Leonor Fini
Blue-chipEgon research · Artist market profile
The market, in context.
Explore Leonor Fini’s auction history alongside the exhibitions, collections and gallery relationships behind the market.
Auction result highlight
$2,319,000 USD (€1,754,340)
Autoportrait au scorpion (1938)
View the sale and market context →Institutional research
Collections & exhibitions
Read holdings, exhibition history and their qualifications in context.
Read the institutional research →
Egon investment scores
Market position
Research updated
Auction result highlight
The only self-portrait Fini chose not to sell during her lifetime. Tripled its high estimate.
Pricing
Price ranges by medium
Oil paintings
- Notes
- Oils particularly prized by American buyers
- Range
- €5 - €1,754,340 USD ($5 - $2,319,000 USD)
- Mid tier
- $20,000 - $100,000
- Major works
- $100,000 - $2,500,000
Works on paper
- Notes
- Increasing interest in works on paper, according to Galerie Minsky
- Recent sales
- March 2025 Bonhams sold ink drawings (42x33cm) and studies - prices undisclosed but growing demand
- Drawings watercolors
- $5,000 - $50,000
Sculpture masks
- Masks
- September 2025: Black Scarecrow Mask (circa 1960) at Sotheby's - authenticated by Richard Overstreet
- Average
- $6,866 USD (past 12 months)
Prints lithographs
- Range
- $150 - $5,000
- Typical
- $500 - $2,000
- Editions
- Often 75-280 copies, signed and numbered
Liquidity
4,007+ artworks documented at auction (MutualArt). Most works sell between $0-$500 (print market). 2,500+ auction results on LiveAuctioneers. Active secondary market with regular sales across Europe and US.
Comparables
Trading below peers like Leonora Carrington but above Remedios Varo in some segments. Positioned between emerging female Surrealists and blue-chip names like Frida Kahlo.
Collector base
American buyers particularly active (especially for oils). Growing interest from collectors focused on female Surrealists and mid-century women artists. Institutional interest increasing.
Auction history
- Date
- May 12, 2021
- Work
- Autoportrait au scorpion (1938)
- Notes
- The only self-portrait Fini chose not to sell during her lifetime. Tripled its high estimate.
- Price
- $2,319,000 USD (€1,754,340)
- Estimate
- €497,160 - €662,880
- Auction house
- Sotheby's New York
Auction houses
Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, Phillips (major houses). Regional: Artcurial, Tajan, Millon (France), DIGARD Auction, Ketterer Kunst (Germany), various US regional houses
Recent records
Second highest
- Date
- November 17, 2025
- Work
- Dans la tour (Autoportrait avec Constantin Jeleński) (1952)
- Notes
- New auction record set in November 2025, breaking 2021 record. Rare double portrait with lover Constantin Jeleński.
- Price
- $2.51 million USD (with fees)
- Auction house
- Christie's New York
Previous records
- $867,000 USD - Sotheby's
- £499,000 (~$695,843 USD) - Sotheby's
- £504,000 (~$663,904 USD) - Sotheby's
- $628,161 USD for 'Les quatres saisons' at Christie's London, 1990 (previous record holder until 2021)
- Total database records
- 4,238 works in LotSearch archive, 1,810 with realized prices; 1,295 lots sold in France (most active market)
Average prices 12 months
- Paintings
- $173,237 USD average
- Sculptures
- $6,866 USD average
Market activity 2024 2025
- Volume
- 55 lots sold per year (average over 36 months per Artsy)
Recent sales
- September 2025: Multiple lithographs at various auction houses ($150-$500 estimates)
- March 2025: Bonhams online sales (ink drawings, studies)
- November 2025: Record-breaking Christie's sale at $2.51M
- Sell through rate
- 33.3% (indicating selective market)
- Notable 2025 sales
- Train de nuit estimated €250,000-€350,000 at Sotheby's Paris (April 2025)
Market position
Significant upward momentum 2020-2025. Surging interest driven by: (1) Female Surrealist reappraisal, (2) 2021 catalogue raisonné publication, (3) Major exhibitions (Venice Biennale 2022, Kasmin 2022-2023), (4) Surrealism centennial 2024. Market expected to continue strengthening per dealer reports.
