Many an explorer risked or lost his life looking for the source of the Orinoco, a mysterious, inaccesible river in South America, a distant cousin of the Amazon. Remedios Varo (1908-1963) found the source in her paintings.
She used an infinity of transportation means: a Caravan. (Roulotte, 1955)
Remedios making plans for the expedition. (Mimetismo, Mimicry, 1960)
She climbed mountains of doom. (Time-change, 1948)
She crossed path with lost souls. (Spirits of the mountain, 1938)
In the middle of the jungle, she discovered a new species: the fern-cat. Brought a pair home. She loved cats. (The fern-cat, 1957).
She asked an alchemist. Asked him where the sources of the Orinoco were. He told her his science could not help her. (Useless science, or the alchemist, 1955.)
And still she looked for the Orinoco. (Exploring the sources of the Orinoco, 1959)
She thought she’d found her “Calling”, (La llamada) 1961.
She witnessed the “Creation of the birds”. 1958
She met a “Vagabond” who did not know what the Orinoco was. 1957.
Desperate for not finding the sources of the Orinoco, she retired in the highest “Tower” in the world. 1961.
Remedios Varo. Published in “Siempre”, Nº586, Sept, 16, 1964.
Remedios Varo was born in Spain in 1908. She lived in Paris from 1930 to 1941, becoming a significant part of the Surrealist movement, as other artists such as Leonora Carrington, Dora Maar or Leonor Fini. In 1940, when Paris fell, she fled to Marseilles, in the so-called “free-zone”. In late 1941, she sailed away from Marseilles, to eventually settle in Mexico. There she re-united with fellow Surrealist exile Leonora Carrington (1917-2011).
Varo’s major production was between 1953 and 1963, when she died of a heart attack. A shame, the few paintings she produced were major pieces. (Comparatively, Leonora Carrington had a much, much longer career…)
The paintings shown here are from a major expo held at the Mexican Museum of Modern Art a couple years back. Except for the Tower, which I saw in London, at Tate Modern. “Looking for the sources of the Orinoco” is a slide presented in the expo. Hence the poor quality of the picture.
Strangely enough, while that painting inspired my fictitious way of presenting her work, as an “invented” search for the source of the Orinoco. I was doing some research, and found that Remedios Varo had indeed been part of a French expedition searching for that very source. Which would explain her title for that wonderful painting.
Thank you for visiting Equinoxio’s on-line museum. Art saves.
Equinoxio 
Fun stuff, and peculiar too!
Thank you. To write the post was fun. As for Remedios Varo, she is not that well-known outside of Mexico, and I believe she was very talented. A very personal style too…
In this series it is like Hieronymus Bosch is time-machined into the surrealistic world of Latin-American spirits. He would not be at all surprised, I guess, but he would have wanted to invent the fern-cat and the caravan. Very neatly done, Brian, the way you present these wonderful pictures tot us in the form of an expedition. Remedios Varo - a name to remember. (And to get to know more about.)
Merci Peter. Bosch is a good reference. Maybe Remedios knew his work. Quite likely for Europeans of that time. And he would have been interested I’m sure. (Just as I sometimes wonder what Beethoven would have said hearing the Beatles…)
And the “tale was fun to write”.
Cheers
PS. Actually, come to think of it, your ancestors (and mine close-by in Flanders) understood Bosch perfectly… Like Brueghel, Bosch was inspired by everyday life. Only fantastic in Bosch’s case…
Tot ziens
True! He just had to look around. And put a little twist on things, like an artist should. I always love those late medieval paitings where for instance Betlehem is situated in a snowy Dutch or Flemisch landscape. 🙂 Tot ziens Brian.
Absolutely. I had made to myself the same remark about Betlehem… Those landscapes were their only reference. Not sure Bosch or Brueghel traveled much… Too early in time. Later on, artists would travel to Italy, but not them. I think.
Au revoir cher ami.
Thank you for introducing me to Remedios Varo – I’d never heard of this Surrealist artist. Amazing work!
Have you seen the Orinoco? I got a taste of this massive river on the trek to Angel Falls in Venezuela.
She is/was quite amazing. I discovered her in Mexico.
Haven’t been to the Orinoco. Remember you outrun me by at least 30 countries… LOL.
I know about the story of the falls. Quite impressive.
Someone who had the ability to delve into the deepest crevasses of the human psyche
Very well put. Remedios Varo was exposed to the best minds of the Surrealist movement in Europe before the war. She probably also was “exposed” to psychoanalysis, there are some Freudian themes. And her great talent.
Thank you for your visit and comment. 🙏🏻
Thank you for this introduction t an artist I confess I don’t know. I love many of these and especially the fern-cats!
Pleasure Sarah. The fern cats are absolutely great. A very creative idea. So is the rest of her work. A shame she died relatively young…
I’m familiar with the first one, in passing. This was a wonderful read. Trust all is well at your end?
