Peter Webb continues, “Theatricality was an important part of Leonor’s persona, and the revival of “society” life in Paris after the war now gave her a new opportunity to indulge her passion for dressing up.” Indeed, Leonor’s extensive dressing up wardrobe was evident not long after she moved to Paris to begin her “real life as an artist” in 1931.
Heroine of story of o 1992 series series#
A series of dramatic photographs of her in this costume, as well as in the costumes for other balls of 19, were taken by Andre Ostier and widely published in newspapers and magazines, and Pauline Reage used the same mask in the final scene of her erotic novel Histoire d’O (Story of O), which was later illustrated by Leonor.” Webb writes, “she wore an owl mask of white feathers with headdress and gown of black-and-green-striped feathers. Thanks to Peter Webb’s extensively researched Sphinx – The Life and Art of Leonor Fini (published finally in 2009) we can see that Fini’s owl mask originates with the New Year’s Eve party called the Bal des Oiseaux given at the Palais Rose on the avenue Foch, Paris, by Vicomte Charles Benoist d’Azy at the end of 1948. It was possibly the costume Julien Levy describes Fini wearing at a Surrealist Ball given by Tristan Zara for which the guests were instructed to appear nude only from chest to thigh.” “Nor did I make up – steal, rather, for which I ask her belated pardon, but the theft was committed out of adoration – the Leonor Fini masks…įini Was the Owl in O: When I originally penned this article (and with the absence of the long promised Fini monograph by Peter Webb), I wrote “This implies Aury knew Fini’s work well though it is quite possible Aury also witnessed Fini as owl at some fancy dress party or knew Fini through their association with Paris publisher Jean-Jacques Pauvert – which ever, it is clear from a photograph taken of Fini in 1948 (above) that her owl costume existed prior to or at least during the writing of Histoire d’O. Pauline Reage writes of Fini in ‘A Girl in Love’ the preface to Retour a’ Roissy Her obituary in the London Times stressed her physical beauty, her erotic art, and her legions of lovers, whose names “read like a roll call of the literary and artistic talents of that brilliant age.” Fini’s works are to be found in many important collections of modern art. Although she was friends with many of the leading surrealists (including Max Ernst and Victor Brauner), she never formally joined the movement though she did include her works in several of their International Surrealist Exhibitions.Īlthough she is best known for her paintings, prints, and drawings, she also created stage designs for operas and ballets including one of her own, Le Rêve de Leonor (1949), which was choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton and performed to music by Sir Benjamin Britten. She was born in Argentina, raised in her mother’s home town of Trieste, Italy, and spent most of her artistic life in Paris, where she had her first one-person show in 1935. Leonor Fini was one of the most intriguing figures of the Surrealist movement.
“a divine heroine straight out of Edgar Allan Poe” – Jean Cocteauīuenos Aires born arti st Leonor Fini (1918 – 1996), described by Carlos Lozano rather uncharitably as “an insatiable lesbian… a portrait of bondage in studs, chains and black leather”, and known on the continent for her paintings of cats, was a heavily mascaraed beauty as feline as any of her subjects, and a party animal who was the inspiration for the Owl Mask at the close of Story of O.
Leonor Fini by André Ostier, 1949, Inspiration for Pauline Réage’s Histoire d’O
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