Leonor Fini

The SCHIRN dedicates the first major retrospective in Germany to the artist, presenting around 100 works that offer a comprehensive insight into her oeuvre.

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Introduction

Despite her proximity to Surrealism, Fini always maintained her independence, developing a distinctive visual language that moves between dream, myth, and theatrical staging.

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Leonor Fini (1907–1996) was a rebel both as an artist and as a person. Priestesses, sphinxes, hybrid creatures—through her characteristically Old Master–inspired style, she created dreamlike scenes that subvert traditional gender roles.

The SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT dedicates the first major retrospective in Germany to the artist, presenting around 100 works that offer a comprehensive insight into her oeuvre.

Despite her proximity to Surrealism, Fini always maintained her independence, developing a distinctive visual language that moves between dream, myth, and theatrical staging. Born in Buenos Aires, raised in Trieste, and influenced by the Renaissance, Symbolism, German Romanticism, and Magic Realism, the self‑taught artist created powerful depictions of strong women and androgynous figures, often reinterpreting historical archetypes.

Themes of emancipation, gender fluidity, eroticism, occultism, death, and transformation run throughout her work, as does a playful engagement with masks, costumes, and role‑playing. Her exploration of her identity as both woman and artist lies at the core of her practice. From early on, Fini confidently staged herself as a libertine and glamorous icon. Featuring paintings, drawings, photographs, and objects spanning some seventy years, the exhibition highlights the long and fascinating trajectory of Fini’s artistic career.

An exhibition by the SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT in cooperation with the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris – Paris Musées.

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Curator

Ingrid Pfeiffer
Curatorial assistance

Cornelia Eisendle

Supported by

Dr. Marschner Stiftung
Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne
Additional support by

SCHIRN FREUNDE
Georg und Franziska Speyer`sche Hochschulstiftung
Fontana Stiftung
Media partners

ARTE
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung