Leonor Fini

was an Argentine-Italian surrealist painter, designer, illustrator, and author, known for her depictions of powerful and erotic women.

Fini had no formal artistic training, but grew up surrounded by the Renaissance and Mannerist styles of Italy.

Her first major exhibition was in 1936 at New York's Julian Levy Gallery. Though Fini is part of the pre-war generation of Parisian artists often overlooked in favour of male contemporaries, she was very important in the Surrealist movement.

Fini never officially joined it though she did show her work alongside other Surrealist artists. She was included in Peggy Guggenheim's 1943 show Exhibition by 31 Women at the Art of This Century gallery in New York.

In 1959, Fini made a fairy tale-inspired painting called Les Sorcières for the Mexican actress, María Félix.

Many of Fini's paintings featured women in positions of power or in very sexualised contexts. Madonna used the imagery of one of the exhibits, Le Bout du Monde, in her video, "Bedtime Story" in 1994. In the spring of 1987, Fini had an exhibition at London's Editions Graphique's gallery. The San Francisco Modern Museum of Art also featured her work in an exhibition entitled "Women, Surrealism, and Self-representation" in 1999.

Fini's work often included sphinxes, werewolves, and witches.