Our story for this episode comes from our friends at the Dead Ladies Show NYC, which is organized and hosted by Molly O’Laughlin Kemper with Sheila Enright.  Photographer, professional eccentric and guinea pig lover JR Pepper tells the tale of artist Leonor Fini, a glamorous, passionate iconoclast (and cat lover) with a brilliant creative mind who was fiercely independent — at a time when women were allowed to be muses, not painters.

Fini is often called a Surrealist, but she didn’t consider herself one of their group due to their misogynistic attitudes, which included viewing women as either a childlike muse or femme fatale. Her paintings utilized the female gaze, and often featured catlike and other creatures inspired by Fini’s own appearance, accompanied by languid men. Leonor Fini’s life was as rule-breaking as her art; she had many lovers, and spent much of her life living in a happy throuple — along with about 20 cats. 

DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins producer/host Susan Stone to introduce this episode’s featured Dead Lady. 

For more on Leonor Fini, please visit our episode notes at: 

https://deadladiesshow.com/2023/04/13/podcast-62-leonor-fini/

For DLS NYC info and tickets, sign up to their newsletter here: https://tinyletter.com/DeadLadiesShowNYC

or follow them on Instagram @deadladiesnyc

Find JR Pepper on Instagram @girlduality 

and listen to her talk about Mae West here: https://deadladiesshow.com/2022/08/17/podcast-56-mae-west/

Our episode on surrealist Leonora Carrington is here: https://deadladiesshow.com/2018/01/25/podcast-5-leonora-carrington/

Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

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The Dead Ladies Show is a series of entertaining and inspiring talks about women who achieved amazing things against all odds, presented live in Berlin and beyond. This podcast is based on that series. Because women's history is everyone's history.

The Dead Ladies Show was founded by Florian Duijsens and Katy Derbyshire.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone.

Don’t forget, we have a Patreon! Thanks to all of our current supporters! Please consider supporting our transcripts project and our ongoing work: www.patreon.com/deadladiesshowpodcast

If you prefer to make a one-time donation, here’s the link: paypal.me/dlspodcast