Baño de pájaros [Birdbath]

Rejecting the constraints and privileges of her upper-class English background, Leonora Carrington forged her own path as a writer and painter. The magical creatures that populate her images were inspired by an interest in esotericism and mythology, particularly the Celtic folklore of her youth. Carrington also drew on elements of her own eventful autobiography, here depicting a skeletal version of her childhood home, Crookhey Hall, looming in the background of a mysterious scene. In the foreground, a masked, bird like figure assists a white-haired, black-clad woman (perhaps Carrington herself ) in ritualistically washing a large bird. Birds featured prominently in Carrington’s later work as symbols of rebirth or transition associated with motherhood and aging, suggesting here a connection between the artist’s past and present.