Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington (born April 6, 1917) is a British-born Mexican artist, a surrealist painter and a novelist.

Carrington saw Max Ernst's work in the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London

where she was immediately attracted to the Surrealist artist before actually meeting him.

She met Max Ernst at a party in London in 1937. The artists bonded and returned to Paris together

where Ernst promptly separated from his wife. In 1938 they left Paris and settled

in Saint Martin d'Ardèche in the Provence region, of the south of France.

The new couple collaborated and supported each other's artistic development.

With the outbreak of World War II, Max 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.