The aim of this article is to interpret Maria Anto’s painting in a new light and compare it with the art of women associated with the international Surrealist avant-garde. The Polish painter shared a similar sensibility with the Surrealists. Creating very personal, atmospheric works, they took up common themes and motifs in their works.

The article presents an account of the origins, course and effects of a trip to Poland in September 1969 by the Italian writer, journalist and painter Dino Buzzati (1906–1972). In Warsaw, Buzzati met the painter Maria Anto, with whom he formed a brief but intense artistic relationship.