Dorothea Tanning
Dorothea Tanning, Elles Se Detachent, Majestueuses (Majestically), 1965 - 1984, Oil on canvas, 71 3/4 x 61 1/4 inches (182.2 x 156 cm)
BIOGRAPHY
Dorothea Tanning’s paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures have been widely exhibited in the United States and abroad, and are represented in over fifty museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tate Modern, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, among others.
Born in 1910 in Galesburg, Illinois, Dorothea Tanning supported herself as a commercial artist before meeting art dealer Julien Levy. Her aesthetic vision grew more distinct after becoming a contributing member of the Surrealist movement in New York. There, she met Max Ernst, who became her partner for 34 years.
Tanning published two collections of poetry, Coming to That (2004) and A Table of Content (2011), as well as two memoirs, Birthday (1986) and Between Lives (2001), and a short novel, Chasm (2004).
She passed away in Manhattan in 2012 at the age of 101. Gallery Wendi Norris has been working with Tanning and her Foundation for a decade, and has exhibited two solo shows of her work. In 2018 – 2019, Tanning’s first major museum retrospective since her death is presented and organized by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, and the Tate Modern, London, UK.
