The surrealist worlds of Leonora Carrington unveiled in Paris

One of the most anticipated Paris museum exhibitions of the season has officially opened at the Musée du Luxembourg. On view from February 18th to July 19th, 2026, Leonora Carrington is the first major retrospective in France devoted exclusively to this singular figure among women surrealist painters. Bringing together 126 works, the exhibition repositions Leonora Carrington at the forefront of women in surrealism, celebrating her radical imagination and enduring relevance.

Born in 1917 in Lancashire, England, Carrington forged her artistic identity through constant movement—across Europe, the United States, and ultimately Mexico, where she became a cult figure. Her work, poised between surrealism, mythology, feminism, and esotericism, remains strikingly contemporary.

Vitruvian women in surrealism: the making of a visionary

The exhibition presents Carrington as a “Vitruvian Woman,” a total artist embodying harmony and innovation. Through a chronological and thematic approach, visitors trace her formative years in post-Victorian England and her initiatory stay in Florence, where Renaissance art left a lasting impression.

Early works such as the Sisters of the Moon series reveal her lifelong fascination with powerful female figures, alternate cosmologies, and esoteric symbolism. From there, the show explores her involvement with the Surrealist group in Paris, her relationship with Max Ernst, and her immersion in a creative circle that redefined the avant-garde. In doing so, the exhibition highlights Carrington’s pivotal place within Women in surrealism, not as a muse, but as a formidable creator in her own right.

One of the must-see exhibitions at a Paris museum: a journey across continents and inner worlds

Structured into key sections, the retrospective examines Carrington’s “vital grand tour,” her Celtic and post-Victorian roots, and her deep engagement with mythology, alchemy, and tarot. Another section focuses on exile and transformation, reflecting her travels through Spain and New York before settling in Mexico.

Her paintings and drawings—populated by hybrid creatures, mystical feasts, floating worlds, and metamorphic beings—merge human and animal, masculine and feminine. These dreamlike compositions give form to an alternative universe shaped by trauma, reinvention, ecofeminism, and spiritual inquiry.

By combining biography with symbolism, the exhibition positions Leonora Carrington as both perpetual traveler and seeker of self-knowledge. More than a historical survey, it is an invitation to rediscover one of the most compelling women surrealist painters of the 20th century—an artist whose visionary language continues to resonate powerfully within today’s cultural landscape.