Joanna Moorhead on Leonora Carrington

The Great Women Artists

Katy Hessel

Arts

4.8 • 877 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2019

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 06 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews journalist Joanna Moorhead, the long lost cousin, biographer and world expert of one of the greatest surrealist painters ever to exist, LEONORA CARRINGTON!!! And WOW, will it shock you to find out that Joanna only found out about her long lost cousin a mere THIRTEEN years ago, by which point the great artist was 89. Determined to track her down, Joanna flew straight to Mexico to find her cousin – who was never allowed to be spoken about in her family since her dramatic exit in 1937... Born in 1917 in a large gothic mansion – that inspired many of her later paintings – Carrington had an isolated childhood. The only girl of three brothers, age 15 Carrington was sent to London be a debutant, but she resisted, only to head straight to art school where she ended up falling in love with Max Ernst, the married Surrealist painter 26 years her senior... After a huge row with her family – she never saw her father again – she headed straight for Paris. But this was 1936 and war was imminent. And it wasn't going to be easy for the young Leonora to venture out on her own. Listen now to discover how the young Leonora escaped Europe for Mexico, the country where Carrington resided until her death in 2011... I couldn't be more delighted to interview Joanna about Leonora and her fantastically surreal paintings – many of which echo her childhood – and to find out first hand about the artist's life and take on her work, and of course, their meeting in 2006. WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Self Portrait (In of the Dawn Horse), 1937–38https://www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/492697 Portrait of Max Ernst, 1939https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/164061/portrait-max-ernst Do You Know My Aunt Eliza?, 1941https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/carrington-do-you-know-my-aunt-eliza-t11911 Green Tea, 1942https://bit.ly/31N9PoY Crookhey Hall, 1947https://bit.ly/2BNPhC8 Grandma Moorhead's Aromatic Kitchen, 1975https://bit.ly/2PnZGMV Further reading – Joanna's book: https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/joanna-moorhead/the-surreal-life-of-leonora-carrington/9780349008776/ Article on the book: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/05/the-surreal-life-of-leonora-carrington-joanna-moorhead-review BBC documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxEF1bjgt5Q&t=1121s Thank you for listening!! This episode is sponsored by the Affordable Art Fair: @affordableartfairuk Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Artwork by @thisisaliceskinner Sound editing by @_ellieclifford Music by Ben Wetherfield

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just this past October, our wonderful sponsor, the affordable art fair celebrated their 20th anniversary in style,
0:08.0	back where it all began in Battersea Park in London.
0:12.0	And wow, what a selection of artworks they had on view, from prints, paintings, sculptures and ceramics, and a lot of women, I may add.
0:19.0	If you missed out on this year's edition, or like me, are still dreaming about that perfect
0:23.6	artwork that got away, then do not worry.
0:26.5	Head online to browse the same handpick selection of emerging and established living artists
0:30.9	as you'd find at the fair.
0:32.7	Whether you're looking to purchase your very first piece, or perhaps it's that last blank
0:36.5	spot on your walls.
0:42.6	There's a wealth of advice and inspiration on everything from interior design to art-buying trends to help you make that all-important art-buying decision.
0:46.2	Discover the joy of collecting art on affordableartfare.com,
0:49.3	and thank you to our sponsor, the Affordable Art Fair, for making this podcast possible.
1:00.7	Thank you. you to our sponsor, the affordable art fair for making this podcast possible. Hello everyone and welcome to The Great Women Artist's podcast with me, Katie Hessel.
1:06.6	Some of you might know me from The Great Women Artists, an Instagram account I set up in October 2015,
1:11.9	which celebrates female artists on a daily basis, ranging from young graduates to old masters.
1:18.6	Well, in a similar fashion to the Instagram, this podcast is all about celebrating female
1:23.7	artists from a variety of backgrounds and histories. And I am so excited to be interviewing
1:29.1	artists on their career or artists, writers, curators or general art lovers on the women
1:34.3	artist who means most of them. What I want this podcast to do is celebrate female artists in
1:40.1	all different capacities so you, the listener, can gain a look into the greatest female artists
1:45.3	working now or from art history.
1:54.0	I'm very excited to say that my guest today is Joanna Morehead, a brilliant writer and journalist
	...

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