The Symptomatic Surreal - Exhibition Catalogue

This catalogue has been produced in conjunction with the exhibition The Symptomatic Surreal, Leonora Carrington at the Freud Museum London, 25th March – 10th August 2026. 

This is the first exhibition devoted to the drawings and texts Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) produced during and in response to her hospitalisation at Sanatorium Morales in Santander in 1940 — a period of profound personal crisis set against the upheaval of the Second World War, which she described as “down below.”

The accompanying publication features newly commissioned essays examining the artistic significance of her “down below” body of work, alongside high-quality reproductions of the Santander sketchbook drawings and related materials. Together, they offer the first dedicated reassessment of this formative moment in Carrington’s development and a unique vantage point from which to reconsider the artist’s wartime output.

In this catalogue

Edited by Vanessa Boni 

Designed by Oliver Long

Format: Paperback

Pages: 112

Published: 30 April 2026