Out of This World: The Surreal Art of Leonora Carrington
by Michelle Markel (Author) Amanda Hall (Illustrator)
A gorgeously illustrated picture book biography about the fascinating life of surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, from Michelle Markel and Amanda Hall, the acclaimed team behind The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau.
Ever since she was a little girl, Leonora Carrington loved to draw on walls, in books, on paper--and she loved the fantastic tales her grandmother told that took her to worlds that shimmered beyond this one, where legends became real.
Leonora's parents wanted her to become a proper English lady, but there was only one thing she wanted, even if it was unsuitable: to be an artist. In London, she discovered a group of artists called surrealists, who were stunning the world with their mysterious creations. This was the kind of art she had to make. This was the kind of person she had to be.
From life in Paris creating art alongside Max Ernst, to Mexico where she met Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Leonora's life became intertwined with powerful events and people that shaped the twentieth century.
Out of This World is the powerful, stunningly told story of Leonora Carrington, a girl who made art out of her imagination and created some of the most enigmatic and startling works of the last eighty years.
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School Library Journal
K-Gr 4--Markel describes the journey of Leonora Carrington from her privileged childhood and her mutinous days as a school girl to her flourishing career in Paris and Mexico City. In the narrative, Carrington's imagination turns domestic spaces and scenes of war into fantastical landscapes full of animal-women and mystical creatures. Surrealism is explained discreetly as Carrington paints against conventions of class, gender, and aesthetics. Hall's illustrations effectively mimic Carrington's style, with wonky perspectives, muted backgrounds, contrasting flashes of color, and delicate line work. The more famous (mostly male) surrealists whom Carrington befriended are never allowed to upstage her story. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera saunter by on one page; the "leader" of the surrealists remains unnamed lurking in a corner. Carrington's relationship with Max Ernst receives far less page-space than the strong female friendship she shared with Remedios Varo. In a time where STEM narratives for girls are gaining ground, Carrington's happy obsession with "cats, stones, and magic crystals" provides a reminder that rebellion comes in different forms. Despite being born into a wealthy family, the artist pursued a career that ensured she was "never rich and never proper." VERDICT For budding artists who are searching for a bridge between Barb Rosenstock's Vincent Can't Sleep and Javaka Steptoe's Radiant Child.--Katherine Magyarody, Texas A&M University, College Station
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
This striking picture book biography focuses on surrealist artist Leonora Carrington and her influences. Inspired by her grandmother's stories, which took her "to worlds that shimmered beyond this one," Carrington's sensibilities eventually made her simpatico with the French surrealists. When Germany invaded Western Europe, she fled to Mexico, where she continued to develop her fantastical style, rejecting confining gender expectations in the process: "Her women did things they didn't do in paintings made by men. Instead of lying on a couch, they were listening to the stars.... They were friends with monkeys, Minotaurs, and mythic birds." Rather than recreating Carrington's artwork, Hall complements the artist's imagery through her own strange and radiant mixed-media spreads. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JNF006040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Art | History
JNF007120 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Women
