Carrington was born April 6, 1917 (my Grandma Rosemary was April 6, 1914)- in Lancashire, England. Her father was a wealthy textile manufacturer. Her mother was Irish and she had an Irish nanny who told her Gaelic tales, which likely influenced her imagination. After being expelled from two schools for her rebellious behaviour, she was sent to study art in Florence.
She met Max Ernst in 1937 and they immediately fell in love. They lived in Paris and in the south of France. With the outbreak of World War II, Ernst was arrested, but was able to escape to America with the help of art patron Peggy Guggenheim. Carrington was devastated and suffered paralyzing anxiety. Her parents had her institutionalized, where she was treated with "convulsive therapy" and cardiazol, a drug that was eventually banned. She was able to escape to Mexico with the help of a friend of Pablo Picasso's. She and Ernst had experienced so much misery they were unable to reconnect.
In Mexico she married and had two sons. She worked throughout her life painting and writing novels. She died in Mexico City on May 25, 2011.
Her work is currently included in the LACMA show (January 29- May 6, 2012) "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and United States".
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