Leonor Fini (1907, Buenos-Aires – 1996, Paris), an artist of Argentinian and Italian origin who moved to Paris in the 1930s, cultivated a taste for erotism both in her life and work, creating an aura of mystery and presenting a dreamlike, fantastical vision of the body and intimate pleasures. While preserving her artistic independence, she was close to the Surrealists and considered herself androgynous, rejecting preconceived notions of what a woman artist should be. With “her physical beauty, her art and her legions of lovers whose names read like a roll call of the literary and artistic talents of that brilliant age” (The London Times), she became a legendary figure of female emancipation and sexuality.

During her lifetime, Leonor Fini was the subject of retrospective exhibitions in Belgium (1965), Italy (1983), Japan (1972-73, 1985-86), and France (1986). Posthumous retrospectives were also held at institutions in Italy (2005, 2009), Japan (2005), Germany (1997-98), and Sweden (2014). In 2021, her work was featured in the exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders at Tate Modern in London. In 2022, Leonor Fini work was included in a historical section of the 59th Venice Biennale. Her work will also be part of the upcoming exhibition Le Surréalisme D’abord et Toujours at Centre Pompidou, opening in September 2024. Furthermore, a retrospective exhibition dedicated to her figure will be held at the Musée de l’Art Moderne de Paris in 2026-2027.

Leonor Fini’s work form part of the collections of: Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy ; Tate Modern, London, UK; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, USA; Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan; Musée de Grenoble, France; Museo Revoltella, Trieste, Italy; and Museum of Modern Art, Brussels, Belgium, among others.