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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Varo and the second or maternal family name is Uranga.

Remedios Varo
Born
María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga

(1908-12-16)16 December 1908
Anglès, Girona, Spain
Died8 October 1963(1963-10-08) (aged 54)
Mexico City, Mexico
Alma materReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
MovementSurrealism

Remedios Varo (16 December 1908–8 October 1963) was a Spanish-Mexican Surrealist painter.

Born in a small town in Catalonia, her family moved often when she was a child. She attended the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid from 1924 to 1930, where she learned traditional painting techniques. In the 1920s and 1930s, Varo became part of the burgeoning Surrealist community in Madrid, Paris, and Barcelona.

Early life and education

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María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga was born on 16 December 1908 in Anglès, a small town in the province of Girona, in Catalonia. Remedios was named in honor of the Virgen de los Remedios ("Virgin of Remedies") as a 'remedy' for an older sister's death. She had two surviving siblings: an older brother Rodrigo, and a younger brother Luis. Her mother, Ignacia Uranga y Bergareche, was born in Argentina to Basque parents and her father, Rodrigo Varo y Zajalvo, was from Córdoba in Andalusia.[1]

When Varo was a young child, her family moved frequently throughout Spain and North Africa to follow her father's work as a hydraulic engineer.[2] While her father was a somewhat agnostic liberal who studied Esperanto,[a] her mother was a devout Catholic and enrolled her in a strict convent school at the age of eight. Varo's father encouraged her artistic endeavors, taking her to museums and having her meticulously copy his diagrams. While in school, Varo was somewhat rebellious. She read authors such as Alexandre Dumas, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as mystical literature and Eastern spiritual works.[4] As a teenager she became interested in dreams, writing stories which developed fantastical themes she would later explore in her art.[5]

In 1924, Varo enrolled at the prestigious Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, a school known for rigid and exacting training. Aside from the required classes,[b] she took an elective class in scientific drawing. One of her instructors was Realist painter Manuel Benedito, from whom she learned traditional oil painting techniques.[7] Much of the work she created from 1926–1935, particularly her academic paintings, has been lost; it is unknown what happened to those artworks.[8]

In the 1920s, the Surrealist movement was becoming popular with the Madrid art scene; the city hosted avant-garde intellectuals and artists such as Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel, Rafael Alberti, and Salvador Dalí. Varo became attracted to the surreal, finding inspiration in the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Francisco Goya, and El Greco which she visited at the Museo del Prado.[9][10]

Career

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Accidentalitat de la dona - Violència, c. 1932–1936

Varo graduated from the Academia in 1930.[11] Soon after, she married former classmate Gerardo Lizárraga [es] in San Sebastián. Lizárraga was a fellow Surrealist who worked in both visual arts and filmmaking; he was also an anarchist.[12] Following an outbreak of violence in Madrid resulting from the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic, Varo and Lizárraga moved to Paris.[13] In Paris, Varo enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and quickly dropped out, realizing she did not want to remain within the confines of formal education. Working odd jobs and engaging with the Parisian art scene, the couple stayed in the city for a year before moving to Barcelona in 1932.[14][11]

By the early 1930s, Barcelona had become the liberal and avant-garde artistic center of Spain, more so than Madrid. Soon after arriving, Varo started a romantic relationship with fellow artist Esteban Francés, although still living with Lizárraga; this was the first of multiple open relationships she would have.[15] While in Barcelona, Varo and Lizárraga worked for an advertising firm. Varo became part of a circle of other avant-garde artists, including José Luis Florit [Wikidata] and Óscar Domínguez,[11] and with Francés she came into contact with French Surrealists.[15] While sharing an art studio on the Plaça de Lesseps with Francés, Varo began creating her first artworks after graduating from the Academia. Her work of the mid-1930s indicates familiarity with contemporary Spanish and French Surrealist imagery.[16] Varo often played the popular Surrealist game cadavre exquis with her friends, and sent works she had made via the game to fellow artist and friend Marcel Jean for circulation in Paris.[17]

By the summer of 1935, the tension and violence which had caused Varo and Lizárraga to leave Madrid had spread throughout Spain; the Spanish Civil War began the next year. Varo's brother Luis enlisted in the Francoist army and died of typhoid fever soon thereafter, a course of events which would come as a shock to Varo.[18] It was in this context that Domínguez introduced Varo to French Surrealist poet Benjamin Péret, who had arrived in Barcelona in August 1936 to volunteer with the Republican faction. Péret was highly politically active; he was a member of the Trotskyist POUM and staunchly anti-clerical.[19] Varo and Péret soon became romantically involved; his 1936 volume of love poetry, Je sublime, was dedicated to her.[20]

