Max Ernst (American and French, born Germany, 1891-1976)
Written by Leonora Carrington (English, active Mexico, 1917-2011)
La dame ovale (The Oval Woman)
INV-2445
Max Ernst (American and French, born Germany, 1891-1976)
Written by Leonora Carrington (English, active Mexico, 1917-2011)Paris: G.L.M. (Guy Lévis Mano), 1939
La dame ovale (The Oval Woman)
Max Ernst (American and French, born Germany, 1891-1976) Written by Leonora Carrington (English, active Mexico, 1917-2011) →Surrealism20th Centurybook
Date
Paris: G.L.M. (Guy Lévis Mano), 1939
Medium
Illustrated book with eight offset lithographs after collages
Dimensions
H.: 20 cm (7 7/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Mary Reynolds Collection Fund, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
Translated to “The Oval Woman,” La dame ovale is a book that, through form alone, encapsulates the writing prowess of Leonora Carrington and the intensity of Max Ernst’s collages. Small in size, with a baby blue cover and only 535 copies printed, it imparts a sense of whimsy that reflects the dreamlike quality of Carrington’s fiction.
Carrington and Ernst were both prominent members of the Surrealist circle in Paris. This book was one of their last collaborations before the rise of the Nazi regime led them to find a new artistic haven in Mexico. In the story of the Oval Woman, as well as many of Carrington’s other writings, a central figure is a horse. In this case, a wooden rocking horse comes alive and possesses (or is possessed by) the main character, Lucrecia, and is destroyed by her father. To complement the story, Ernst made collages full of recurring visual symbols such as humans with animal heads and appendages that bring Carrington’s magical and ominous imagery to life.
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