Mujer (Woman),

ca. 1960

In the Second Manifesto of Surrealism (1929), the poet André Breton wrote, “The problem of woman is the most marvelous and disturbing problem in the world.” Such statements underscore Surrealism’s prevailing misogyny, despite the substantial contribution of women to the artistic movement. Varo’s imagery refutes Breton’s bigotry through its self-evident artistry and frequent portrayal of mysterious but empowered females. Mujer (Woman) depicts a stately if diminutive figure advancing through astral, energized space, with her headgear, clutched document, and hand outstretched as if in benediction all suggesting agency and authority. Varo fled Europe for Mexico during World War II, where she found “the tranquility that I have always searched for” and the opportunity to produce, especially during the last decade of her life, a small but significant body of compelling and evocative work. At her death even Breton admitted her “forever to the ranks of international surrealism.”