Louisiana in Denmark opens the first major European museum retrospective of Remedios Varo: “Painting Magic”

On September 18, 2026, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, opened the exhibition “Remedios Varo: Painting Magic,” the first major European museum retrospective dedicated to the Spanish-Mexican painter Remedios Varo (1908–1963), one of the most original figures of surrealism.

The exhibition brings together more than 70 works, including iconic paintings borrowed from museums in Mexico and the United States, as well as important works from private collections that are rarely seen by the public. They cover Varo’s entire creative life: from her early years in Barcelona and Paris to her most productive period in Mexico in the 1950s and early 1960s.

In her surreal world, dreams, science and magic come together: mysterious musicians, eccentric scientists, strange machines and enigmatic travelers inhabit imaginary settings and the unimaginable within, painted with a precision and finesse reminiscent of the late masters of the Italian Middle Ages and Renaissance. Mythology, mysticism and occultism merge with technology, mechanics and quantum physics in a feminine visual language, deeply original.

A taste of Varo’s art could be seen at Louisiana as early as 2020, as part of the “Fantastic Women” exhibition, but this time the museum fully unfolds her work. The exhibition stays open until January 10, 2027.

Source: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Gallery Wendi Norris