Leonor Fini: “All my painting is an […] autobiography of self-assertion.”, quoted from: Xavière Gauthier, Leonor Fini, Paris, Le Musée de Poche, 1973, p. 137.

Leonor Fini: “Creativity may stem from a form of maladjustment to reality, from (…) a protest.”, quoted from: Xavière Gauthier, Leonor Fini, Paris, Le Musée de Poche, 1973, p. 16.

Leonor Fini: “I identified with the hybrid.”, quoted from: Webb, Sphinx, p. 102.

Leonor Fini: „My paintings follow the route taken by dreams.“, quoted from: Peter Webb, Sphinx: The Art and Life of Leonor Fini, New York, Ven dome Press, 2009, p. 72.

Leonor Fini: “To dress up, to disguise oneself is an act of creativity.”, quoted from: Leonor Fini, José Alvarez, Le Livre de Leonor Fini, Lausanne, La Guilde du Livre and Les Editions Clairefontaine, Paris, Vilo, 1975, p. 41.

Leonor Fini: “I am very interested in many modern works, but what has always struck me most powerfully is Old Master painting.“, quoted from: Arlette Souhami and Richard Overstreet, Leonor Fini, Galerie Minsky, Paris 2001, p. 169.

We have made every effort to list all copiright notices. Holders of rights that we couk not identify are kindly asked to contact the publisher. Compensation will be made according to standard practice.

© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026, for the works of Leonor Fini, Dora Maar, and Max Ernst.


Leonor Fini, Autoportrait au scorpion, 1938, Self-Portrait with Scorpion, Oil on canvas, 81 × 60 cm, Private collection, Courtesy of HomeArt, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy of HomeArt.

Leonor Fini, Autoportrait au grand col, 1938, Self-Portrait with a Large Collar, Oil on canvas, 35 × 27 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Femme assise sur un homme nu, 1942, Woman Seated on a Naked Man, Oil on canvas, 33 × 46 cm, Private collection, Foto: Private collection, © Enrico Cerpegna.

Leonor Fini, Dans la tour (Autoportrait avec Constantin Jelenski), 1952, In the Tower (Self-Portrait with Constantin Jelenski), Oil on canvas, 91 × 64.3 cm, FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) / The Levett Collection, Photo: FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) / The Levett Collection, Mougins, Jerome Kelagopian.

Leonor Fini, La Bergère des sphinx, 1941, The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes, Oil on canvas, 46.2 × 38.2 cm, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York), Photo: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggen heim Foundation, New York).

Leonor Fini, Sphinx Philagria II / Metamorphos, 1947–48, Oil on canvas, 55 × 38.6 cm, Private collection.

Leonor Fini, Stryges Amaouri, 1947, Oil on canvas, 45.8 × 55 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, © Enrico Cerpegna.

Leonor Fini, Les Devenants, 1958, Those Who Are Becoming, Oil on canvas, 92 × 65.5 cm, FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) / The Levett Collection, Photo: FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) / The Levett Collection, Mougins, De Vuyst Fine Art and Design.

Jacques Audiberti, Le Sabbat ressuscité, 1957, Lithographs and etchings; Jacques Audiberti, Leonor Fini (illustrations) with contri butions by Jacques Audiberti, Marcel Béalu, Jean Cocteau, Lise Deharme, A. Pieyre de Mandiargues, Francis Ponge, 38 × 28 cm, Galerie Minsky, Paris, Photo: Estate Leonor Fini, Paris, Claire Dorn.

Leonor Fini, La Gardienne des phénix, 1954, The Guardian of the Phoenixes, Oil on canvas, 74 × 63 cm, Courtesy of the Parker Foundation, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris © Leonor Fini Estate.

Leonor Fini, Autoportrait au hibou, 1936, Self-Portrait with Owl, Oil on canvas, 63.8 × 51.4 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Les Carcans, 1984, The Shackles, Oil on canvas, 91.4 × 65.4 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, La Leçon de botanique, 1974, The Botany Lesson, Oil on canvas, 120 × 120 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Narcisse incomparable, 1971, Incomparable Narcissus, Oil on canvas, 170 × 100 cm, Private collection, France, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Galerie Minsky, Paris.