France

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When Péret decided to return to Paris in 1937, Varo joined him.[20] Francés soon followed, and would compete with Péret for Varo's affection. Through Péret, Varo became acquainted with the inner circle of Surrealists, including André Breton, Max Ernst, Victor Brauner, Joan Miró, Wolfgang Paalen, and Leonora Carrington.[21][22] Varo felt intimidated by Breton—and Péret—at Surrealist gatherings, as the two fostered an atmosphere which André Thirion compared to an "entrance exam".[23] By the late 1930s, Varo had started giving her year of birth as 1913 instead of 1908; this would later be reflected on her passport and grave. According to biographer Janet Kaplan, she may have fabricated being five years younger to fit more closely to the Surrealist ideal of the femme-enfant: an uncorrupted, childlike woman intuitively connected with the unconscious mind. During the period of 1937–1939, Varo experimented with new techniques and influences, finding inspiration in the works of her friends Dalí, Ernst, Paalen, Brauner, and René Magritte.[24] Never formally a part of the Surrealist group, Varo nonetheless participated in the 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition and subsequent International Surrealist Exhibitions in Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City, and New York. Her work was also often republished in Surrealist periodicals, including Minotaure.[25]

While in Paris with Péret, Varo lived the impoverished and bohemian life typical of artists. They both worked numerous odd jobs; Varo, along with Domínguez, resorted to forging de Chirico paintings when particularly destitute.[26] As she was living with Péret, she became romantically involved with Brauner[c] and her work of the period was heavily influenced by his.[28]

World War II

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In 1939, the Nationalists claimed victory in Spain and Francisco Franco disallowed anyone associated with the Republicans from entering the country; Varo became permanently unable to return to her home and was isolated from her family. This deeply impacted her, and was a source of pain and regret throughout her life.[20] In July of the same year, the French government began evacuating Paris, and in September World War II officially began. Varo and her circle stayed in the city, which for the first eight months of war saw little action other than an influx of foreign refugees from elsewhere in Europe. As a foreign national herself, Varo now risked deportation in an increasingly hostile environment. Her association with the communist Péret put her at further risk, and he was imprisoned in early 1940 for his political activism.[29] Varo was imprisoned as well, at some point in 1940, for her relationship with Péret. She never spoke about this experience; the length and location of her internment and the conditions she faced are unknown. However, according to friends' accounts, it had an intense impact on her.[30]

While viewing a documentary film on French internment camps by Hungarian photojournalist Emerico Weisz, by coincidence Varo recognized Gerardo Lizárraga, to whom she was still legally married. They had lost contact when Varo left Spain, while Lizárraga remained to fight for the Republicans; when the Nationalists won, he fled to France and was imprisoned. After seeing the film, Varo and her network successfully bribed authorities and secured the release of Lizárraga.[31]

On 14 June 1940, the Nazis invaded Paris, putting Varo at imminent risk. She, along with millions of other Parisians, fled to the unoccupied south of France. Domínguez insisted she take his seat in a car going south, and eventually she arrived in the coastal village of Canet-Plage. Initially staying with Jacques Hérold and several other refugees, she soon moved in with Brauner.[32] By August 1940, she had left Canet-Plage for Marseille and reunited with now-free Péret. Marseille was, although unoccupied, not safe; the Gestapo maintained a presence in the city. Varo and Péret found shelter with Varian Fry's Emergency Rescue Committee, an organization dedicated to facilitating the migration of artists and intellectuals from wartime Europe to the Americas.[33][34] Over time, much of Varo's circle made it to Marseille, where they shared their limited funds among each other and met nightly in cafés.[35]

The situation in Marseille deteriorated in 1940 and 1941, and the Rescue Committee recognized Péret and Varo's immediate need to escape the Vichy authorities. With Péret having been denied entry into the United States due to his communist politics, they looked toward Mexico, which had declared amnesty for Spanish refugees in 1940. The Rescue Committee made appeals for funding of their travel to Mexico, and found places on the Serpa Pinto for them, which departed from Casablanca. Through unknown means, Varo and Péret arrived in Casablanca and boarded the ship, which was crowded with other refugees.[36]

