Surrealist Muse by Anne Whitehouse, and: Escaping Lee Miller by Anne Whitehouse, and: Frida by Anne Whitehouse (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Surrealist Muse by Anne Whitehouse, and: Escaping Lee Miller by Anne Whitehouse, and: Frida by Anne Whitehouse
• Alan Steinfeld (bio)

surrealist muse
Anne Whitehouse
Ethelzine
https://www.ethelzine.com/shop/surrealist-muse-by-anne-whitehouse
$9.00 escaping lee miller
Anne Whitehouse
Ethelzine
https://www.ethelzine.com/shop/escaping-lee-miller-by-anne-whitehouse
$9.00 frida
Anne Whitehouse
Ethelzine
https://www.ethelzine.com/shop/frida-by-anne-whitehouse
$10.00

Anne Whitehouse's series on the women of surrealism provides a chronicle of the inner workings of three extraordinary women who emerged out of the surrealist art movement of the 1930s and 1940s. While surrealism sought to focus on the absurd, the fantastic, and the transhuman, the lives of Leonora Carrington, Lee Miller, and Frida Kahlo reflect the very real challenges of the human condition.

Published by Ethel Zine and Micro Press, this exquisitely handcrafted book series, designed by Sara Lefsyk, is a collector's dream. Whitehouse's thought-provoking approach invites readers to delve into the personal struggles, triumphs, and contributions of these artists. In many ways, the exceptional lives of the three women she portrays can be characterized as "surreal," marked by extreme physical suffering and emotional tribulations that set them apart from the ordinary women of their times.

The situations of these lives reflect the sentiment of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who wrote, "Works of art always spring from those who have faced [End Page 148] the danger, gone to the very end of experience, to the point beyond which no human being can go." Indeed, in these concise biographical sketches Whitehouse sheds light on journeys "no human being" would dare to embark upon.

Her approach to Carrington, Miller, and Kahlo adds a new layer of understanding to the surrealist movement, showing it as a response to the harsh realities of the world. Overall, Whitehouse is both engaging and insightful, providing a fresh perspective into the lives of extraordinary women. Each was a contributor to the surrealist movement equal to the widespread male-dominated acknowledgments that litter the art history books. For instance, Whitehouse accuses the surrealist movement of misogyny and the tendency to portray women as mere muses and symbols of mystical and erotic fantasies. She attributes this hostility to the surrealist men's love and admiration for each other. When Kahlo was invited to Paris by the movement's leader, André Breton, she was met with a rude reception and eventually found refuge with the painter Marcel Duchamp.

The title of Whitehouse's first book in the series, Surrealist Muse (2020, a reference to Leonora Carrington), is one the painter/writer would certainly have rejected. In fact, Carrington is quoted in a MoMA exhibition as stating, "I didn't have time to be anyone's muse. … I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist." Whitehouse emphasizes Carrington's fierce independence, even though she was the youngest and seemingly most glamorous member of the surrealist circle. Breton described Carrington as "magnificent in her refusals," declining the roles of muse for Man Ray, Joan Miró, and even her first true love, Max Ernst. Carrington reminisced about her brief affair with Ernst as "an era of paradise," until the war separated them. Yet she refused a further engagement when they met years later in New York. Her final act of defiance against male aggression occurred when she resisted the advances of the surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel. After being locked in a Mexican bathroom, she adorned the walls with her menstrual blood as a statement of her resistance. The episode reinforces the trilogy's theme of resilience which female surrealists used to defy the norms of polite society.

In each narrative Whitehouse's nonlinear approach enhances the lyrical quality of these lives. One notable omission in the Carrington account is the lack of acknowledgment for her talents as a writer. A recent publication of [End Page 149] her absurdist stories indicates that they are equal to those of Franz Kafka. While Leonora eventually emerged from her schizophrenia, depression, and heartbreak as a wiser woman in Mexico, Whitehouse's next biographic retelling is a contrasting tale of a creative...