Alice Rahon in Paris, c. 1934-35. Photographer unknown.
Unidentified woman and Alice Rahon, Cavalaire-sur-Mer beach, South of France. Photographer unknown.
1904
On June 8, Alice Marie Yvonne Philippot is born in Chenecey-Buillon, East France. Her father, Jean-Louis Philippot, and her mother, Alphonsine Rahon, work at a residence in Paris as a valet and as a cook.
She spends most of her childhood and teenage years in Paris. She visits her grandparents in Recouvrance during the summer, a neighborhood in the city of Brest, in Brittany.
At the age of three, Alice suffers an accident where she breaks her right hip. She is forced to wear a cast for almost three years. At the age of twelve, a second accident results in a broken leg. These physical injuries have a long-term effect on the artist’s life.
1931
Alice meets the Austrian painter Wolfgang Paalen in Paris.
1933
At the recommendation of Joan Miró, Alice and Wolfgang visit the cave of Altamira in Spain.
1934
Alice marries Wolfgang Paalen. The couple visits the cave of Altamira again and travels to Greece in the fall.
1935
Rahon and Paalen meet Paul Éluard and Max Ernst through Roland Penrose. The Paalens visit Valentine and Roland Penrose in Le Pouy, southern France. Alice spends the summer with the Penroses in Le Brusc, southern France, where she develops a very close friendship with the poet Valentine Penrose.
Alice has a brief love affair with Pablo Picasso, which ends when Paalen threatens to kill himself. During December of that year, André Breton invites the Paalens to officially join the Surrealist group.
1936
Alice travels to India, where she reunites with Valentine Penrose. After landing in Bombay, she visits the cities of Goa and Pondicherry and continues to the north, where she spends a season at an ashram in Mirtola, at the foot of the Himalayas. While in India, Alice writes "Muttra" and other poems influenced by Hindu culture. With the support of André Breton and his Éditions Surréalistes, she publishes the poetry collection À même la terre (On Bare Ground). The book is a limited edition of 235 numbered and signed copies, each with an engraving by Yves Tanguy.
1937
Alice works as a fashion designer with Elsa Schiaparelli. She opens her own hat boutique in Paris. She poses for Man Ray, modeling the hats presented in the exhibition La mode au Congo (Fashion in Congo) at the Gallery Charles Ratton. The photographs appear in Harper’s Bazaar.
1938
Publishes Sablier couché (Hourglass Lying Down) in Éditions Sagesse, accompanied by an engraving by Joan Miró.
1939
Alice travels to America with Wolfgang Paalen and the Swiss photographer Eva Sulzer. In May, they arrive in New York, where they remain until the summer. Soon after, they travel to Canada and British Columbia in search of indigenous art. During the trip, Alice sketches totems. In September, they arrive in Mexico City, where Frida Kahlo had invited them to visit. They eventually settle in San Ángel.
1940
Alice exhibits her art for the first time at the International Exhibition of Surrealism, organized by Paalen and César Moro at the Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM) in Mexico City. She presents three watercolors: The Queen with No Eyes, Du jour au lendemain (Overnight), and Rendez-vous des rivières (Encounter of Two Rivers).
1941
Publishes her third and last poetry collection, Noir Animal (Animal Black). The book is illustrated with a portrait of Alice painted by Paalen. Thereafter, she dedicates herself solely to painting.
1942-44
She contributes poems, drawings, and illustrations to Dyn magazine, which was founded and edited by Paalen.
1944
First solo show at Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM) in Mexico City.
Alice Rahon, Mexico. Photographer unknown.
1945
Alice meets Anaïs Nin at the opening night of the Art of This Century exhibition in New York and develops a very close friendship with her.
1946
She continues to have solo exhibitions at Pasadena Art Museum in California, Art of This Century Gallery in New York, Caresse Crosby Gallery in Washington D.C., Stendhal Art Gallery in Los Angeles, and Nierendorf Gallery in New York.
She becomes a Mexican citizen and writes the screenplay for Ballet d’Orion, creating sketches and puppets for the characters as well.
1947
Solo exhibition at Barbara Byrnes’ American Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles.
Alice divorces Paalen and marries Edward Fitzgerald, a Canadian director and scenographer for Luis Buñuel. Together they produce an experimental film titled Le Magicien. Anaïs Nin travels to Mexico upon Alice’s invitation and buys a house in Acapulco, in Caleta Beach, where Alice visits her frequently.
1948
Solo exhibition at Willard Gallery in New York.
1951
Three more solo shows at Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM) in Mexico City, Willard Gallery in New York, and Arquitac Gallery in Guadalajara, Mexico.
1952
Alice participates in a contest for the publication México en la Cultura (Mexico in Culture). She submits the painting Piedad para los judas (Mercy for the Judas Effigies), which is acquired by Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.
1953
Solo exhibition at the Art Institute in San Francisco.
1954
Solo exhibition at Paul Kantor Gallery in Los Angeles.
1955
Alice has her first and only individual exhibition in Paris, at the Galerie La Cour d’Ingres, owned by her sister Geo Dupin. She exhibits at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art.
1956
Solo exhibition at Galería El Eco in Mexico City.
1957
Solo exhibition at Galería Antonio Souza in Mexico City.
1958
Solo exhibition at the Institut français d’Amérique latine (IFAL) in Mexico City.
1959
Paalen commits suicide in the Hacienda de San Francisco Cuadra on the outskirts of Taxco on September 24.
1960
Alice divorces Edward Fitzgerald.
1961
Solo exhibition at Worth Avenue Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida.
1962
Solo exhibitions at Galerie Julianne Larsson in Beirut and Louisiana Gallery in Houston.
1965
Solo exhibitions at Turok Wasserman Gallery in Mexico City and at the Institut français d’Amérique latine (IFAL) in Mexico City.
She participates in the group exhibition 20 Mexican Painters at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana in Mexico City.
1967
Solo exhibition at Galería Misrachi in Mexico City.
1969
On the opening night of her exhibition at Galería Pecanins in Mexico City, Alice falls and fractures her hip again. She retires to her house in Las Flores.
1975
Solo exhibition at Galería de Arte Mexicano (GAM) in Mexico City. She creates one of her last paintings, Una gigante llamada soledad (A Giant Called Solitude).
1986
Final solo exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
1987
Alice Rahon dies in a nursing home in Mexico City.