Where to See Dorothea Tanning

Dorothea Tanning's work can be viewed in several museums and public collections worldwide. In the United States, her art can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, also in New York. Additionally, the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University and the Museum of Art at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh hold pieces by her. In Europe, Tanning's work is held by the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, in Paris, and the Museum am Ostwall in Dortmund. Other locations include the Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Denmark, the Amos Andersonin Taidemuseo in Helsinki, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

Dorothea Tanning attended art school in Chicago before moving to New York in the 1930s.

Dorothea Tanning (born 1910) was an American artist associated with Surrealism. She also designed sets and costumes for George Balanchine's ballets Night Shadow and Bayou. Tanning's early work was influenced by Aubrey Beardsley, and the 1936 "Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism" exhibition inspired her to give visual form to her childhood fantasies. Light and shadow were important to her atmospheric effects, reminiscent of Gothic novels. She participated in the "Exhibition by 31 Women" at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery. There, she met Max Ernst; they married in 1946 and settled in Arizona. From 1943 to 1952, Tanning invented dreamlike situations in her art. Her painting became more evanescent, with plots of desire suggested in hazy variations. Around 1971, she created peculiar objects out of quilted fabric, expressing hard and soft aspects of her obsessions.

Dorothea Tanning's art remains significant due to her unique approach to Surrealism. She combined literary interests, the gothic, and personal experiences in her paintings, sculptures, and writings. Tanning's works often explored themes of identity, sexuality, and the subconscious, challenging conventional artistic boundaries. Her early exposure to literature in Galesburg Public Library shaped her artistic vision. She incorporated literary references and narratives into her visual art, creating a dialogue between words and images. Tanning's engagement with Surrealism allowed her to express her inner world and question societal norms. Her later writings, including her novel *Chasm: A Weekend*, further demonstrate her interdisciplinary approach. Tanning's art continues to resonate with contemporary audiences because of its exploration of complex psychological states and its challenge to traditional artistic categories. Her work encourages viewers to question their perceptions of reality and to embrace the power of imagination.

Dorothea Tanning was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and attended art school in Chicago before moving to New York in the 1930s. The 1936 “Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism” show at the Museum of Modern Art sparked her interest in surrealism.

Dorothea Tanning stated that there is no such thing as a woman artist, just as there is no such thing as a man artist.

One of Dorothea Tanning's paintings is titled Dream Garden.

Dorothea Tanning's artistic practice encompassed a range of materials and techniques. She prepared her surfaces to be as smooth as polished ivory, favouring resistant surfaces like walls or panels over canvas on an easel. Tanning employed both opaque and transparent pigments, using a medium and a surfacing wax, both of which she noted had a pleasant smell. She began with a full-sized detailed drawing, which she then traced onto her prepared surface. Opaque colours were applied smoothly, followed by glazes of transparent colours. Tanning aimed for sculptural results in her paintings, viewing drawing and painting as branches of sculpture. She considered drawing to be two-dimensional sculpture, and painting to be two-dimensional coloured sculpture. This meticulous and time-consuming method required many consecutive hours of work.