Last month, Hindman Auction’s ‘Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer’ saw Abercrombie’s work achieve record highs for the artist, suggesting collectors and other art players pay close attention to female surrealism, both of the past and presently. Abercrombie’s 1953 Self and Cat (Possims)  sold through Hindman in 2003, going well beyond its estimate of $5,000-7,000, selling at $20,060. A month ago, the same self-portrait sold for $375,000. Other works in Abercrombie’s oeuvre reveal a similar allure, with familiar subjects like doors, shells, and animals fetching record-setting numbers as well.

What might this mean for other female surrealists? The success of Abercrombie’s works confirms the growing interest in surrealism, but more importantly, a focus on work by artists within the genre historically dismissed for being women. Artists like Leonor Fini, Remedios Varo, and Marie Cerminova (who often goes by Toyen) are prepared to follow in Abercrombie’s footsteps if they haven’t already.

LEONOR FINI

Although Fini might not consider herself to be a surrealist out of spite for Andre Breton, the artist has been grouped into surrealist exhibitions since 1936. Born in Argentina in 1907, the fiercely independent Fini grew up around strong women and artist types that ultimately influenced her decision to move to Paris in 1931. Known as an ‘uncompromising visionary,’ Fini flipped the gender expectations that accompanied male surrealist art, depicting women with autonomy and sexual appetites that paralleled her own practices. Men were framed as submissive, androgynous figures, and her 1942 painting of a reclining male nude could be considered the first example of an erotic male nude created by a woman. Her vibrant life translates into equally dazzling artworks, something collectors seem to be picking up on. Fini’s work has experienced a rise in popularity in recent years, with her record-setting Autoportrait au scorpion selling for 2,319,000 USD in 2021 at Sotheby’s New York. Oil paintings, most often portraits, remain in the hundreds of thousands range, while drawings consistently fetch thousands at auction. After passing in 1996, the artist left behind a prolific selection of prints, drawings, and paintings that have made their way into prominent private surrealist collections as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum in Japan. With such a wide array of works in circulation, Fini is widely sought after yet accessible to interested collectors. 

REMEDIOS VARO 

Varo, born in Spain in 1908, grew up rebelling against her Catholic school education, eventually moving to Paris in 1937 to pursue an interest in surrealism. She became involved in European surrealist circles but in 1941 fled to Mexico to escape the Nazi invasion of Paris, and later befriended fellow female surrealist Leonora Carrington. Her artistic career was gaining traction and she chose to remain in Mexico, giving herself the chance to thrive within the magical spaces of alchemy, dreams, and philosophy. Varo’s record-setting artwork sits at 6,186,800 USD for Armonía in 2020, purchased by businessman and founder of the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA). Varo’s captivating and dreamlike oil paintings have been reaching six figures at auction since the early 2000s, but in the past few years, have made a sizable jump with major collectors like Eduardo F. Constantini investing in her work. With Latin American modernists–and now surrealists–finding a platform in major auction houses, collectors have the unique opportunity to appreciate and support works from outside the established canon. 

TOYEN

Marie Cerminova, born in Prague in 1902, adopted the pseudonym Toyen to renounce any gender, a theme that would become prevalent in their explorations of gender politics and eroticism in art. A Cubist initially, Toyen fed an interest in Surrealism in 1919 and 1920 before moving to Paris to promote Artificialism, an alternative to more developed areas of Abstractionist movements. Artificialism aimed to frame and represent perceptions surrounding recollection, and during a return to Prague, they illegally continued in their pursuit of creation during the Nazi occupation. Eventually joining the Paris Surrealists in 1948, Toyen is often credited as the founder of the Czech Surrealist movement. Toyen’s abstracted influences can be seen in record setting works like Circus from 1925 and La Dame de Pique from 1926, but more politicized works like The Shooting Gallery (showcasing the destructive nature of war in the context of child’s play) have yet to make appearances at auction. In the past three years alone, Toyen has more than doubled every estimate for major paintings sold at Sotheby’s Paris, Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, and Galerie Kodl, settling in the 2 to 3 million USD range. In a market that reflects the increasing interest in female and non-binary artists, it comes as no surprise Toyen is staking their claim on that list. Surrealism may be experiencing somewhat of a renaissance, taken from both art history and emerging contemporary tastes. 

Surrealist exhibitions have surfaced at the Venice Biennale, the Tate, and the Met this year, including exhibits Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition and Surrealism Beyond Borders. The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in Utah took a look beyond typical art histories, championing a more complex and rich surrealist history by including the women who didn’t fit within the patriarchal canon that uplifted so many white, male artists. This shift is not to be mistaken as a blip on the art radar, as contemporary artists Ariana Papademetropoulos, Ming Ying, Inka Essenhigh, and more have been noticed by collectors, curators, and admirers alongside the historical surrealist revival.

from the desk of Madison Kelley

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Leonor Fini.” Weinstein Gallery. Accessed October 18, 2022. https://www.weinstein.com/artists/31-leonor-fini/. 

“Remedios Varo: Moma.” The Museum of Modern Art. Accessed October 18, 2022. https://www.moma.org/artists/8317. 

“Sale 1123 Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer.” Hindman, September 28, 2022. https://hindmanauctions.com/auctions/1123-casting-spells-the-gertrude-abercrombie-collection-of-laura-and-gary-maurer. 

“Toyen.” Sothebys.com. Accessed October 18, 2022. https://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/toyen. 

Villa, Angelica. “Eduardo Costantini Revealed as Buyer of Record-Breaking Wifredo Lam, Remedios Varo Works.” ARTnews.com. ARTnews.com, August 24, 2021. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/eduardo-constantini-wifredo-lam-remedios-varo-sothebys-1234602235/.