The Distractions of Dagobert

Born into an upper-class family in England, Carrington received a strict traditional education, which she would later rebel against in her youth. She traveled to London in 1936 to study at the academy founded by painter Amédée Ozenfant. That same year, the artist attended the first International Surrealist Exhibition. Soon after, in France and together with Max Ernst, she formed a deeper bond with the Parisian surrealist circle, a deciding factor in her career. The Celtic legends she heard from her Irish grandmother and nanny, full of animals, fairies, gods and druids, would also pique her interest in magical places and enigmatic landscapes.
"The Distractions of Dagobert"—titled after a 7th. century Merovingian king and ruler of Gaul—features a combination of scenes that conjure up the mystical conception of nature through exchanges between the divine and the earthly, flora and fauna. With direct references to Flemish Renaissance artist El Bosco's work, this painting was made at the height of Carrington's career, when she reinforced the references to rituals that bring to mind alchemical transformations and elements of Anglo-Saxon ocultism, such as fire, earth, water and air.