Overview

Wolfgang Paalen (1905–1959) was an Austrian-born artist who became a prominent figure in the Parisian Surrealist movement under André Breton. Invited by Frida Kahlo, he moved to Mexico in 1939, where his evolving style greatly influenced abstract expressionism. Paalen’s impactful yet turbulent life ended in 1959 when he died by suicide in Taxco, Mexico.