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Leonor Fini
Painting powerful women, sphinxes and dreamlike worlds outside the conventions of Surrealism.
Shocking perfume bottle · The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes
- Born
- 30 August 1907
- Birthplace
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Died
- 18 January 1996
More people
Leonor Fini
Argentine-born artist raised in Italy who worked across painting, illustration and theatrical design.
Early life
Trieste childhood
Moved with her mother from Buenos Aires to Trieste while very young.
Learning through art
Studied paintings independently and developed her practice in Italy without a formal academy education.
Career
- 1920s
Italian beginnings
Developed her painting and portrait work in Trieste and Milan.
- 1930s
Paris and exhibitions
Moved into Parisian artistic circles and exhibited alongside Surrealists without formally joining the movement.
- 1940s–1960s
Painting and theatre
Combined imaginative paintings with costumes and designs for stage and screen.
Selected work
Shocking perfume bottle
Designed the torso-shaped bottle for Elsa Schiaparelli.
The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes
A painting placing a woman among mysterious hybrid creatures.
Les Demoiselles de la nuit
Designed costumes for Roland Petit’s ballet.
Beyond work
Feline companions
Lived with numerous cats, recurring presences in her imagined worlds.
Writing fiction
Also published novels, extending her visual imagination into prose.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and references ↗Biography and contributions ↗Photo: Carl Van Vechten. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
