Attributed to Alice Rahon, no coa, private collection, medium: measurements: 17"HX29"W framed, mint condition Biography: Alice Rahon was a French/Mexican poet and artist whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe but began painting in Mexico.Rahon's first career was as a poet. In 1935, she became part of the Surrealist movement in Europe, meeting artists such as Paul Eluard and Max Ernst through her husband.In France, she published 'A meme la terre' with a print by Yves Tanguy, and in 1938 Sablier Couche, illustrated by Joan Miró. Both projects were supported by André Breton.André Breton and the other Paris Surrealists honored her by dedicating both of the "A"s in the name of the Gradiva Gallery to Alice.She was the first female to be published in Editions Surréalistes in Paris in 1936.Her first book that the Surrealists published was called "Bare Ground." She came out with her second book the "Hourglass Lying Down" a year later, which was illustrated by Pablo Picasso.She also wrote 'Muttra' and other poems while in India with Hindi influence, as well as poems related to the work of painters she admired, such as Picasso. In Mexico, Rahon gradually left poetry, but she did publish one last collection of works called 'Noir Animal', in which appears a portrait of Alice painted by Paalen.She also contributed some poems and illustrations to Wolfgang Paalen's DYN (magazine), which published writing in English and French about Mexico for foreign audiences. However, her work with DYN was mostly as editor, working with writers such as Alfonso Caso, Miguel Covarrubias and Jorge Enciso .She utilized Poem-Painting in her illustrations in Dyn, that were inspired by pre-Columbian pieces of artwork and especially petrographs, which she used throughout her painting career.However, even as a painter, she remained connected to poetry, illustrating the writings of others such as Chateau de Grissou by Cesar Moro.Her career as a painter and visual artist spanned almost forty years, starting shortly after she arrived to Mexico in 1939.She was supported in this endeavor by husband Wolfgang Paalen, who helped her get her first exhibits in 1944 and 1945 at the Galería de Arte Mexicano with Inés Amor, then in California and New York.She exhibited frequently, especially from the late 1940s into the 1960s in Mexico, the United States and even in Beirut, working frequently with artists and writers living outside their native Europe.