Dorothea Tanning

(American, 1910–2012)

Dorothea Tanning was an American artist best known for her Surrealist paintings. Tanning often used her own dreams as inspiration, as seen in her self-portrait Birthday (1942), in which the artist stands bare-breasted with a griffin-like creature on the floor before her. “My dreams are bristling with objects that relate to nothing in the dictionary,” she once said. “Dreams one reads in books are composed of known symbols but it is their strangeness that distinguishes them.” Born on August 25, 1910 in Galesburg, IL, she went on to attend Knox College, before moving to Chicago in 1930. Once in the city, she attended night classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago while working as a waitress. In 1935, Tanning relocated to New York, where she found employment as a commercial artist and first encountered the works of the Surrealists. Five years later, as the flood of refugee artists from Europe during World War II came to the city, Tanning was introduced to Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, and her future husband Max Ernst. It is notable that Ernst left his current wife, the collector Peggy Guggenheim, for Tanning in 1946. The married couple would go on to live in Sedona, AZ, before relocating to France in 1949. The artist returned to New York in 1980 after the death of her husband in Paris. She died at the age of 101 on January 31, 2012 in New York, NY. Today, Tanning’s works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Tate Gallery in London, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Dorothea Tanning (486 results)
Les 7 Périls spectraux, 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Les 7 Périls spectraux, 1950

Sale Date: December 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Sale Date: November 2, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre

Dorothea Tanning

Sans titre

Sale Date: October 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Coeur, 1970

Dorothea Tanning

Coeur, 1970

Sale Date: October 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Bâteau Bleu, 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bâteau Bleu, 1950

Sale Date: October 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Demain, 1964

Dorothea Tanning

Demain, 1964

Sale Date: February 2, 2021

Auction Closed

Accueil, 1958

Dorothea Tanning

Accueil, 1958

Sale Date: February 2, 2021

Auction Closed

Le Balcon, 1954

Dorothea Tanning

Le Balcon, 1954

Sale Date: June 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Les 7 Périls spectraux. Paris : les Pas..., 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Les 7 Périls spectraux. Paris : les Pas..., 1950

Sale Date: June 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Delegates, 1975

Dorothea Tanning

Delegates, 1975

Sale Date: May 27, 2021

Auction Closed

The Witch, 1950

Dorothea Tanning

The Witch, 1950

Sale Date: May 27, 2021

Auction Closed

Sailor, 1988

Dorothea Tanning

Sailor, 1988

Sale Date: May 27, 2021

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30, 1942), 1970, 1970

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30, 1942), 1970, 1970

Sale Date: May 19, 2021

Auction Closed

The Idealists, 1986

Dorothea Tanning

The Idealists, 1986

Sale Date: May 19, 2021

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at age 30, 1942), 1970

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at age 30, 1942), 1970

Sale Date: April 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Holopherne)

Dorothea Tanning

Untitled (Holopherne)

Sale Date: April 8, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Jean)

Dorothea Tanning

Untitled (Jean)

Sale Date: April 8, 2021

Auction Closed

3 poses pour séduire, 1968

Dorothea Tanning

3 poses pour séduire, 1968

Sale Date: March 26, 2021

Auction Closed

LECLERQ (LENA) Personne; LECLERQ (LENA)..., 1962

Dorothea Tanning

LECLERQ (LENA) Personne; LECLERQ (LENA)..., 1962

Sale Date: March 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1959

Dorothea Tanning

Untitled, 1959

Sale Date: March 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30), 1942

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30), 1942

Sale Date: March 4, 2021

Auction Closed

Personne. Paris, Georges Visat & Cie, 1962, 1962

Dorothea Tanning

Personne. Paris, Georges Visat & Cie, 1962, 1962

Sale Date: October 9, 2020

Auction Closed

The Civilizing Influence. 1944, 1944

Dorothea Tanning

The Civilizing Influence. 1944, 1944

Sale Date: October 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Bateau Bleu (The Grotto), 1950,..., 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bateau Bleu (The Grotto), 1950,..., 1950

Sale Date: November 6, 2020

Auction Closed

English (US)

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