Institutional presence
Research updated
Exhibitions
- Upcoming exhibitions
- 2026: Retrospective planned for Milan (per Art Newspaper December 2023)
Major group exhibitions
- 1936: 'Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism' - MoMA, New York (seminal exhibition)
- 1936: International Surrealist Exhibition, New Burlington Galleries, London
- 1943: 'Exhibition by 31 Women' - Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century, New York (with Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage, Louise Nevelson)
- 1982-83: 'Paul Éluard et ses amis peintres, 1895-1952' - Centre Pompidou, Paris
- 1998-99: 'Peggy Guggenheim Collection' - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- 1998-99: 'Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self-Representation' - MIT List Visual Arts Center, Miami Art Museum, SF MoMA
- 2019: 'The Sleep of Reason' (Surrealist collection) - Sotheby's presentation
- 2021-22: 'Surrealism Beyond Borders' - Tate Modern, London
- 2022: 'The Milk of Dreams' (59th Venice Biennale, main exhibition) - Featured prominently in 'The Witch's Cradle' section curated by Cecilia Alemani
- 2022: 'Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity' - Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
- 2023: 'Surréalisme au Féminin?' - Musée de Montmartre Jardins Renoir, Paris (March-September)
- 2025: 'Imagine!' - Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium (Surrealism centennial, opening December 2025)
- 2020: 'Fantastic Women: Surreal Worlds from Meret Oppenheim to Frida Kahlo' - Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany
- Current: Lower Belvedere, Vienna (work on display)
Exhibition history significance
Included in most comprehensive Surrealism exhibitions despite never officially joining movement. Regular participant from 1930s onward. Recent surge in institutional attention reflects art historical reappraisal of female Surrealists.
Museum collections
Academic attention
Growing scholarly interest. Catalogue raisonné 2021 (Overstreet/Zukerman) marks major milestone. Authoritative biography by Peter Webb (2007, English 2009). Articles in ArtDaily, e-flux, Observer, ARTnews (September 2025). Exhibition catalogues with essays by major critics. Archives at Yale Beinecke Library enables research.
Curatorial interest
Significant and increasing. Major exhibitions 2021-2025 indicate strong institutional reappraisal. Featured in Venice Biennale 2022 main exhibition. Tate acquisition supported by Endeavor in 2022. Centre Pompidou planning Surrealism centennial shows 2024. Museums actively acquiring works.
Awards and recognition
- Award-winning set and costume designs (Paris Opera, Metropolitan Opera)
- Subject of 260-piece retrospective at Musée du Luxembourg (1986) - drew 5,000+ daily visitors
- Catalogue raisonné published 2021 (1,100+ oil paintings documented by Overstreet & Zukerman)
- Personal papers and library now held at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University
Career & Biography
Research updated
Career
Career evolution
First exhibition age 17 in Trieste (1925), Paris debut at Galerie Bonjean run by Christian Dior (1932), included in MoMA's pivotal 'Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism' (1936), extensive theater/costume design work, illustration of 50+ books including works by Baudelaire, Genet, Edgar Allan Poe
Identity
- Birth death
- 1908-1996
- Birth location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Death location
- Paris, France
Key biographical details
Raised in Trieste by her mother after fleeing oppressive father. Disguised as boy in childhood due to kidnapping attempts. Eye disease in teens forced her to wear bandages, catalyzing artistic vision. Moved to Paris 1931, introduced to Surrealists by Giorgio de Chirico but rejected formal membership due to André Breton's misogyny. Known for theatrical lifestyle with 23 Persian cats and polyamorous relationships.
- Artistic context
- Surrealism (though she rejected the label), Independent modernist
Artistic Profile
Research updated
- Influences
- Italian Renaissance and Mannerist painters, Giorgio de Chirico, personal dreams and psychological imagery
Themes and subjects
- Signature motifs
- Sphinx figures (often self-portraits), cats, masks, androgynous figures, theatrical settings
Movements and periods
- Artistic philosophy
- 'I paint things that don't exist, and that I'd like to see' - focus on inner vision over external reality
- Techniques and mediums
- Self-taught technique influenced by Italian Mannerists and Old Masters. Known for elongated forms, rich color palette, meticulous detail work
Critical Reception
Research updated
Critical reception
Critical consensus
Recognized as 'most undervalued artist of 20th century' by Art Dealers Association of America. Critical re-evaluation in progress, praised for technical skill and independent vision. Some criticism focused too heavily on her lifestyle rather than artwork
- Art historical position
- Positioned between Symbolism and Surrealism, compared to 'European Frida Kahlo' and 'female Salvador Dalí'
Publications and media
Major publications
- Artforum (2019 retrospective review, 2025 'Deux Femmes' article)
- TheArtStory comprehensive artist analysis
- A Women's Thing critical essay (2025)
- Multiple academic papers on gender and Surrealism
Sources & research notes
Egon’s artist research combines historical auction records, recent sales, institutional history, critical reception and gallery information. Researched auction records and auction highlights are identified separately.
Read prices with their work, sale date, currency and stated basis. Egon’s market assessments are distinct from reported auction results.
Reference: Egon, “Leonor Fini: Market Intelligence & Investment Profile.”
Research updates by section
These dates show when Egon’s research sections were updated. Source retrieval dates, where supplied above, refer to individual evidence notes.
Ranking updated . Research sections follow their own update dates.
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