Dorothea Tanning has been dubbed "the oldest living surrealist". She's friggin' 98 years old. She was born in Illinois in 1910 and lived most of her life in Paris. In 1942 she married fellow surrealist- the famous Max Ernst- and became his fourth wife.
Ernst had a thing for surrealist chicks, as he was previously involved with the painter Leonora Carrington (more on her another time).. Tanning and Ernst married in a double ceremony- which normally would be sort of white trash- but I'm guessing this one was pretty killer. The second groom was Man Ray- another crazy surrealist. I forget who he was marrying. I am picturing the table center-pieces as giant crabs wearing bow ties with handle bar mustaches, or something. I also envision Dali in the corner kicking women and eating wine glasses. In any event, it was probably a pretty gnarly reception.
Tanning's paintings are clever, gorgeously executed works depicting lush fantasies, perverse fairy-tales and herself naked. In her most famous painting entitled Birthday we see Dorothea nonchalantly bearing her nude breasts, while otherwise clothed. It's a powerful, honest piece and caused some hushed whispering at the time. She is also an accomplished costume designer, set designer, sculptor, print-maker and poet. Her works changed as she got older, becoming more like geometric explosions of color. These pieces are equally compelling and beautiful.
(click on images to enlarge)
2 comments:
I didn't know Dali liked to kick women :)
My reference is pretty spotty on that one :)
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