Mexico

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Roulotte, 1956

Varo arrived in Mexico City in late 1941, part of a large migration of Spanish intellectuals and artists. The Mexican government under Lázaro Cárdenas gave Spanish refugees asylum and automatic citizenship, with few restrictions on employment; the European émigrés therefore contributed significantly to Mexico's economy and culture. Varo and Péret, rather than becoming ingratiated with the Mexican artistic community, preferred to associate with other Europeans, including old friends Lizárraga and Francés. Also within their circle was Gunther Gerzso, Kati Horna, Emerico Weisz, Dorothy Hood, Luis Buñuel, César Moro, Wolfgang Paalen, and Alice Rahon. Leonora Carrington, whom Varo had previously met in Paris, would become Varo's closest friend.[37]

Varo and Péret rented a tenement apartment together in the Colonia San Rafael neighborhood, which Varo decorated with artwork and objects she thought of as magical. She also took care of several cats and birds.[38] During the early 1940s, Varo focused on writing as a creative outlet, producing few paintings.[39]

In 1941, she and Péret moved to Mexico City and established a circle of fellow artists and intellectuals, including Carrington, César Moro, Octavio Paz, Gunther Gerzso, and Eva Sulzer. Varo collaborated with artist friends and took on odd jobs in art and advertising.[40]

In 1947, Varo left Péret, who moved back to Paris. Soon after, she joined a French scientific expedition in Venezuela. There she visited her mother and brother Rodrigo, an epidemiologist. Varo studied mosquitoes with a microscope and produced drawings of them for a campaign against malaria. She returned to Mexico City in 1949, after struggling to obtain funds for travel back.[41]

In 1952 Varo married Austrian refugee Walter Gruen, and ended her career in commercial art in favor of her personal artistic endeavors.[41] Varo found critical and financial success with two exhibitions at the Galería Diana, including her first solo exhibition, in 1955–1956.[42] The success of the 1955 solo exhibition resulted in Varo establishing a waitlist for buyers.[43] Her second and final solo exhibition took place at the Galería Juan Martín in 1962, where all of the paintings displayed were sold.[44]

Varo painted her final finished canvas, entitled Still Life Reviving, in 1963. She died of a heart attack on 8 October of the same year.[44]

Relationship with Leonora Carrington and Kati Horna

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Initially having met in Paris in the 1930s when the latter was living with Max Ernst, Varo and Carrington reunited in Mexico City. Carrington was an English artist who bonded with Varo over their shared experiences[d]

Artistic influences

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Varo was influenced heavily by psychoanalysis, popular in Europe during her time. (write more)[45]

One of Varo's major influences was Victor Brauner, whose work informed her understanding of dreams and fantasy.[46]

The characters pictured in Varo's artwork resemble herself, with heart-shaped faces, long noses, and almond-shaped eyes.[47] According to art historian Janet Kaplan, much of her work is autobiographical in nature; her 1960–1961 triptych reflects her time as a student in a restrictive convent school.[5] Her paintings, often depicting journeys and encounters with strange people, also reflect the frequent travel of her childhood[48] and her traumatic experience of exile and war.[47]

Varo frequently used Catholic religious imagery in her work, usually in a subversive manner.[10]

Philosophical influences

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From 1943, Varo became interested in the esotericism of George Gurdjieff, although she did not join any of the spiritual or philosophical groups that had formed in Mexico.[49]

Techniques

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Varo extensively used preparatory graphite-on-paper drawings to plan her paintings; she also created many drawings independent of painting. Prior to starting a painting, Varo would make multiple graphite sketches and a final drawing on masonite or canvas.[50]

Analysis of Varo's artwork

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Mexican philosopher Juliana González, a friend of Varo's,[51] writes that an element of "Romantic optimism" in her art distinguishes Varo from the broader Surrealist movement.[52]

Legacy

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In 1964, the National Museum of Modern Art in the Palacio de Bellas Artes held a tribute exhibition of Varo's work, with record attendance.[44] The Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City held a retrospective exhibition in 1971, which attracted the then-highest attendance in the museum's history,[43] and again in 1983 and 1994.[53]

