Outsiders: Leonor Fini

Leonor Fini (1907-1996) was an Argentine-Italian surrealist painter, designer, illustrator, and author. She produced an extensive body of work including paintings, drawings, and set and costume design — often centered around depictions of powerful and erotic women. 

For Further Reading:

• Leonor Fini
• Leonor Fini | Argentinian, 1907-1996
• The Enduring Allure of Surrealist Leonor Fini
• The Sphinx’s Gaze

This month we're talking about Outsiders -- women who marched to the beat of their own drum and rejected stereotypes about what women "should" be. They are aesthetic pioneers, norm-benders, and often the only woman in their field.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about outsiders, women who
marched to the beat of their own drum and rejected
stereotypes about what women should be. Their ascetic pioneers, norm benders,
and often one of the only women in their field.
If you visited a surrealist art exhibition today, you'd be
sure to find a work or two made by this woman.

(00:25):
But during her lifetime she rejected the label of surrealist.
She preferred to tread her own path. Please welcome Leonora Fini.
Leonora Fini was born on August thirtieth, nineteen oh seven,
in Buenos Ayrus, Argentina. Leonora's strict Catholic father was oppressive

(00:45):
and violent, leading Leonor's mother to flee their family home
with her eighteen month old baby in her arms. They
settled in Trieste, Italy, but Leonor's father followed them. He
refused to divorce his wife and attempted to kidnap Leonora
multiple times. In an attempt to disguise Leonora from her father,
Leonora's mother would dress her in masculine clothes. Maybe it

(01:08):
was this turmoil that caused Leonor to be somewhat of
a problem child. She was kicked out of nearly every
school she entered. She primarily learned not through teacher's tutelage,
but through the books in her uncle's robust library. Leonora
also lacked formal training in the arts, but that didn't
stop an artistic spirit from blossoming. When she was still young,

(01:30):
Leonora came down with an eye infection that forced her
to wear bandages over her eyes. She was left with
just her memory and imagination when building the visual world
around her. Leonora later credited this experience as the foundation
of her life as an artist. She taught herself art
and to enhance her skills, she'd visit local morgues, or
she'd learn anatomy by depicting different body parts. When Leonor

(01:53):
was in her early twenties, she moved to Paris. She
was accompanied by a fiance, but she soon left him
for German painters and sculptor a Max Ernst. It was
Max who introduced her to surrealist circles, but the male
painters tended to write Leonora off. Talent is stored in
the balls. Salvador Dolly once declared so Leonor rejected the
Surrealists right back, turning down an invitation to join the

(02:15):
group when they finally saw her work, I preferred to
walk alone, she said in later interviews. Leonor's work wasn't
just groundbreaking because she was a woman. Her subject matter
itself was boundary, pushing, and even a bit scandalous. In
Leonor's painted world, men were feminine and women were masculine.
Men laid with other men and women with other women,
and sphinxes with human female heads and lion bodies stared

(02:38):
bluntly at the viewer, challenging their conceptions of gender and power.
Leonor proved that a woman wasn't just amuse waiting to
be painted by a man. She could be the painter herself,
and if women were the subject, they were depicted as powerful, commanding,
filled with desire, not just subjects of desire. Leonor flipped

(02:58):
the script further, becoming the first female artist to paint
an erotic male nude. Leonora dabbled in other artistic mediums
besides painting. She developed sets for ballet, illustrated novels, made
costumes for theater, and designed furniture. She treated the world
like a stage, attending social gatherings in male drag, wearing
elaborate homemade costumes, and sometimes wearing nothing at all. Leonora

(03:22):
once said to dress up to cross dress is an
act of creativity. It is the exteriorization and excess of
the phanfasms which one carries within their self. In her
private life, Leonora again rejected the typical path. She had
relationships with both men and women, sometimes at the same time.
She settled down with two men, Polish essayist Constanti Zelinski

(03:44):
and Italian count Stanis Lao la Prix. The three split
their time between an apartment in Paris and a renovated
old monastery, which was also home to Leonor's many cats
and frequent guests. Leonora was known to throw a raucous party.

(04:06):
Later in life, ostentatious, Leonora came to spend less and
less time in public. She said quote, I am against society,
eminently asocial, and I am linked to nature like a
witch rather than as a priestess. I am in favor
of a world where there is little or no sex distinction.
Still in the privacy of her home, she continued to

(04:27):
paint until passing away on January eighteenth, nineteen ninety six.
She was eighty eight years old. All month, we're talking
about outsiders. For more information, find us on Facebook and
Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my
favorite sister and co creator. As always, will be taking
a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday.