Rediscovered Leonora Carrington Painting Heads to Heritage Auctions

A newly rediscovered Leonora Carrington painting that has remained in the same family for more than seven decades is heading to auction at Heritage Auctions, where it is expected to sell for between $250,000 and $350,000. The 1953 work, titled Fil d’Or, will lead Heritage Auctions’ November 10 Modern & Contemporary Art Signature Auction. Heritage says the painting was acquired from Galeria de Arte Mexicano in Mexico City the same year Carrington created it and has remained with that family ever since.

Measuring just 13 by 8.5 inches, Fil d’Or is relatively small, but its imagery is unmistakably Carrington. Two golden lines cross near the center of the canvas, where an enigmatic long-tailed figure emerges from the textured surface and looks directly toward the viewer. The work was created using grattage and oil on gessoed canvas, with Carrington scraping through layers of paint to reveal patterns underneath. Heritage notes that relatively few examples of her work using the Surrealist grattage technique have appeared at auction.

The title translates from French as “gold thread,” a phrase that traditionally refers to precious-metal wire used in decorated textiles but can also mean a common thread connecting different things. Heritage’s catalog description suggests Carrington uses that double meaning to draw the viewer into the kind of shifting symbolism and alternate interpretations that run throughout her work.

The painting’s history is particularly notable for collectors. According to Heritage, Fil d’Or was purchased from Galeria de Arte Mexicano by a private collector in Long Beach, California, in 1953. It then passed by descent to the current owner in Little Rock, Arkansas. Heritage authenticated the newly rediscovered work, and Dr. Salomon Grimberg assisted with its cataloging.

“Discoveries like this allow us to encounter a familiar artist from a fresh perspective,” says Frank Hettig, Heritage’s Vice President of Contemporary Art. “The Carrington has spent more than seven decades in one family, and its small scale holds an extraordinary imaginative world. Together with the rediscovered Whanki paintings, it gives this auction a particularly compelling sense of discovery.”

Carrington created Fil d’Or during a period when Mexico had become central to both her life and work. The painting carries an inscription on the reverse, added by another hand, reading “LEONORA CARRINGTON 12/26/53,” tying it directly to the year of its creation. Heritage’s condition report notes that the canvas is unlined, with scattered surface scratches, minor pigment loss and some craquelure, but says examination under ultraviolet light found no apparent inpainting.

While Heritage’s November 10 sale includes works by Banksy, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Kim Whanki and others, Fil d’Or stands apart because of its rediscovery and unusually direct provenance. This is not a painting that has changed hands repeatedly through the auction market

The rediscovered Leonora Carrington Fil d’Or carries a $250,000 to $350,000 estimate and will be offered as Lot 77028 in Heritage Auctions’ November 10 Modern & Contemporary Art Signature Auction.