In Mexico, Varo was not understood as a Parisian Surrealist until the end of the 20th century; she was considered a Spanish artist who was later influenced by Surrealism. In 20th-century art history discourse, there was little recognition or analysis of her participation in the French avant-garde, as was the case with other women Surrealists.[54]

https://mam.inba.gob.mx/coleccion.html#coleccionesdelmam

Selected list of works

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Notes

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  1. ^ Esperanto, a constructed international auxiliary language, was associated with anticlericalism in Spain at the time.[3]
  2. ^ The Academia's curriculum included strict and traditional study in anatomy, composition, perspective, color theory, architecture, figure drawing, still life, landscape painting, and decorative painting.[6]
  3. ^ Their relationship would result in a dispute between Francés, Domínguez, and Brauner in August 1938. After Francés criticized Varo's multiple romantic relationships during a gathering in Domínguez's studio, Domínguez threw a glass at him and accidentally hit Brauner, blinding him in one eye.[27]
  4. ^ When the two met in Mexico, Carrington had recently been released from hospitalization in a mental institution in Spain, and Varo had been released from French imprisonment.[39]

References

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  1. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 11–12
  2. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 11
  3. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 14
  4. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 14–16
  5. ^ a b Kaplan 2000, p. 18
  6. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 29
  7. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 27–29
  8. ^ Lozano 2000, p. 25
  9. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 29–30
  10. ^ a b Berland 2016, p. 132
  11. ^ a b c Gruen 1998, p. 43
  12. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 30–31
  13. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 33
  14. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 35
  15. ^ a b Kaplan 2000, pp. 35–36
  16. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 37–38
  17. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 41–42
  18. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 45–47
  19. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 48–52
  20. ^ a b c Kaplan 2000, p. 53
  21. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 55
  22. ^ Gruen 1998, pp. 43–44
  23. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 55–56
  24. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 56–57
  25. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 62–63
  26. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 63–64
  27. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 67
  28. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 64–67
  29. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 67–69
  30. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 71
  31. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 70
  32. ^ Kaplan 2000, p. 72
  33. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 74–75
  34. ^ Gruen 1998, p. 44
  35. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 78–79
  36. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 81–83
  37. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 85–88
  38. ^ Kaplan 2000, pp. 90–92
  39. ^ a b Kaplan 2000, p. 93
  40. ^ Gruen 1998, p. 45
  41. ^ a b Gruen 1998, p. 46
  42. ^ Gruen 1998, p. 47
  43. ^ a b Kaplan 1987, p. 38
  44. ^ a b c Gruen 1998, p. 48
  45. ^ del Conde 1998, pp. 18–20
  46. ^ Lozano 2000, pp. 35–37
  47. ^ a b Kaplan 1987, p. 39
  48. ^ Kaplan 1980, p. 14
  49. ^ Gruen 1998, pp. 45–46
  50. ^ Lozano 2000, p. 23
  51. ^ González 2023, p. 183, Abstract
  52. ^ González 2023, p. 188
  53. ^ Lozano 2000, p. 17
  54. ^ Lozano 2000, pp. 17–19
  55. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 257, no. 118
  56. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 258, no. 122
  57. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 259, no. 124
  58. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 259–260, no. 127
  59. ^ https://mexicana.cultura.gob.mx/es/repositorio/detalle?id=_suri:MAM:TransObject:5e011a9c7a8a0240e40331b5
  60. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 260, no. 129
  61. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 261, no. 132
  62. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 261, no. 133
  63. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 261–262, no. 134
  64. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 262 no. 136
  65. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 265–266, no. 154
  66. ^ "Remedios Varo: The Juggler (The Magician), 1956". MoMA.
  67. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 267–268, no. 161
  68. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 271, no. 171
  69. ^ https://mexicana.cultura.gob.mx/es/repositorio/detalle?id=_suri:MAM:TransObject:5e011a9c7a8a0240e40331b7
  70. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 272–273, no. 179
  71. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 274, no. 190
  72. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 279, no. 211
  73. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 280, no. 213
  74. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 286, no. 246
  75. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 288, no. 249
  76. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 288–289, no. 253
  77. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 290–291, no. 259
  78. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 292–293, no. 269
  79. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 295, no. 286
  80. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 296, no. 289
  81. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 296–297, no. 292
  82. ^ https://mexicana.cultura.gob.mx/es/repositorio/detalle?id=_suri:MAM:TransObject:5e011a9c7a8a0240e40331b5
  83. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 297, no. 296
  84. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 298–299, no. 303
  85. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 299, no. 304
  86. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 299–300, no. 306
  87. ^ https://mexicana.cultura.gob.mx/es/repositorio/detalle?id=_suri:MAM:TransObject:5e011a9b7a8a0240e403318d
  88. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 301, no. 311
  89. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 304–305, no. 329
  90. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 305–306, no. 334
  91. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 306, no. 337
  92. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 308, no. 345
  93. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 309, no. 350
  94. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 310, no. 356
  95. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, pp. 311–312, no. 359
  96. ^ Ovalle & Gruen 1998, p. 313, no. 361

