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Leonora Carrington's 1945 Surrealist masterpiece, “Les Distractions de Dagobert”, shattered records at Sotheby’s modern art auction in New York, fetching $28.5 million, a stunning leap from its pre-sale estimate of $12–18 million. This sale not only set a new high for Carrington but also elevated her to the ranks of the top five most valuable women artists at auction, joining the esteemed company of Louise Bourgeois, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joan Mitchell. Furthermore, Carrington now stands among the top four Surrealists, surpassing even the likes of Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí.
The evening auction was marked by intense bidding wars and record-breaking sales, with 96% of the lots sold and eight pieces hammering above $10 million each. The total sales reached $235.1 million, nearly hitting the upper end of the pre-sale estimate of $180.9 million to $250.7 million. The star of the night, Carrington's “Les Distractions de Dagobert”, captivated bidders for a tense 10 minutes. The artwork, backed by an irrevocable bid ensuring its sale, saw fierce competition among collectors, ultimately selling to Argentinian developer and businessman Eduardo F. Costantini, founder of the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (Malba).
Costantini’s successful bid at $28.5 million obliterated Carrington's previous auction record of $3.3 million set in 2022, also at Sotheby’s. "This is a superb piece in the history of Surrealism," Costantini remarked as he exited, reflecting on his perseverance to acquire the piece after being the underbidder for it 30 years ago when it sold for $475,500. Adjusted for inflation, that amount equates to about $990,000 today, underscoring the dramatic appreciation in Carrington's market value.
“Les Distractions de Dagobert” is a dazzling tempera painting illustrating the decadent life of Dagobert I, the 7th-century Frankish king of the Merovingian dynasty. Carrington, who was 28 and pregnant with her first child at the time, infused the work with complex imagery and wild iconography. Hybrid creatures, part-human, part-animal, part-plant, engage in mysterious rituals, drawing on medieval European history, scientific literature, and Celtic and Mexican mythology. The centerpiece features a king in a red robe surrounded by hallucinatory visions, including a flying woman with a stag head, a man consumed by flames, and a woman stretched out on a boat with a baby’s face painted on her head.
The auction also highlighted the rising market for female Surrealists, particularly those who sought refuge in Mexico during World War II. Carrington's contemporaries, such as Frida Kahlo and Leonor Fini, have also seen their works achieve significant prices at auction, with Kahlo’s “Diego y yo” fetching $34.9 million in 2021 and Fini’s “Le Traine” selling for $2.3 million in the same year.
In addition to “Les Distractions de Dagobert”, Carrington's “Who art thou, White Face” (1959) sold for $2.5 million, hitting its high estimate. Other notable sales included Remedios Varo’s “Esquiador (Viajero)” (1960), which fetched $4.2 million, and Leonor Fini’s “Le Train” (1975), which sold for $445,000, both surpassing their high estimates. These sales brought the combined total for the three Surrealist women artists to $35.6 million, more than doubling their combined low estimate of $15 million.
“Les Distractions de Dagobert” has been requested for two exhibitions scheduled for 2025: "Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver" at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and "Surrealism" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This painting’s record-breaking sale and forthcoming exhibitions solidify Carrington's legacy as a pivotal figure in the Surrealist movement and underscore the growing appreciation for her extraordinary contributions to art.
