Rare Leonora Carrington Painting Emerges After 70 Years, Heads To Auction
Painted in 1953, Fil d'Or, meaning“gold thread” in French, depicts an otherworldly owl created through grattage. This technique involves scraping through layers of wet paint to reveal underlying textures, a method pioneered by Max Ernst, Carrington's former partner, around 1926.
Aviva Lehmann, deputy chairman of fine art at Heritage, noted the artwork's elusive quality. She stated:“Her creatures seem to inhabit a world with its own beliefs and logic, and we're being given a glimpse inside.”
The painting was acquired in 1953 from the Galería de Arte Mexicano in Mexico City by a Californian art patron family and has remained in their collection since. It will lead Heritage's sale of modern and contemporary art on November 10. Carrington created Fil d'Or in Mexico, where she sought refuge during World War II, and the work reflects her fascination with alchemy and mysticism.
Fil d'Or is one of the few examples of Carrington's grattage technique to appear on the market. Its reemergence coincides with renewed interest in Surrealist art, marked by recent auction records. Frida Kahlo's El Sueño ( 1940 ) sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby's New York in 2025, and Carrington's own Les Distractions de Dagobert ( 1945 ) fetched $28.5 million at Sotheby's in 2024.
While Carrington's market has moderated since its 2024 peak, her works recorded public sales of $8.1 million in 2025 and more than $6 million so far in 2026, according to the Artnet Price Database, figures that remain significantly above historical levels. The consignor, who inherited Fil d'Or, decided to sell due to this market enthusiasm, having previously declined private offers. Lehmann anticipates“international competition” for the piece from both established collectors and new buyers.
Other highlights of the Heritage auction include two Kim Whanki canvases from his New York period, a Banksy rat, and a 1962 Joan Miró maquette for the arch in his sculpture garden at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.
Source: Artnet News
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