After establishing herself in Mexico City, Spanish Surrealist painter Remedios Varo (1908-1963) began creating the compositions for which she would become best known: paintings on boards with remarkably rich surfaces that juxtaposed a variety of techniques. In preparation for the first U.S. show dedicated to this painter in over twenty years, Remedios Varo: Science Fictions, the Art Institute’s associate paper conservator Mary Broadway and paintings conservator Katrina Rush surveyed and identified the remarkable range of techniques found in her work.
From blotting and decalcomania to soufflage and sgraffito, Varo employed a vast array of methods to achieve her singular and otherworldly paintings. Through close examination of her notebooks, preparatory drawings, and finished paintings, Broadway and Rush created the first comprehensive taxonomy of her approach to art-making. The result was something like a periodic table of painterly methods detailing Varo’s diverse process.
In conversation with editor Sheila Majumdar, the conservators share how this visual taxonomy of the artist’s techniques included in the exhibition’s catalogue offers unique guidance for viewers navigating Varo’s intricate landscapes.