Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo: Cultural Complexes and the Redemptive Power of the Abjected Feminine

263 Pages·2021·38.22 MB·English

by  Dennis Pottenger, Rebecca Livingston Pottenger

Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo
Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo offers a depth psychological analysis
of the art and life of Remedios Varo, a Spanish surrealist painter. The book
uses Varo’s paintings in a revolutionary way: to critique the patriarchal
underpinnings of Jungian psychology, alchemy, and Surrealism, illumin-
ating how Varo used painting to address cultural complexes that silence
female expression.
The book focuses on how the practice of alchemical psychology, through
the power of imagination and the archetypal Feminine, can lead to healing
and transformation for individuals and culture. Alchemy, Jung, and
Remedios Varo offers the first in-depth psychological treatment of the role
alchemy played in the friendship between Varo and Leonora Carrington— a
connection that led to paintings that protest the pitfalls of patriarchy.
This unique book will be of great interest for academics, scholars, and
post- graduate students in the fields of analytical psychology, art history,
Surrealism, cultural criticism, and Jungian studies.
Dennis Pottenger is a Jungian- oriented psychotherapist and award- winning
literary journalist based in the USA.
Rebecca Livingston Pottenger is a licensed psychotherapist, feminist scholar,
and adjunct faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute, USA.
Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies Series
Series Advisor: Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology,
Essex University, UK.
The Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies series features
research- focused volumes involving qualitative and quantitative research,
historical/ archival research, theoretical developments, heuristic research,
grounded theory, narrative approaches, collaborative research, practitioner-
led research, and self- study. The series also includes focused works by clinical
practitioners and provides new research informed explorations of the work
of C. G Jung that will appeal to researchers, academics, and scholars alike.
Books in this series:
Symbolic Mental Representations in Arts and Mystical Experiences
Primordial Mental Activity and Archetypal Constellations
Giselle Manica
Jung’s Technique of Active Imagination and Desoille’s Directed Waking
Dream Method
Bridging the Divide
Laner Cassar
The Cartesian Split
A Hidden Myth
Brandon Short
Psychogeotherapy
Revisioning Therapeutic Space
Martyna Chrześcijańska
Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo
Cultural Complexes and the Redemptive Power of the Abjected Feminine
Dennis Pottenger
For more information about this series please visit: www.routledge.com/ Research-
in- Analytical- Psychology- and- Jungian- Studies/ book- series/ JUNGIANSTUDIES.
Alchemy, Jung, and

Remedios Varo
Cultural Complexes and the
Redemptive Power of the
Abjected Feminine
Dennis Pottenger
Edited and introduced by
Rebecca Livingston Pottenger
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Dennis Pottenger
The right of Dennis Pottenger to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Excerpt from Rafael Alberti’s “The Uninhabited Body” translated by Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno,
from Concerning the Angels. Copyright © 1995 by Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno,
reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books, www.citylights.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 70421- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-70425-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 14623- 0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Newgen Publishing UK
For Rebecca,

It wasn’t the pancakes I wanted, dear.

Contents
List of figures ix
Acknowledgments x
Prelude: Preparing the canvas xii
PART I
The death of Remedios Varo and the science of all things 1
1 Varo’s alchemical practice of painting and the problem
of patriarchy 3
2 The fructifying bonfire of trauma and death 39
3 Putting the canvas on the easel: Surrealism, alchemy,
and the unconscious 55
4 The end as beginning: Varo’s dream of the executioner,
last painting, and death 65
5 Embroidering the Earth’s Mantle: Psychology, alchemy,
and weaving the garment of a new world 73
6 Voyage to the center of the inner world: The Feminine
quest, the labyrinth, and the dangerous secret 106
7 Cauldrons of color: Dead leaves and the alchemical
movement between death, life, and rebirth 124
8 Birds and eggs: Symbol of the liberated soul and image
of immortality 140
9 The dream of the executioner: A paradigm shift 150
viii Contents
PART II
Mystical sisters: Varo, Carrington, the eternal Feminine,
and the unmaking of patriarchy 175

10 Kindred spirits: Varo, Carrington, and the possibilities
of woman’s creative power 177

11 Breaking out: Varo, Carrington, and blackening the
patriarchal paradigm 196

12 In the footsteps of Virginia Woolf: Humiliated Manhood
and the re- visioning of the Feminine 207

13 Alchemy in exile: Varo and Carrington in Mexico City 212

14 The way they loved each other: The crucible of
friendship and the unmaking of patriarchy 222

PART III
Symbols of transformation: The golden key, the black
door, and the inestimable value of the living third thing 235

15 Imaginal dialogues: The alchemical treasure of the
Feminine 237

Index 243
Figures

4.1 Study for Still Life Reviving, Remedios Varo, pencil tracing
on paper, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
Photo Credit: Schalkwijk/Art Resource, NY. 69
5.1 Women’s Tailor, Remedios Varo, oil on masonite, 1957.
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo credit: Private
Collection, Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images. 74
5.2 Embroidering the Earth’s Mantle, Remedios Varo, oil on
masonite, 1961. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
Image courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco. 86
5.3 Celestial Pablum, Remedios Varo, oil on masonite, 1958.
©Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Private Collection:
G. Dagli Orti/De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images. 94
9.1 The Encounter, Remedios Varo, vinyl on bristol board,
1962. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo
credit: Private Collection, Christie’s Images/Bridgeman
Images. 158
9.2 Creation of the Birds, Remedios Varo, oil on masonite,
1958. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo Credit:
DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY. 165
10.1 Crookhey Hall, Leonora Carrington, color lithograph on
woven paper. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo
Credit: Princeton University Art Museum/Art Resource, NY. 181
11.1 Woman Leaving the Psychoanalyst, Remedios Varo, oil
on canvas, 1961. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York. Photo credit: Private Collection, Christie’s Images/
Bridgeman Images. 200
14.1 Minotaur, Remedios Varo, oil on masonite, 1959. © Artist
Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo Credit: Private Collection,
Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images. 229