The thread about influential artists reminded me of a painting I had seen which I found very atmospheric but have not been able to track down since. Actually I saw it used as the illustration for the front cover of a book. I can't remember what the book was, can't find the book, can't remember who the painting was by or anything useful like that. I think the book was a work of fiction, but that's about it.

The painting featured a woman floating about a foot off the ground - not like this -



but upright. She's drifting past a line of trees and her long white hair is standing straight up from her head, like she's just jumped feet-first into water. I think she has bare feet. I think there's also a white horse in the painting. It's done in a fairly naif style and has a slightly brooding feel. I thought Leonora Carrington, but I can't find it online when I search her stuff. It's that kind of dreamy/slightly sinister style though, IIRC.

I don't hold out much hope given the scant details I can recall, but has anyone seen anything that could be this? I've been looking for it for years now.

My first thought was Flora by Evelyn de Morgan:



But the hair differs from your description.#

However, Evelyn de Morgan painted a number of "floating" women in her paintings, so it's worth checking to see if any of her works correlate with your description before moving on.

You are not meant to find a painting. The universe does not owe you a painting.

To make the task a little easier, go here. Click on "The Collection" in the left hand sidebar, and when the link "Search the collection" (kin a small font!) appears, click on that. From the drop down boxes, select "Artist" -> Evelyn de Morgan, and "Material" -> Oil on canvas for starters. This should bring up a fairly long list of paintings.

Thanks, but the period of the painting I'm talking about I'd put at say 1930s at the earliest and it's a naive or perhaps surrealist style rather than Arts-And-Crafts. It's much darker.

Here's a couple of examples of Leonora Carrington's work which gives you a taste of the kind of style I'm talking about -





The woman's hair goes straight up from her head in a column and is white in the painting I'm looking for.

Fallible wrote:The woman's hair goes straight up from her head in a column and is white in the painting I'm looking for.

Marge Simpson?

IS WHITE. Silly Oirishman.

I tried just googling "white haired woman floating forest horse" on image search and although I didn't see any painting which fits the description I did see this...



Which made me laugh.

Here we see the origin of the selfie.

Yeah, I tried pretty much that combination on google and got nothing. I've tried it a few times actually, over the years.

Woman floating off ground.....bare feet...hair standing straight up.........hm.

Could be any woman I've had sex with, basically.

Horse involved. That narrows it down a tad.

Ha!


Ach well it was worth a try.

Can you remember any more details, Falbs? Is it a kind of fairy-like, olde-worlde scene or surrealism? Was the woman clothed? Was it just a few trees or was she in a forest? I really want to find this now, as it's kind of doing my head in by proxy

I got a really eerie sense of Deja Vu from your description..

It reminds me of the 'What else is there' video by Royksopp.

Fallible wrote:I thought Leonora Carrington

I just googled that name as I've never heard of this artist and this was the first thing that came up.

http://www.imma.ie/en/page_236722.htm

18 September 2013 - 26 January 2014, Admission Free
New Galleries, IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8

The first major retrospective of Leonora Carrington's work in Ireland, this iconic exhibition is a timely rediscovery of this Surrealist painter and her role in the Surrealist art movement. Carrington is known for her figurative dreamscapes filled with extraordinary and complex narratives informed by her rich interest in mythology, alchemy, fairy tales and the occult. Leonora Carrington The Celtic Surrealist comprises some 50 paintings, eight sculptures, eight tapestries, and 20 works on paper from the 1940s onwards, holds a particular focus on the imagery that enchanted her as a child and on the cultural influences of Mexico. The exhibition is kindly supported by Brian Ranalow of H&K International.

Must check it out

Kaleid wrote:Can you remember any more details, Falbs? Is it a kind of fairy-like, olde-worlde scene or surrealism? Was the woman clothed? Was it just a few trees or was she in a forest? I really want to find this now, as it's kind of doing my head in by proxy

Heh - sorry Kaleid. It's darkly lit like it's twilight, roughly done rather than an attempt at photo-like accuracy as with Pre-Raphaelite works. I think she had on a long, dark dress thing, possibly dark blue or grey. It was a line of thin trees IIRC, kind of sparse, as they might appear in winter. There's either a horse or a unicorn in I think the bottom left hand corner.

BlackBart wrote:I got a really eerie sense of Deja Vu from your description..

It reminds me of the 'What else is there' video by Royksopp.

Well would you look at that!

Animavore wrote:

Fallible wrote:I thought Leonora Carrington

I just googled that name as I've never heard of this artist and this was the first thing that came up.

http://www.imma.ie/en/page_236722.htm

18 September 2013 - 26 January 2014, Admission Free
New Galleries, IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8

The first major retrospective of Leonora Carrington's work in Ireland, this iconic exhibition is a timely rediscovery of this Surrealist painter and her role in the Surrealist art movement. Carrington is known for her figurative dreamscapes filled with extraordinary and complex narratives informed by her rich interest in mythology, alchemy, fairy tales and the occult. Leonora Carrington The Celtic Surrealist comprises some 50 paintings, eight sculptures, eight tapestries, and 20 works on paper from the 1940s onwards, holds a particular focus on the imagery that enchanted her as a child and on the cultural influences of Mexico. The exhibition is kindly supported by Brian Ranalow of H&K International.

Must check it out

I must hear all about this if you do.

Language is simply not expressive enough, eh? It's like trying to remember the name or band of a song you heard long ago. You know, the one that goes Boom de ba ba Boomey de Boom, and the singer had funny hair.