penrose's collage artwork utilizes formal elements of surrealism while disapproving of the conceptual aspects of surrealist art, most often in relation to gender roles. she was most outspoken about the brutality and misogyny sometimes depicted by surrealists and was highly critical of certain figures within the movement, such as max ernst, who was also notable for his use of collage as a medium. her husband, roland penrose, was a primarily visual artist who was a notable figure within the surrealist movement while associating valentine penrose with other surrealist artists. much of valentine penrose's art was created using traditional art and collage images which were sourced from common publications such as journals, catalogues and books. her portfolio includes various collages and a collage novel entitled "dons des féminines", which incorporated her literary background in its composition. "dons des féminines" has been called the "archetypal surrealist book" since it uses compositional elements that are expected of surrealist art. the format is fragmented and uses bilingual poetry in combination with the visual imagery of the collages to create disorientation and continuous translation. the images are arranged to create juxtapositions and lack of continuity and become increasingly complex. there are references to penrose's other, more cohesive, literary work but the novel does not have a singular format. the background for the works is typically of natural scenery or a landscape in which foreign elements are added, sometimes symbolically to create paradoxes. the recurring themes throughout the novel are gender ambiguity, love and prophetic writing.