Leonora Carrington painting for $28.5 million

The painting for which Eduardo Costantini paid US$ 28.5 million can now be seen at the Malba

It is “The Distractions of Dagoberto”, by Leonora Carrington, which is on display in the museum.
The record-breaking work and one of the most significant of the surrealist artist is presented for the first time in Argentina.
After the auction, the procedures, the packaging, shipping and unpacking, the painting “The Distractions of Dagoberto” (1945) by the artist Leonora Carrington for which Eduardo Costantini paid US$ 28.5 million after waiting for it for years is now available. You can visit Malba.
“It is one of the most significant works of the famous surrealist artist, which was acquired last May by Eduardo Costantini at Sotheby's at a record price. This purchase places her among the five most valuable women artists at auction, along with Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois and Joan Mitchell,” museum spokespersons explained in a statement.
Also on social networks, Malba showed the arrival of the painting, carefully packaged, and the process of receiving it and placing it in the room.

Painted by Carrington at the age of 28, at the time of her greatest creative expression, “The Distractions of Dagoberto” “offers a manifesto of the visual world that develops throughout her subsequent production. This oil painting is one of the masterpieces of Leonora Carrington's long and illustrious career, and presents all the symbolism and distinctive iconography of the artist at her peak,” they explain from the museum.
The work was made in Mexico in the 1940s and is considered a fundamental painting of the surrealist movement. “Citing iconography and ideas from sources ranging from medieval European history and contemporary scientific literature to Irish and Mexican myths, it presents a humanistic and inventive vision of a universe of its own,” they add.
An iconic painting

Eduardo Costantini himself explained: “It is an iconic painting, one of the most admired works in the history of surrealism and an incomparable masterpiece of Latin American art. It had been 30 years since the work had gone on sale at a public auction and I had been waiting all this time. "I am very happy that the work is exhibited in Malba and all visitors can appreciate it in a room dedicated to surrealism, along with other important works such as those by Remedios Varo."

The Malba's new acquisition joins the Third Eye series, curated by María Amalia García, chief curator of the museum, which occupies the recently nominated Ricardo Esteves Room on the first level of the museum. Divided into two large conceptual nuclei: Inhabit and Transform, its layout was modified during the two years it has been on display.
In addition, the portraits Mariana da Costa (2023) and André Rebouças (2023) by Dalton Paula (Brasilia, 1982) were incorporated, works that were made from research that the artist developed around the black body silenced by fear and insecurity. Dalton Paula's artistic production addresses Afro-Brazilian stories and experiences through painting, drawing, video, performance and the object.

Source