Grace Pailthorpe British, 1883-1971

Grace Pailthorpe (1883-1971) was a British surrealist painter, surgeon, and psychoanalytical researcher. Born in England, Pailthorpe served as a surgeon in WWI in France before beginning her psychoanalytical research in the 1920s. Her artistic career began at 52 with artwork that reflected her scientific investigations of the human subconscious. Palithorpe frequently collaborated with fellow British artist and eventual husband Reuben Mednikoff to develop an artistic practice they would describe as “psychorealism”. She was one of the eight women exhibited in the major International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936. Andre Breton would call Pailthorpe’s work the “the best and most truly Surrealist” art of the entire exhibition.