Dorothea TanningDorothea Tanning

A major retrospective of the seven-decade career of Dorothea Tanning, the multifaceted artist who pushed the boundaries of surrealist art
American artist Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012) redrew the boundaries of surrealism. She first encountered the movement in New York in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, she married fellow painter Max Ernst and moved to the Arizona desert. Although surrounded by a vast landscape, her paintings from this time depict claustrophobic domestic spaces.
From Paris in the 1950s, Tanning’s paintings became more abstract. In the 1960s, she created uncanny soft sculptures featuring contorted and intertwined bodies, connecting her lifelong interest in music and dance. In Dorothea Tanning, Alyce Mahon provides a comprehensive overview of Tanning’s multilayered career. Idoia Murga Castro considers Tanning’s love of ballet, and Ann Coxon explores Tanning’s influence today.