Leonora Carrington - Max Ernst

Max Ernst

Carrington saw Max Ernst's work in the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London, and was immediately attracted to the Surrealist artist before actually meeting him.

She met Ernst at a party in London in 1937. The artists bonded and returned together to Paris, where Ernst promptly separated from his wife. In 1938 they left Paris and settled in Saint Martin d'Ardèche in the south of France. The new couple collaborated and supported each other's artistic development. It has been noted that these two artists collaborated together and created sculptures of guardian animals to decorate their home with in St. Martin d'Ardeche; Ernst created his birds and Carrington created a plaster horse head. In 1939, Carrington painted Portrait of Max Ernst as a tribute to their relationship.

With the outbreak of World War II, Ernst was arrested by French authorities for being a "hostile alien." Thanks to the intercession of Paul Éluard, and other friends including the American journalist Varian Fry, he was discharged a few weeks later.

Soon after the Nazi occupation of France, Ernst was arrested again, this time by the Gestapo. He managed to escape and flee to America with the help of Peggy Guggenheim, a sponsor of the arts. After Ernst's arrest, a devastated Carrington fled to Spain. Paralyzing anxiety and growing delusions culminated in a final breakdown at the British Embassy in Madrid. Her parents intervened and had her institutionalized. She was given "convulsive therapy" with cardiazol, a powerful anxiogenic drug that was eventually banned by some authorities, for instance U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition to Cardiazol, she was also given Barbiturate Luminal.

After being released into the care of a nurse who took her to Lisbon, Carrington ran away and sought refuge in the Mexican Embassy. Meanwhile, Ernst had been extricated from Europe with the help of Peggy Guggenheim, whom he married in 1941. Ernst and Carrington had experienced so much misery that they were unable to reconnect.

Three years after being released from the asylum and with the encouragement of André Bréton, Carrington wrote down the events of her psychotic experience in her novel Down Below. She also looked to creating art to depict her experience as can be seen in her Portrait of Dr. Morales and Map of Down Below.

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