I said an embarrassment of riches around Leonora Carrington, didn’t I? Well here’s glory for you: the catalogue from the exhibit this year that brought to public view many parts of her life that have not been seen before (if you’re not someone like Joanna Moorhead who did get to see them) like her home in St Martin d’Ardeche with Max Ernst. I am forever sad that I could not make it to Denmark or Spain to see the exhibit — maybe maybe another museum will host it, please! — but in the meantime this gorgeous catalogue goes a ways toward making me feel as if I had been there.

Big thick thirsty pages with immaculate reproductions, it also contains essays by knowledgeable people like Carlos Martín, Stefan van Raay, Tere Arcq (who co-created the exhibit and with Susan Aberth, resurrected the re-discovered tarot cards), and Naja Rasmussen. It’s informative, hefty in both size and contents, and just a joy to hold. Use both hands. I’m not kidding about how big and heavy it is.

Now, supposedly there will be a US release of the catalogue. Having been burned by waiting for the English release of Cuentos Mágicos which never materialised (sob!), I went ahead and ordered this from the publisher in Spain; it helped that I only had to have it shipped to the UK. You have to pay for quality (though I think €60 is quite reasonable for this superb catalogue), but you also have to pay for the weight of shipping it. If you’re not as big of a fanatic as I am, Moorhead’s book is also beautifully produced and about half the price.

ALSO you can visit Leonora’s house and studio virtually until they finally open it for visits.

As George sang, it’s all up to what you value — and as you can see, I WANT THEM ALL!