Leonor Fini, Train de nuit, 1969, Night Train, Oil on canvas, 73 × 116 cm, Galerie Minsky, Paris / Private collection, Photo: Estate Leonor Fini, Paris.

Leonor Fini, Outre Songe, 1978, Beyond the Dream, Oil on canvas, 51 × 71 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Rasch, Rasch, Rasch, meine Puppen warten, 1975, Hurry, Hurry, Hurry … My Dolls Are Waiting, Oil on canvas, 114.3 × 146 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Chinoiserie Masque, ca. 1960, Chinoiserie Mask, Textile petals embroidered with crimson, dark-red, and silver thread; ruby-colored decorative stones; turquoisecolored decorative stones; velvet and fine canvas backing, 29.8 × 18.4 × 6.4 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Masque de chat en galets corses, ca. 1960, Cat Mask of Corsican Pebbles, Corsica stones embedded in plasticine concrete, 26 × 16.5 × 8.3 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Masque surréaliste, 1958, Surrealist Mask, Velvet, phosphorescent sequins, mother-of-pearl, black oblong beads, white string, small bronze twigs with leaves, 32 × 32 × 18.5 cm, Galerie Minsky, Paris, Photo: Estate Leonor Fini, Paris, Claire Dorn.

Leonor Fini, Masque de chat brodé, ca. 1960, Embroidered Cat Mask, Rugged black textile net, pink and gray felt fabric, pearls, gold and silver sequins in an original case, 20.6 × 36.4 × 31.7 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Un triton, costume pour Tannhäuser de Richard Wagner, 1963, A Triton, costume for Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner, Two-piece costume made of black jersey, embellished with holographic plastic scales in iridescent blue, with a matching headpiece. Height approx. 160 cm, Centre national du costume et de la scène, Moulins / Opéra national de Paris, Photo: Centre national du costume et de la scène, Moulins / Terminal 33, Pascal François.

Leonor Fini, La terre écarlate, 1961, The Scarlet Earth, Oil on canvas, 60 × 92 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Chimère du soir, 1961, Evening Chimera, Oil on canvas, 81.3 × 59.7 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini, Métamorphoses équivoques, 1953, Ambiguous Metamorphoses, Oil on canvas, 100 × 60 cm, Private collection, Madrid, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Galerie Minsky, Paris.

Leonor Fini, L’Ange de l’anatomie, 1949, The Angel of Anatomy, Oil on canvas, 53.3 × 31.5 cm, Private collection.

Leonor Fini, Paravent / Metamorphosis / Quatre squelettes, 1974, Folding Screen / Metamorphosis / Four Skeletons, Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 135 × 40.5 cm each, Dr. Christopher Heath Brown, Photo: Collection of Dr. Christopher Brown, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles, Nick Pishvanov.

Leonor Fini, Sphinx Regina / Sphinx reine, 1943, Sphinx Queen, Oil on canvas, 40 × 50 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, © Enrico Cerpegna.

Leonor Fini, La Pensierosa, 1954, The Thinker, Oil on canvas, 65 × 100 cm, Private collection, Photo: Private collection, Claire Dorn.

Leonor Fini, Dimanche après-midi, 1980, Sunday Afternoon, Oil on canvas, 129.5 × 97.2 cm, Warren H. Lortie Collection, Newport Beach, Photo: Private collection, Courtesy Weinstein Gallery, Los Angeles.

Leonor Fini at Nonza Monastery, Corsica, 1967. Photo: Eddy Brofferio. © Eddy Brofferio Archive. Courtesy of Eros Renzetti, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris, photo: Eddy Brofferio © Eddy Brofferio Archive, Courtesy Archivio Eros Renzetti, Rome.

Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, Monastery of Nonza, Corsica, 1969, Leonor Fini Archives, Paris, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris © Leonor Fini Estate, Stanislao Lepri.

Leonor Fini with Meret Oppenheim, ca. 1942, LEVY Galerie, Berlin, Photo: LEVY Galerie, Berlin.

Denise Colomb, Portrait of Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington, rue Payenne, Paris, 1952, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, Charenton-le-Pont, Photo: Ministère de la Culture – Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, Charenton-le Pont, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / inv. no. 12-590972, Denise Colomb.

International Surrealist Exhibition 1936 Photo Album. Album of b&w photographs and presscuttings, mainly of International Surrealist Exhibition, London 1936, but also other exhibitions of Surrealism in Britain e.g. in Cambridge, Zwemmer Gallery London etc. Compiled by Roland Penrose; installation shots of the exhibition have Penrose’s pencil annotations verso; images titled by Penrose; 1936 exhibition installation photographs by Chancery. Provided by: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/.

André Ostier, Leonor Fini with a Fly Mask, 1950, Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Photo: Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, André Ostier.

Dora Maar, Leonor Fini, 1936, Centre Georges Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Jacques Faujour, Dora Maar.

André Ostier, Leonor Fini in her costume for the “Bal des Oiseaux,” December 1948, Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Photo: Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, André Ostier.

André Ostier, Leonor Fini and her lion mask, Paris, 1950, Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Photo: Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, André Ostier.

Leonor Fini at Nonza Monastery, Corsica, 1965. Photo: Eddy Brofferio. © Eddy Brofferio Archive. Courtesy of Eros Renzetti, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris, photo: Eddy Brofferio © Eddy Brofferio Archive, Courtesy Archivio Eros Renzetti, Rome.

Leonor Fini wearing a cat mask, ca. 1960, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris © Leonor Fini Estate.

André Ostier, Leonor Fini in costume for the “Bal du Panache”, Paris, June 1947, Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Photo: Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, André Ostier.

André Ostier, Leonor Fini as a dark angel, ball hosted by Carlos de Beistegui at the Palazzo Labia, Venice, 1951, Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Photo: Association des Amis d’André Ostier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, André Ostier.

Leonor Fini with a cat, ca. 1970, Leonor Fini Archives, Paris, Photo: Leonor Fini Archives, Paris © Leonor Fini Estate.

Agnolo Bronzino, Pygmalion and Galatea, 1529/30, Oil on canvas, 81 × 63 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Johann Heinrich Füssli, The Nightmare, 1790/91, Oil on canvas, 76,5 × 63,6 cm, Frankfurter Goethe-Haus – Freies Deutsches Hochstift.

Screenshot from the silent film “Greed,” 1924, directed by Erich von Stroheim; available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp7JZjxkVGQ; last accessed on September 15, 2026.

Max Ernst, Le fascinant cyprès, 1940, Decalcomania, Oil on cardboard, 32 × 26 cm, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Photo: Herling/Herling/Werner, Sprengel Museum Hannover.

Michael Wolgemut, Dance of the Skeletons, 1493, colored, Schedel’s World Chronicle.

Schiaparelli, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Butterfly Spiral, 2026, available at: https://schiaparelli.com/en/pages/looks/hc-printemps-ete-2026-look-8 (last accessed on September 23, 2026).

Lady Gaga, MTV Video Music Awards, 2010, Los Angeles. UPI / Jim Ruymen, UPI / Alamy.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Preview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, New York City. Photo by Donna Ward / ABACAPRESS.COM, Abaca Press / Alamy.

Screenshot from the music video for Madonna’s song “Bedtime Story,” 1995, directed by Mark Romanek, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSaFgAwnRSc&list=RDCSaFgAwnRSc&start_radio=1, last accessed on September 15, 2026.

Swen Pförtner, Christopher Street Day in Göttingen, 26.08.2023, Göttingen.

Alan Strutt, Yasmin Le Bon (London, 1997). La Chimère collection, Haute couture fall/winter 1997-1998 © Alan Strutt.