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Arias-Jirasek, Rita, ed. (2008). Women Artists of Modern Mexico: Frida's Contemporaries (in English and Spanish). Translated by Corral, Marilyn Lara; Castro, Samantha; Villanueva, Angelina; Morales, Argelia. Curated by Mercado, Dolores. Chicago: National Museum of Mexican Art. ISBN 9781889410050. OCLC 255663225.

In French

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In Spanish

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  • Parkinson Zamora, Lois (2002). "Misticismo Mexicano y la Obra Mágica de Remedios Varo". In Vanden Berghe, Kristine; van Delden, Maarten (eds.). El laberinto de la solidaridad: Cultura y política en México (1910-2000). Brill. pp. 57–87. doi:10.1163/9789004334076_006. ISBN 9789004334076.
  • Rivera, Magnolia (2005). Trampantojos: el círculo en la obra de Remedios Varo. Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno. ISBN 9789682325984. OCLC 71295328.
  • Valcárcel, Carmen (2017). "Remedios Varo: espacios de la creación". In Millares, Selena (ed.). Diálogo de las artes en las vanguardias hispánicas. Vervuert Verlagsgesellschaft. pp. 407–430. doi:10.31819/9783954875894-017. ISBN 9783954875894.
  • Zanetta, Maria A. (2002). "Carmen Martín Gaite y Remedios Varo: trayecto hacia el interior a través de la literatura y la pintura". Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea. 27 (2): 565–595. ISSN 2327-4182. JSTOR 27742162.
  • Zanetta, Maria A. (2014). "Rebelion y Reivindicacion en Como Agua para Chocolate de Laura Esquivel y las Pinturas de Remedios Varo". The Latin Americanist. 58 (2): 157–174. doi:10.1353/tla.2014.a705925. ISSN 1557-203X.

Writings by Varo

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Sources (to use)

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journals

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  • Berland, Rosa (2010). "Remedios Varo's Mexican Drawings". The Journal of Surrealism in the Americas. 4 (1): 31–42. hdl:2286/R.I.17416. ISSN 2326-0459.
  • Brunk-Chavez, Beth (2003). "If These Walls Could Talk: Female Agency and Structural Inhabitants in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and the Paintings of Remedios Varo". Studies in Popular Culture. 26 (2): 71–87. ISSN 0888-5753. JSTOR 41970400.
  • Hernández González, Edilberto (2023). "Configuration of Subjectivities in Contemporaneity: Performance Writing about the Production of the Spanish-Mexican Artist Remedios Varo". Art in Translation. 15 (2): 178–192. doi:10.1080/17561310.2023.2231238. ISSN 1756-1310.
  • Lomas, David (2012). "Artist — Sorcerers: Mimicry, Magic and Hysteria". Oxford Art Journal. 35 (3): 363–388. ISSN 1741-7287. JSTOR 23322190.
  • Plunkett, Tara (2018). "'Melusina after the scream': Surrealism and the Hybrid Bodies of Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo". Bulletin of Spanish Studies. 95 (5): 493–510. doi:10.1080/14753820.2018.1497341. ISSN 1475-3820.
  • Santos-Phillips, Eva (2004). "Questioning and Transgressing in the Representations of Silvina Ocampo and Remedios Varo". Hispanic Journal. 25 (1–2): 155–170. ISSN 0271-0986. JSTOR 44284736.

book chapters

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  • González Madrid, María José (2018). "'On the True Exercise of Witchcraft' in the Work of Remedios Varo". In Bauduin, Tessel; Ferentinou, Victoria; Zamani, Daniel (eds.). Surrealism, Occultism and Politics: In Search of the Marvellous. New York: Routledge. pp. 194–209. ISBN 9781138054332. OCLC 1005961078.

books

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