Leonor Fini by André Ostier

André Ostier :: Argentinian born artist Leonor Fini, ca. 1947. | src Galerie au Bonheur du Jour via Proantic

Leonor Fini, 1934

A 1934 portrait of Leonor Fini by an unknown photographer. ARS, New York ~ ADAGP, Paris| src The New York Times

Dora Maar :: Leonor Fini sitting with black cat, 1936 / src: blogspot

more [+] by this photographer

Leonor Fini by van Vetchen

**Carl van Vechten ::** Leonor Fini, 1936. Gelatin silver print. Photo postcard, printed probably 1950s. | src Lempertz

Leonor Fini (1908 – 1996) was an Argentine painter and author living in Paris in the 1930s where she was in close contact with other surrealist artists.

Leonor Fini in owl mask, ca. 1949

André Ostier :: Leonor Fini wearing a ball costume and the famous mask of a Snowy Owl, ca. 1949. | src stephen ellcock

Fini’s owl mask originates with the New Year’s Eve party called the Bal des Oiseaux given at the Palais Rose on the avenue Foch, Paris, by Vicomte Charles Benoist d’Azy at the end of 1948. Webb writes, “she wore an owl mask of white feathers with headdress and gown of black-and-green-striped feathers. A series of dramatic photographs of her in this costume, as well as in the costumes for other balls of 1947 and 1948, were taken by Andre Ostier and widely published in newspapers and magazines, and Pauline Reage used the same mask in the final scene of her erotic novel Histoire d’O (Story of O), which was later illustrated by Leonor.”

Quotation from Peter Webb’s biography: Sphinx – The Life and Art of Leonor Fini

Retrieved from Story of O

Cat masks by Leonor Fini

**Brassaï** (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s

**Brassaï** (Gyula Halász) (1899-1984) ~ Untitled [woman with cat mask by Leonor Fini], Paris, 1930s | src stephen ellcock

**Brassaï** (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. **Brassaï** (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver prints | src Christie’s

Les Demoiselles de la Nuit

Ballet in one act with choreography by Roland Petit, libretto by Jean Anouilh, music by Jean Françaix, and scenery & costume design (including the ballet’s fantastic cat masks) by Leonor Fini. It premiered on 22 May 1948 by Ballets de Paris at the Théâtre Marigny (Paris), with Fonteyn, Petit, and Hamilton. It tells the story of a musician who falls in love with his beautiful cat Agathe, who has assumed semi-human form. Agathe tries to be faithful to her human lover but is lured away by the sound of tomcats and the call of freedom. She leaps off the rooftops and the musician falls to his death as he tries to grab hold of her. She falls after him and they are united in death. | src The Oxford Dictionary of Dance