The “roulotte”? How nice. ‘seems to me her work is a bit dispersed. That expo was the first I ever saw focused on her… I’d seen a few at Tate Modern in London, but this one was a good concentration…
All well thank you Paul. Likewise too I hope? (There were some stabbings in your neck of the wood recently weren’t they?) (Also been a bit out of the news…)
Yes, five people killed in a stabbing attack by someone with mental health problems, on the other side of the country, but still a subject of conversation everywhere – most unusual here.
On the other side? Oz is such a large country… 😀
Good thing it is unusual over there…
Sadly it is becoming more frequent in France and elsewhere in Europe.
PS. And how come you know the first one?
It was featured in a book I picked up on women surrealists some years ago at the local library. If my memory serves me right she also came to the attention of Carl Jung who collected works relating to mandalas and dreams.
A good book… Your library made a good choice. And I’m not surprised that Jung would have been interested. Had to check dates. He died in ’61. Remedios in ’63, so he would have had a good chance to learn about her… Fascinating.
Fascinating art history!
Hi Tiffany. Glad you liked it. She is one of my – many – favourite artists.
😍
Está bueno, vdd? Remedios Varo es increíble… 💕
I didn’t remember this artist, although I must have seen some of her work in an earlier post of yours. I like her paintings, seeing the world in a different way, all is life way … or so I imagine.
I might have posted one or two pieces of her. And yes it is seeing the world in a different way.
Hi Brian, I love your presentation of these amazing paintings. Some people have incredible imaginations 💖
She did. Amazing. Now just imagine the discussions befor the war with the surrealists. When they were all young.
Wonderful 😁
These paintings are marvelous. I appreciate your introduction to her fantastic paintings and I am sad to hear of her early death. They are all outstanding. I love the invented story to present them, and also your discovery that you weren’t entirely off track to think of it. 🙂
Thank you Crystal. It shows that Reality is stronger than Fiction, right?
Happy Sunday
Je ne connaissais pas Remedios Varo.
Heureuse de cette découverte 🙂
Merci Brieuc
Ravi de te l’avoir fait connaître… Elle n’est pas très connue, mais c’était une grande artiste. (et pour une fois que je te fais découvrir quelqu’un… c’est super…😉)
I love everything about this, Brieuc. Your story, the sharing of her photos, the little biography. Tout!
Merci Dale. Je ne sais pas pourquoi ce post a été presque un désastre, traffic totally down. Très étrange… (Je soupçonne WP des pires turpitudes…) 😉
Tu t’en fais pour ces choses? Je m’en fous pas mal et ne focus par là-dessus. But that’s me. Il y a des posts qui résonnent et d’autres moins. I really enjoyed it!
Oui et non. Mais je “sens” les retours. Et la semaine dernière était quasiment vide… Je soupçonne un truc de WP.
Merci.
Je comprends.
Que veux-tu dire un truc de WP? Comment ça pourrait affecter?
Ils passent leur temps à changer la programmation. Sans le vouloir ils peuvent changer la visibilité… Pas grave, ça a l’air de repartir. Ce qui m’importe ce sont justement les échanges comme ceux qu’on a maintenant.
A+
Bises
Oui, ça c’est vrai. Je sais que parfois les auteurs se rendent compte que leur blogue n’apparaît pas dans le Reader (j’avoue n’avoir vérifié qu’une fois ou deux). Et j’étais certaine que ça allait repartir. Oui, l’important c’est de garder nos échanges!
Bises xo
🤗
🤗
Yes, art saves!
Art remembers us.
This is a lovely post tribute to the artist. I have seen images of a couple of her paintings around. Now I know wherethey are from…who painted them.
She painted a unique look.
Thank you, Brian!
She did paint a unique look, both in her inspiration and her characters.
🙏🏻
🌟 oxox
Seen a couple works of hers here in the past. At the time thought I might not have been in the proper mood, but got same feelings now too. Most likely surrealism doesn’t click with me – or the other way around. But hey, there have always been fans of the current, and there’s a place under the sun for everything and everyone. So… 🙂
Anyway, thanks for the effort. Hopefully fans have enjoyed the post and maybe others will in the future too. 😉
Click is fine. Art is universal, but doesn’t necessarily click with everybody…
True. Best is when we can choose, to each their own taste. 🙂
The artist might paint the Orinoco River originating from a giant, luminous crystal hidden deep within a dense, enchanted forest. The crystal pulsates with an otherworldly glow, casting surreal reflections on the surrounding landscape, while strange creatures inhabit its depths, adding to the mystery and peculiarity of its source. Such an artwork might be mixed media such as a collage using various textures like cloth and tissue paper.
Went to a talk and slide presentation about Leonora Carrington about a month or so ago in Oxford. Speaker was a relative and had stayed with her in Mexico.
I can see the connection in their work and biographies.
Carrington was a fabulous artist too. Lived much longer. When she died, they did a major expo of her sculpture work on Reforma, one of the major avenues… I need to look for the photos, they seem to have been lost.
PS. That must have been a nice talk.
Joanna Moorhead was the journalist who gave the talk. She was Carrington’s cousin.
She showed slides of the interior of her house in France, which she had shared with Max Ernst.
A close relation, how nice. Yes, I seem to remember Carrington and Ernst were an “item” at some point.