A laboratory of the marvelous
Remedios Varo trained in Madrid, joined the Surrealists in Paris, and fled to Mexico in 1941, where she spent the rest of her life. There she found a close friendship with Leonora Carrington; the two shared an interest in alchemy, mysticism and women's inner lives.
Her mature paintings, mostly from the 1950s and early 1960s, are small and meticulous. Figures with heart-shaped faces and large eyes travel in strange vehicles, weave the world into being, or work at instruments that look half scientific, half magical. She often began with chance techniques such as decalcomania, then refined every detail with fine brushes.
Visual anatomy
Slender, elongated figures with heart-shaped faces and large almond eyes, often resembling one another.
Imaginary vehicles, looms and instruments built from wood, fabric, wheels and threads.
Muted ochres, golds, browns and greens with a warm, glowing light.
Fine, patient brushwork; feathers, threads and wood grain are painted precisely.
Tall rooms, towers and forests with gently distorted perspective.
Chance textures from decalcomania and scratching become rocks, walls and skies.
How to recognize her work
- A calm, small-scale world full of invented devices.
- Elongated figures that seem to share one face.
- Fine detail and warm, muted light.
Where people get it wrong
Varo is not a softer copy of other Surrealists. Her work is less about shock and more about patient inquiry: how a person could escape, create or transform the world through work, science and imagination. It is also often confused with Carrington's; Varo is more precise and mechanical, Carrington more mythic and wild.
The words to describe it
Words for what you see and feel in this work. They are for describing and understanding, not a recipe for copying an artist.
- meticulous fine brushwork
- elongated figures
- heart-shaped faces
- alchemical laboratory
- imaginary vehicles
- threads and weaving
- muted ochre and gold
- warm glowing light
- decalcomania texture
- gentle distorted perspective
A tall, dim tower room in warm ochre light. Slender figures with heart-shaped faces sit at a large loom made of wood and fine threads, weaving fabric that flows out of the window and becomes fields and rivers. Every thread and wood grain is painted with patient detail.
What to learn from it
- Describe imaginary objects by their materials and how they would work.
- Notice how calm detail can make the impossible feel believable.
- Name the light: warm, low, glowing, coming from where?
Choose one of her paintings online. Describe the main machine or device as if writing instructions for building it: what it is made of, what moves, what it does.