“I paint pictures which do not exist and which I would like to see.”
August 31, 2012 4:38 AM   Subscribe

Argentine born sometime Surrealist artist Leonor Fini was a Cat lover, extraordinaire.
She depicted women exploring their own identity at a time when female identity both physically and mentally was being defined by men, once declaring:
A woman should live with two men; one more a lover and the other more a friend.
Photographed by many; showing her dressed in Cat costume or sitting with one of her numerous cats; and her art frequently figured them somewhere or other.
More photographs of her and a video. Like the rest of her work some are NSFW and some feature cats. A brief biography.
posted by adamvasco (7 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Her mask kicks ass and suggests that "crazy cat lady" should signify fear and respect, not laughter.

(On a side-note, in this 1933 photo (NSFW), which shows her naked underwater, she was obviously shaving in what we would think of as a very contemporary way; these things aren't as new as some discussions would suggest.)
posted by Forktine at 6:25 AM on August 31, 2012


Thanks for this, very interesting. From my experience I think her declaration also holds true that "a man should live with two women one more a lover and the other more of a friend with benefits."
posted by incandissonance at 6:27 AM on August 31, 2012


The Katten Kabinet museum (!) in Amsterdam, dedicated to all things feline, has a number of her pictures on exhibit right now. My visit there this spring was my first introduction to Leonor Fini, and her prints are striking to behold in person.
posted by gyges at 7:12 AM on August 31, 2012


"Every man needs two women: a quiet home-maker, and a thrilling nymph."
-Iris Murdoch

I'm envisioning some elaborate system of interlocking love triangles that would provide these things to every man and woman. It seems like it would eat up a lot of time.
posted by Balna Watya at 7:51 AM on August 31, 2012 [1 favorite]


I bet she was high maintenance.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 7:52 AM on August 31, 2012


In 1968 (aged 61) she illustrated the "Histoire d'O."

GallonofAlan does it matter? I believe she was wealthy enough to live as and how she pleased.
posted by adamvasco at 8:38 AM on August 31, 2012


It seems like it would eat up a lot of time.

Time that otherwise would have been spent on waging war!
posted by Apocryphon at 10:10 AM on August 31, 2012


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