She has had an easy life, I mean she has never lacked for anything, but she doesn’t remember the last time she laughed heartily. The afternoon sun illuminates the orange-yellow room.

Of all the men who passed through her life, only one asked her to drop everything and start painting.įor many years, when she finishes her work she sits in the same chair, in front of the window. Men acted and women watched and Remedios was nothing more than a woman surrounded by men, men who, in their stubborn desire to change the order of things, did not contemplate the possibility of treating her as an equal. However, shaking up the cultural and social world did not include conceiving of women as artists in their own right. The world of dreams, chance, hallucination, theories of the subconscious, the mystery of the unusual, and transgression were the main pillars of a cultural revolt featuring writers, thinkers and artists who proclaimed themselves rebels. The provocation was the means and the end.

I loved the biography - thought it presented a reasonably thorough and interesting picture of Remedios Varo.The artistic movement Remedios became a part of was called Surrealism, a subversive movement that sought to influence the order and morality of the traditional middle classes through provocation. Two other paintings that address the scientific theories of Einstein present her thinking about time and gravity - 'Revelation' and 'Phenomenon of Weightlessness.' I was drawn to the painting, 'Harmony,' because of the scientific images but the amount of scientific information and commentary in her work far exceeded what I saw when I first saw it. The people who influenced outside the world of surrealists include Bosch, El Greco, Goya, Einstein, and the scientific thinkers of that time. Varo creates well researched, highly detailed, classically rendered paintings that are also fanciful, ironic, and filled with storied imagery. As with other responders, I have also wondered why she has not been as well known as other artists. Her life as twice an exile living hand-to-mouth with a group of surrealist artists, supporting herself with commercial art jobs, and incorporating her many interests and sources of knowledge into her work gave her the experience to create astounding art. She is even more interesting than I thought before. I have several of her prints but have not read her biography until know. Varo has been my favorite artist for many years.

Remedios varo unexpected journeys