Chicago. "Twentieth Century Portraits," May 4–31, 1943, unnumbered cat.
  • San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "Twentieth Century Portraits," June 14–July 12, 1943, unnumbered cat.
  • City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "Twentieth Century Portraits," October 1–29, 1943, unnumbered cat.
  • Flint, MI. Flint Institute of Arts. "Twentieth Century Portraits," November 20–December 18, 1943, unnumbered cat.
  • Utica, NY. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. "Twentieth Century Portraits," January 1–29, 1944, unnumbered cat.
  • West Palm Beach, FL. Norton Gallery and School of Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," February 11–March 10, 1944, unnumbered cat.
  • Winter Park, FL. Rollins College. "Twentieth Century Portraits," March 18–April 8, 1944, unnumbered cat.
  • New York. Center for Inter-American Relations. "Leonora Carrington: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 26, 1975–January 4, 1976, no. 1.
  • University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin. "Leonora Carrington: A Retrospective Exhibition," January 18–February 29, 1976, no. 1.
  • London. Hayward Gallery. "Dada and Surrealism Reviewed," January 11–March 27, 1978, no. 12.30.
  • Milan. Palazzo Reale. "L'altra metà dell'Avanguardia, 1910–1940: Pittrici e scultrici nei movimenti delle avanguardie storiche," February 14–May 18, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 274).
  • Rome. Palazzo delle Esposizioni. "L'altra metà dell'Avanguardia, 1910–1940: Pittrici e scultrici nei movimenti delle avanguardie storiche," July 3–August 8, 1980, unnumbered cat.
  • Kulturhuset, Stockholm. "Andra Hälften av Avantgardet 1910–1940," February 14–May 3, 1981, unnum. brochure.
  • New York. Jeffrey Hoffeld and Company. "Women Surrealists: A Selection of Works from 1930 to 1950," April 30–June 8, 1985, unnumbered cat.
  • Women's Caucus for Art, New York City Chapter, Great Hall Gallery, Cooper Union School of Art. "Six Women of Distinction: WCA Honor Awards 1986," February 12–March 3, 1986, not in catalogue.
  • New York. Baruch College Gallery. "Women Artists of the Surrealist Movement, 1924–1947," October 3–November 7, 1986, unnum. brochure.
  • Stonybrook. SUNY Fine Arts Center Gallery. "Women Artists of the Surrealist Movement, 1924–1947," November 18,1986–January 10, 1987, unnum. brochure.
  • Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne. "La femme et le Surréalisme," November 21, 1987–February 28, 1988, no. 11.
  • New York. National Academy of Design. "La Mujer en Mexico/Women in Mexico," September 27–December 2, 1990, no. 43.
  • Mexico City. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo. "La Mujer en Mexico/Women in Mexico," Winter 1991, no. 43.
  • Museo de Monterrey. "La Mujer en Mexico/Women in Mexico," Spring 1991, no. 43.
  • London. Serpentine Gallery. "Leonora Carrington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 1940–1990," December 11, 1991–January 22, 1992, no. 1.
  • Preston, U. K. Harris Museum. "Leonora Carrington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 1940–1990," closed March 31, 1992, no. 1.
  • Bristol. Arnolfini. "Leonora Carrington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 1940–1990," April 11–May 10, 1992, no. 1.
  • Tokyo. Nippon Gallery. "Reonõra Kyarinton ten/Leonora Carrington," June 3–16, 1993, unnumbered cat.
  • Tokyo Station Gallery. "Leonora Carrington," October 14–November 12, 1997, no. 1.
  • Umeda–Osaka. Daimaru Museum. "Leonora Carrington," February 11–23, 1998, no. 1.
  • Hida Takayama Museum of Art. "Leonora Carrington," February 28–March 29, 1998, no. 1.
  • Tsu. Mie Prefectural Art Museum. "Leonora Carrington," April 4–May 5, 1998, no. 1.
  • Cambridge. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, List Visual Arts Center. "Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self–Representation," April 9–June 28, 1998, unnumbered cat. (pl.3).
  • Miami Art Museum. "Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self–Representation," September 18–November 29, 1998, unnumbered cat.
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self–Representation," January 8–April 20, 1999, unnumbered cat.
  • Paris. Mona Bismarck Foundation. "Peinture moderne au Mexique: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman," March 10–May 8, 1999, no. 136.
  • Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires. "Arte Mexicano: Coleccion Jacques y Natasha Gelman," May 27–August 1, 1999, no. 34.
  • Canberra. National Gallery of Australia. "Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," July 13–October 28, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 34).
  • New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Surrealism: Desire Unbound," February 6–May 12, 2002, not in catalogue.
  • New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, Part 2," September 28, 2004–January 30, 2005, no catalogue.
  • Paris. Mona Bismarck Foundation. "Pierre Matisse, passeur passionné: Un marchand d'art et ses artistes," October 20, 2005–January 14, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 96).
  • Museo Picasso Málaga. "La Colección Pierre y Maria-Gaetana Matisse en The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York," March 26–June 24, 2007, no. 3.
  • Manchester Art Gallery. "Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism," September 26, 2009–January 10, 2010, no. 30.
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States," January 29–May 6, 2012, unnumbered cat. (fig. 78; as "Inn of the Dawn Horse [Self-Portrait]").
  • Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States," June 7–September 3, 2012, unnumbered cat.

References
  1. Grimes, William (2011-05-26). "Leonora Carrington, Surrealist, Dies at 94". The New York Times. U.S.: The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  2. Press, Joy. "Leonora Carrington, the surrealist storytelling genius you've never heard of". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  3. Miller, Leigh Anne (2011-05-27). "The Last of the Surrealists: Leonora Carrington". Art in America. U.S.: Art in America. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  4. Aberth, Leonora Carrington, 30.
  5. Grimes, "Leonora Carrington Is Dead at 94."
  6. Aberth, Leonora Carrington, 32-33
  7. Colvile, "Beauty and/Is the Beast," 162-163.
  8. Aberth, Leonora Carrington, 32.
  9. Carrington, interview.
  10. Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation, web page.
  11. "Self-Portrait, Works of Art (47)". www.metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2019-03-31.


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