Explore the Dreamlike World of Dorothea Tanning: An Artistic Retrospective - Art History School

[Music] hello my name is paul priestley and this is art history school the home of art history for everyone today's short video is another in my series of an artistic glimpse this time at the work of the american surrealist artist dorothea tanning much underrated she explored surreal subjects based around the female form and adolescent fantasy combined with a consistent sense of unease metamorphosis and the suggestion of hidden presences let's make a start [Music] dorothea tanning was the daughter of swedish emigrate parents and was born on the 25th of august 1910 in galesburg illinois usa at the age of 16 dottie as she was then known became a library assistant at the galesburg public library she was deeply influenced by the books she read and considered the idea of becoming a writer in 1928 she studied at knox college a local liberal arts institution and in 1930 moved to chicago where she enrolled at the chicago academy of art but left three weeks later she was largely self-taught as an artist in 1935 tanning moved to new york where until the early 1940s she worked as a freelance illustrator creating advertisement designs for department stores in december 1936 she visited the exhibition fantastic art dadas surrealism at the museum of modern art in new york she saw works by renee magritte max ernst merritt oppenheim and marcel duchamp amongst others the paintings had a profound effect on her here is the infinitely faceted world i must have been waiting for she recalled later tanning travelled to paris in august 1939 but with the country on the brink of war found the city empty of the artists she wanted to meet so she returned to new york in december 1942 she met max ernst who was organizing with his wife peggy guggenheim an exhibition of 31 female artists at her art of the this century gallery in new york ernest selected tanning's painting birthday for the exhibition as well as suggesting the works title there is a strong latent eroticism in this painting which is less to do with her bare breasts but more to do with the writhing twigs which on closer inspection contained figures and of course the uncertain invitation of the open doors at her feet stands an extraordinary composite creature which only adds to the air of unease irrational is ever present in tanning's work and this painting is disturbing because like any dreamscape it is at once strange and yet familiar dolothea tanning's work often combines a sinister sexuality with a fairy tale childlike sensibility which is reminiscent of childhood fantasies and nightmares dorothea tanning and max ernst played chess together fell in love and married in october 1946 and subsequently moved to sedona in arizona usa later whilst building their house there tanning wrote abyss a gothic flavoured desert adventure short story that became the novel chasm a weekend first published in 1949 many artists and writers visited ernst and tanning's secluded home including marcel duchamp roland penrose lee miller and dylan thomas they subsequently moved to france in 1949 first to paris and then to provence where they stayed until maxorns died in 1976. the period in france was very productive for tanning her first paris exhibition was held in 1954 and was crucial in establishing her reputation on the parisian art scene she needed to establish herself as an artist because for me an artist living in the shadow of a great man she said it was somehow crucial around 1955 tanning's paintings moved away from the meticulously rendered figurative dreamscapes and began to increasingly employ confident gestural brush strokes and movement as well as a more immersive use of figures and space this new found interesting movement came in the wake of her work as a costume and stage designer for the ballets of georgian american choreographer george valentine tanning's first retrospective exhibition took place in belgium in 1967 and during the late 1960s she moved from drawing design and painting to three-dimensional sculptural works created from soft textiles and found items during the 1970s and 80s tanning travelled artistically in two different directions at once on the one hand she was creating abstract paintings and on the other she returned to surrealist visions with her soft sculptures and she started to sew in 1969 the high point of her soft sculptural work is shaumbra 202 hotel de pavau it is an installation of sculpted figures made in 1970 and 73 like many of the works such as the 1942 painting children's games it reflects tanning's childhood here we see two bulging decapitated nudes climbing out of walls one with a foot just poised to emerge on the floor there are a series of tweedy bodies embracing items of furniture one lies back on a table whilst another burrows into a chair the installation is in many ways an update of the surrealist world of the 1930s with models and dolls used to create a different level of desire and anxiety she said she enjoyed making the installation commenting that the brutal slashing of fabrics was an incomparable pleasure in itself when ernst died in 1976 aged 84 tanning was bereft there is no light in the studio nothing moves anymore she said she concentrated on her painting but in 1980 she moved back to new york she published her memoir birthday in 1986 and in 1994 established the wallis stevens award for poetry which is awarded annually by the american academy of points she created a last known paintings in 1998 but she continued to write publishing her expanded memoir between lives an artist and a world in 2001 a second collection of poetry coming to that poems appeared in 2011 at the age of 100. the artist dorothea tanning died in new york city on the 21st of january 2012 aged 101 thank you for watching i hope you've enjoyed my video if you would like to see more of my art history videos why not subscribe it's free and by clicking the little black bell you will be informed when my next video is released if you want to support the making of my videos then please check out my patreon channel where you can find lots of interesting rewards in return for your patronage thanks again i'll see you in the next video goodbye [Music]

Channel: Art History School

Views: 33,131

Keywords: Dorothea Tanning biography, Dorothea Tanning paintings, tanning art, artist dorothea tanning, dorothea tanning birthday, dorothea tanning sculptures, art history school, Dorothea Tanning, dorothea tanning documentary, art history, surrealism art, Paul Priestley, history of art, dorothea tanning eine kleine nachtmusik, surrealist painting, Max Ernst, famous artists, painters, art documentary, surrealism, woman artist, american artist, soft sculpture, modern art

Id: GA9SAubfa8s

Length: 8min 32sec (512 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 04 2022