Magically Surreal
October 23, 2026–February 21, 2027
Leonor Fini (1907–1996) was a rebel, both as an artist and in her private life. From October 23, 2026, to February 21, 2027, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents the first retrospective of the artist in Germany. In around 100 works—including paintings, drawings, photographs, costumes, masks, and books—the exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into her fascinating oeuvre. Born in Buenos Aires and raised in Trieste, the self-taught artist remained independent throughout her life despite her proximity to the Surrealist movement. Influenced by the Renaissance, Symbolism, German Romanticism, and Magical Realism, Fini developed a distinctive visual language that fluidly moved between dream, myth, fantasy, and theatrical staging. Through her signature style reminiscent of old master painting, she created dreamlike scenes featuring priestesses, sphinxes, and hybrid beings who subvert traditional gender roles. Powerful portrayals of women and androgynous figures emerge, often as reinterpretations of historical archetypes. Emancipation, gender fluidity, eros, occultism, death, and transformation are among the themes that recur throughout her work, along with her playful engagement with masks, costumes, and gender roles.
Sebastian Baden, Director of the Schirn, notes: “Back in 2020, visitors encountered Leonor Fini in our exhibition ‘Fantastic Women,’ which focused on women artists in the Surrealist movement. With her multifaceted and profoundly original style, she has left a lasting mark on European art history. Since then, we have been committed to presenting Fini’s unique oeuvre in greater depth. I am delighted that, with this retrospective, we have succeeded in realizing one of the most ambitious and comprehensive international exhibitions of Fini’s work to date. Through extensive research, we have brought together outstanding works, representing all phases of her career, from national and international private collections and museums. Such a selection can only very rarely be presented together in one place.”
Central to Leonor Finis art is the exploration of her position as a woman and artist. From the outset, Fini confidently presented herself as free-spirited and glamorous, deliberately blurring the boundaries between artistic creation and lived existence. The exhibition traces her extraordinary artistic development through works spanning some seven decades.
Ingrid Pfeiffer, curator of the exhibition, further remarks: “Leonor Fini developed a diverse and independent artistic ‘universe’ centered on self-determined, powerful female figures. Taking on symbolic, mythological, or fantastical forms, they embody Fini’s own worldview. Her ongoing interrogation and transformation of her role as a woman and artist, her rebelliousness and independence, her virtuosic painting style, her modern adaptation of classical myths, and her self-staging as a fashion icon all appear remarkably relevant today. Fini’s visual worlds are hardly conceivable without the context of Surrealism, yet she vehemently rejected any clear association with the movement. Despite this opposition, Leonor Fini played a prominent role in the major Surrealist exhibitions of her time and remains a key figure in Surrealism today.”
An exhibition by the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt in cooperation with the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris – Paris Musées.
An exhibition catalog has been published in a German and an English edition by Hirmer Publishers, edited by Ingrid Pfeiffer (Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt) and Julia Garimorth (Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris), featuring contributions by Cornelia Eisendle, Patrick Fischer, Julia Garimorth, Andrea Kollnitz, Alyce Mahon, Morad Montazami, Richard Overstreet, and Ingrid Pfeiffer, as well as a foreword coauthored by directors Sebastian Baden and Fabrice Hergott.
Additionally, a new issue of the SCHIRN PAPER has been released as a supplement to the digital SCHIRN MAG, with contributions by Rebekka Endler, Leonie Falke, Alyce Mahon, Ingrid Pfeiffer and others.
The Schirn is offering a Digitorial® to accompany the exhibition. This multimedia online introduction presents the contextual background, themes, and works in an engaging and accessible format.
The exhibition is supported by the Dr. Marschner Stiftung, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, with additional support from SCHIRN FRIENDS, Georg und Franziska Speyer’sche Hochschulstiftung and the Fontana Stiftung. The education and outreach program is supported by the Polytechnische Gesellschaft Foundation, Frankfurt am Main.
Director: Sebastian Baden / Curator: Ingrid Pfeiffer / Press contact: Johanna Pulz (Head of Press/PR): presse@schirn.de / T +49 (0) 69 29 98 82 148 / Press material: here
