27 Facts About Alice Rahon

Alice Rahon began as a surrealist poet in Europe but began painting in Mexico.

Alice Rahon was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries.

Alice Rahon's work remained tied to surrealism but was innovative, including abstract elements and the use of techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture.

Alice Rahon became isolated in her later life due to health issues.

Alice Rahon became pregnant when she was very young, but the child had a congenital defect and died soon after birth.

Alice Rahon traveled extensively during much of her life with later voyages to Alaska, Canada, the United States, Lebanon and in Mexico.

Alice Rahon named herself Rahon, and married the Canadian Edward Fitzgerald.

Alice Rahon maintained contacts with groups of artists in New York and California.

Alice Rahon continued to travel frequently, in part because of her art exhibits in the United States and Mexico but she visited many cities in Mexico and spent long periods in Acapulco.

In 1967, Alice Rahon had another accident, this time falling down stairs at the opening of a show at the Galeria Pecanins in Mexico City.

Alice Rahon was the subject of an exhibit at the Galeria de Arte Mexicano in 1975, and a retrospective at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986, but for the last years of her life, she lived practically in seclusion in her house in Tlaquepaque, visited by only a few friends such as Eva Sulzer and American professor Wayne Siewart, whom she had known since the 1950s.

Alice Rahon lived surrounded by mementoes of her life, including books signed by the likes of Breton, Paul Eluard, poems by Picasso, letters from Henry Moore and Anais Nin, paintings dedicated by Yves Tanguy and Paalen, and old photographs and souvenirs.

Alice Rahon was the first female to be published in Editions Surrealistes in Paris in 1936.

Alice Rahon wrote 'Muttra' and other poems while in India with Hindi influence, as well as poems related to the work of painters she admired, such as Picasso.

Alice Rahon contributed some poems and illustrations to Wolfgang Paalen's DYN, which published writing in English and French about Mexico for foreign audiences.

Alice Rahon utilized Poem-Painting in her illustrations in Dyn, that were inspired by pre-Columbian pieces of artwork and especially petrographs, which she used throughout her painting career.

Alice Rahon was supported in this endeavor by husband Wolfgang Paalen, who helped her get her first exhibits in 1944 and 1945 at the Galeria de Arte Mexicano with Ines Amor, then in California and New York.

Alice Rahon exhibited frequently, especially from the late 1940s into the 1960s in Mexico, the United States and even in Beirut, working frequently with artists and writers living outside their native Europe.

Alice Rahon created the script and costume design for a production called Orion, el gran hombre del cielo; however, it was never produced during her lifetime.

Alice Rahon worked on a film with her second husband Edward Fitzgerald, about a magician that lived at the bottom of the sea called Les Magiciens.

Alice Rahon withdrew from the art world, with only one major exhibit of her work, a retrospective at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986, sponsored by Teresa del Conde who was head of INBA at the time.

Alice Rahon's work is included in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art.

Alice Rahon's works were considered mature from the beginning, with abstract elements but still representing something concrete, almost always natural phenomena.

Alice Rahon's themes include landscapes, elements from myths, legends, Mexican festivals, and elements of nature, along with mythical cities and homage to various artists that she admired.

Alice Rahon made series of paintings related to rivers, similar to those created by Paul Klee titled El Nilo, Rio Papaloapan, Rio Papagayos and Encuentro de Rivieras.

Alice Rahon created paintings to honor Giorgio de Chirico, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Joan Miro and Pablo Neruda.

Alice Rahon was a pioneer in the use of sand, sgraffito and other textures on her canvases.