The magical world of Leonora Carrington on display in Milan

Have you ever had the feeling that reality is just one of many possible planes of existence? If the answer is yes—or if you’d like to find out—make a note of this exhibition: from September 20, 2025, to January 11, 2026, Palazzo Reale in Milan will host the first solo exhibition in Italy dedicated to Leonora Carrington, artist, writer, thinker, and visionary.

An exhibition like this has never been seen before. And perhaps we need it now more than ever.

Enter the visionary world of Leonora Carrington at Palazzo Reale

Leonora Carrington was a free woman, ahead of her time, but above all she was not an artist who could be easily pigeonholed, and in fact this exhibition does not attempt to do so.

The exhibition in Milan aims to restore the multifaceted complexity of a figure who crossed languages, countries, revolutions, and dreams.

Painting, theater, writing, critical thinking: Leonora Carrington inhabited all these worlds without asking permission. From her formative years, when she fell in love with Renaissance art during a trip to Florence, to the surrealist Mexico that would become her creative home, Leonora never stopped searching. Nor did she stop imagining.

And the exhibition in Milan does exactly that. It invites you to follow her on this journey.

A journey through alchemy, feminism, and surrealism

Through a selection of dreamlike works and archival materials, the exhibition takes you to the heart of her imaginative universe, where you will encounter:

mythological creatures and alchemical symbols

reflections on spirituality, ecology, and femininity

texts, drawings, and objects from her personal library

unpublished photographs and documents

Leonora Carrington not only painted enchanted worlds, she inhabited them.

A pioneer of eco-feminism and a radical thinker, she transformed imagination and surrealism into a tool of resistance. In her works, the everyday coexists with the unconscious, fairy tales become political, and thought becomes flesh.

Why you should visit the exhibition

Because it tells the story of a woman on a journey, who made her freedom a manifesto, gently but forcefully challenging the conventions of her time. Because it talks about art, but also about how we can live and resist through beauty.

You should visit it above all because it is the first time that Italy has celebrated her work so thoroughly.

Don’t miss the opportunity to discover (or rediscover) one of the most powerful and visionary voices of the 20th century. I promise you will come out changed.

EXHIBITION INFORMATION

Leonora Carrington
Curated by Tere Arcq and Carlos Martín
Palazzo Reale, Milan
From September 20, 2025, to January 11, 2026

Tickets: reservations are recommended.

Do you want to daydream?

Leonora Carrington is waiting for you.