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)
FARANDOLE, 1965

Dorothea Tanning

FARANDOLE, 1965

Sale Date: October 24, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1966

Dorothea Tanning

UNTITLED, 1966

Sale Date: June 20, 2019

Auction Closed

MONTAGNARDES TOUTES LES DEUX, 1968

Dorothea Tanning

MONTAGNARDES TOUTES LES DEUX, 1968

Sale Date: June 20, 2019

Auction Closed

Witnesses; Trouble in Paradise; Bonjour, 1970

Dorothea Tanning

Witnesses; Trouble in Paradise; Bonjour, 1970

Sale Date: September 19, 2019

Auction Closed

1 Plate, from En Chair et en Or, 1973

Dorothea Tanning

1 Plate, from En Chair et en Or, 1973

Sale Date: August 12, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1968

Dorothea Tanning

Untitled, 1968

Sale Date: July 24, 2019

Auction Closed

Naufrage quotidien

Dorothea Tanning

Naufrage quotidien

Sale Date: June 19, 2019

Auction Closed

MAENAD II

Dorothea Tanning

MAENAD II

Sale Date: May 20, 2019

Auction Closed

THE 7 SPECTRAL PERILS (LES 7 PÉRILS SPECTRAUX), 1950

Dorothea Tanning

THE 7 SPECTRAL PERILS (LES 7 PÉRILS SPECTRAUX), 1950

Sale Date: May 20, 2019

Auction Closed

4 HEURES DE L'APRÈS-MIDI, 1964

Dorothea Tanning

4 HEURES DE L'APRÈS-MIDI, 1964

Sale Date: May 20, 2019

Auction Closed

FRIEZE WATERCOLOR, 1968

Dorothea Tanning

FRIEZE WATERCOLOR, 1968

Sale Date: May 20, 2019

Auction Closed

Bateau bleu (The Grotto), 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bateau bleu (The Grotto), 1950

Sale Date: April 18, 2019

Auction Closed

En chair et en or, 1973

Dorothea Tanning

En chair et en or, 1973

Sale Date: April 18, 2019

Auction Closed

Bateau bleu (The Grotto), 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bateau bleu (The Grotto), 1950

Sale Date: March 27, 2019

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Sale Date: March 5, 2019

Auction Closed

Bateau bleu, 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bateau bleu, 1950

Sale Date: October 25, 2018

Auction Closed

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Dorothea Tanning

Birthday (Self Portrait at Age 30)

Sale Date: September 20, 2018

Auction Closed

Bateau Bleu (Waddell-Ruby 5), 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Bateau Bleu (Waddell-Ruby 5), 1950

Sale Date: July 19, 2018

Auction Closed

Premier péril (from the Les 7 périls..., 1950

Dorothea Tanning

Premier péril (from the Les 7 périls..., 1950

Sale Date: July 19, 2018

Auction Closed

MATERNITÉ IV, 1967, 1967

Dorothea Tanning

MATERNITÉ IV, 1967, 1967

Sale Date: July 8, 2018

Auction Closed

Un pont jeté pour la descente dans la rue, 1965

Dorothea Tanning

Un pont jeté pour la descente dans la rue, 1965

Sale Date: June 8, 2018

Auction Closed

Bayou, 1953

Dorothea Tanning

Bayou, 1953

Sale Date: June 4, 2018

Auction Closed

En chair et en or, 1973

Dorothea Tanning

En chair et en or, 1973

Sale Date: June 4, 2018

Auction Closed

The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1945–1946

Dorothea Tanning

The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1945–1946

Sale Date: May 16, 2018

Auction Closed

English (US)

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