25 Feb 2026
Women artists, Surrealism and the challenge of Eco-Feminism: Ithell Colquhoun, Leonora Carrington and Valentine Penrose
Paris, France
The École des modernités
Dawn Ades is Professor Emerita of the History and Theory of Art at the University of Essex, Professor of Art History at the Royal Academy, a former trustee of Tate (1995–2005) and the National Gallery (2000–2005), a trustee of the Estorick Collection, and a member of the British Academy and the Association of Art Historians. In 2013, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to art and higher education.
She is a pioneer in the study of Latin American art, and her research also focused on Dadaism and Surrealism, and more recently on women artists. This made it possible to align these areas of interest with publications on Leonora Carrington, María Izquierdo, Mina Loy, and Ofelia Rodríguez. Parmi les nombreuses expositions qu'elle a organisées ou co-organisées, au Royaume-Uni et à l'étranger, citons Dada and Surrealism Reviewed (1978) ; Art in Latin America: the Modern Era 1820-1980 (1989) ; Dalí's Optical Illusions (2000) ou encore Dalí/Duchamp (Royal Academy et Dalí Museum 2017-18).
25 February, at 6:30pm
At The Giacometti Lab et en direct sur Youtube
By Dawn Ades
Conference in English
This lecture will look at ways artists, such as Ithell Colquhoun and Leonora Carrington, responded in their works to their experience in the surrealist movement. While the surrealists claimed that “woman should be free and loved” the reality was that women as human beings tended to be “permitted not required” according to Ithell Colquhoun. Their works – and those of other women associated with the movement like Valentine Penrose and Remedios Varo – explore different forms of feminism, including challenges to the classic gender trope of woman as nature: passive, fecund, and lying flat.
Videos