REMEDIOS VARO

Where did Remedios Varo grow up and study art?

Born María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga on 16 December 1908 in Anglès, Girona, Spain, Varo displayed artistic talent early on. Encouraged by her father, a hydraulic engineer, she frequently copied his technical drawings, a practice that influenced her detailed compositions. At 15, she enrolled in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, where she received formal training in art.

How did Remedios Varo’s life experiences shape her artistic journey?

Varo’s early career was shaped by political turmoil and displacement. She fled the Spanish Civil War and moved to Paris, immersing herself in the Surrealist movement. The outbreak of World War II forced her to relocate again, and in 1941, she settled in Mexico City. There, she became an integral member of the expatriate artistic community, forming close bonds with other artists like Leonora Carrington and Kati Horna.

What are Remedios Varo’s most significant works?

Varo’s meticulous paintings are inspired by Renaissance and Baroque masters, particularly in her use of glazing—a technique that builds translucent layers of oil paint to build depth and luminosity, creating an ethereal, glowing quality in her figures and landscapes. She also typically painted on gessoed masonite panels, which provided a smooth, durable surface with a fine, even texture that allowed her to render delicate lines and subtle gradations.

In The Creation of the Birds (1957), Varo depicts an owl-like figure in a laboratory or studio. The protagonist holds a paintbrush in one hand—its end emerging from the cavity of a violin strung around the figure’s neck—and a prism in the other. The prism filters moonlight onto the page in front of them, seemingly giving life to the birds depicted.

Encuentro (Encounter) (1959), also depicts a figure seated at a table, this time enshrouded by blue fabric resembling the sea. The subject carefully opens a small chest on the table before her, from which a face peers out, while the cascading waves of the garment spill out and wrap (or unwrap?) around the figure’s own legs. Behind her, shelves feature five more chests, suggesting more curiosities to be discovered.

In Still Life Reviving (1963), her final completed work, Varo presents a dynamic composition in which fruit and plates on a table appear to come to life, orbiting around a central candlestick and evoking unseen celestial energies.

Where has Remedios Varo’s work been exhibited?

Varo’s work has been the focus of numerous solo exhibitions. Some of note:

• The Magic of Remedios Varo, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. (10 Feb—29 May 2000).
• Remedios Varo: Indelible Fables, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco (7 January—26 February 2012).
• Remedios Varo: Science Fictions, Art Institute of Chicago (29 July—27 November 2023).

What is Remedios Varo’s legacy in contemporary art?

Varo is one of several female surrealist artists who have gained overdue recognition in the 21st Century. The New York Times affirmed this sentiment in an in-depth look at the artist’s life and work, published in 2021 as part of its ‘Overlooked’ series. This series documents remarkable figures whose obituaries were initially unreported by the newspaper.

In 2020, Varo’s Harmony (Suggestive Self-Portrait) (1956) sold at Sotheby’s for USD 6.2 million. One of the highest prices ever fetched for a painting by a female artist from Latin America (second only to a Freida Kahlo painting).

Hazel Ellis | Ocula | 2025