Which Surrealist artist painted the 1937 self-portrait known as Self-Portrait Inn of the Dawn Horse?

Leonora Carrington painted the 1937 self-portrait known as Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse).

The painting shows Carrington seated in a room beside a rearing hyena, while a rocking horse appears behind her and a white horse is visible through the window. These animals and the title connect the work to Carrington’s personal mythology, dreams, and interest in transformation. It is one of her most recognized early paintings.

Carrington made the work while she was in her early twenties, before moving permanently to Mexico. Her relationship with Surrealism was shaped by contact with Max Ernst and by the movement’s interest in dreams, the unconscious, and unexpected combinations. She later became an important writer and artist in Mexico.

The work is sometimes called Self-Portrait or Inn of the Dawn Horse. Both names refer to the same painting, so the longer title is useful when distinguishing it from other self-portraits.