Fernando Velazquez

Dorothea Tanning

Dorothea Tanning is a painter, sculptor, and writer known for being a female surrealist. She was born in August 25th, 1910 in the city of Galesburg, Illinois. She was the second of three daughters, and was named after her maternal grandmother. After attending college for two years, she quit in 1930 in order to pursue an artistic career. While visiting New York, she attended an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1936. It is here that she discovered surrealism, a style of art that would heavily influence her earlier works. 

Early paintings made by Tanning depicted dreamlike imagery, with precise details and figures commonly seen in surreal artworks. Much of the imagery derived from the inspiration she had from reading gothic and romantic novels at the library. Many of her paintings combined erotic subjects with unrealistic scenes, mysterious symbols, and the use of space.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1943)

This piece is known as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1943) and it was painted with oil on canvas. As of now, it is held in the Tate Collection in London. The title of this painting loosely translates to “A little serenade,” and it depicts two young female characters within a large hallway of a house. The setting creates a sense of tension with a large mysterious sunflower in the middle of the path, and a mysterious door that is cracked slightly open. According to Tanning, this piece is on “confrontation.” This can be seen by the figures in the painting. The girl on the right faces the flower and door, while the girl on the left stands facing away. The influences of surrealism can be clearly seen here, as we see two characters within a reasonable setting, with unreasonable imagery and suspense. The scenery within the painting resembles that of a dream or nightmare, as strange subjects are juxtaposed and adjusted to different sizes in a way that makes it unrealistic. The fact that the girl on the left is looking away without a care to the subjects behind her, implies that she has or wants nothing to do with the events transpiring, which leaves us with this unsettling scene of the other girl confronting something.

Door 84 (1984)

Further along the timeline, is this piece, simply titled as Door 84 (1984). It consists of a painting of oil on canvas, and a door directly in the center. In this image, two figures are depicted on opposite sides of the door, with each one pushing against the door with their leg. This creates an atmosphere of stagnancy. As both forces push against each other, the door will not open. It will remain closed, with each figure never meeting the other. According to Tanning, the inspiration of this piece comes from a nightmare. In the nightmare, Tanning would open a door, and find that there was another door behind it. She would then on include doors throughout her pieces, and here it is included as not a open door, but as one that will never open. 

Chiens de Cythère (Dogs of Cythera) (1963)

Although Tanning was branded as a surrealist, most of her later works would take on it’s own sort of style. She started incorporating more implicit and abstract imagery, which can be easily seen through this painting of Chiens de Cythère (Dogs of Cythera) (1963). Analyzing both the Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1943) and Door 84 (1984) makes the comparison easier to see. In the 1943 painting, the subjects of this piece are depicted as realistic, or something you could possibly see in it’s own environment. However, in Door 84, the subjects are much more loose, with swirling colors acting as the background. The figures are still seen and understood, but the style is a big change from before. One striking similarity between many of Tanning’s pieces however, is that she commonly likes to depict the female form. Whether it be through more realistic measures in her earlier works, or through abstract and implicit forms in her latter works.

Overall, Dorothea Tanning was very much so influenced by surrealist ideas in her paintings, and she took these ideas to evolve them into her own style. Tanning had always written throughout her life, but she started focusing more on it in her later years. She wrote and published a memoir under the title Birthday , in which she featured one of her paintings in. Tanning died at the age of 101 years old, in 2012. 

1. “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – Dorothea Tanning.” Dorothea Tanning, www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view/64. Accessed 30 July 2021.
2. “Door 84 – Dorothea Tanning.” Dorothea Tanning, www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view/328. Accessed 30 July 2021.
3. “Chiens de Cythère (Dogs of Cythera) – Dorothea Tanning.” Dorothea Tanning, www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view/117. Accessed 30 July 2021.