Stella Snead

Stella Snead (April 2, 1910 – March 18, 2006) was a surrealist painter, photographer, and collage artist born in London, England. She immigrated to the United States in 1939 to escape World War II.

In 1936, Snead enrolled at the Ozenfant Academy of Fine Arts in London, founded by Amédée Ozenfant. She moved to the United States in 1939, where she became part of a circle of surrealist artists who had also emigrated. In 1940, she traveled by bus to Los Angeles, where she was inspired by the landscapes and indigenous cultures of the American West and Southwest. In 1946, Snead relocated to Taos, New Mexico, where she lived in an adobe structure and observed Native American ceremonies and dances.

Snead's paintings reflect her fascination with natural phenomena such as tornadoes, geysers, and volcanoes, often depicting animals and humans engaged in ritualistic movements within anthropomorphic landscapes. One of her notable works is ''Ecstatic Cow'' (1943). She held a solo exhibition in 1941 at Gallery 10 in New York and exhibited at Bonestell Gallery (1945), the Arcade Gallery in London (1945), and E. L. T. Mesens's London Gallery (1950). In 1949, her work was included in the Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh.

Recognition for Snead's work resurfaced in 2005 when her paintings were included in ''Surrealism USA'', a major exhibition at the National Academy Museum in New York, with subsequent showings at the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and other galleries.

In the 1950s, Snead transitioned to photography, moving to India, where she documented Hindu sculptures, landscapes, and street life. She published eight books of photography, including ''Shiva's Pigeons: An Experience of India'' (1972), ''Beach Patterns: The World of Sea and Sand'' (1975), and ''Animals in Four Worlds: Sculptures from India'' (1989).

Snead spent her later years traveling between New York City, London, Taos, and India. In 1971, she settled on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where she lived until her death on March 18, 2006, at the Jewish Home and Hospital in Manhattan. According to her art dealer Pavel Zoubok, she died of natural causes and had no immediate survivors. Provided by Wikipedia