Exquisite Dreams: The Art and Life of Dorothea Tanning

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book for two reasons: (1) The book is nicely produced, generously illustrated, and very well written. (2) Lyford gives us a thorough and revealing look at Tanning’s life and detailed analysis of her varied artistic output. “This book has been a labor of love for me and is the culmination of a long and careful study of Dorothea Tanning’s art and life” (p. 10). This study is refreshingly free from remote psychoanalytical assumptions, and free from postmodern theoretical speculation. A breath of fresh air!Tanning lived a very long life (101 years) and was a prolific, multitalented artist—commercial illustrator, painter, filmmaker, sculptor, and writer. “I also contextualize within the varied social, cultural, political, artistic and commercial contexts that she inhabited; the practices of fashion and advertising, contemporary literature and children’s books, popular culture, contemporary films, and political upheaval” (p. 26).She was part of what I consider to be a golden era of art, the early-to-late 1900s. Her partner was Max Ernst, and she held her own with other greats of this era such as Magritte, Ernst, Tanguy, Cage, Duchamp, Man Ray, Motherwell, Noguchi, and so on. “She bristled at how the reputation of her husband, Max Ernst, overshadowed her own, even as he was her life partner for more than thirty years” (p. 23). Also, as Lyford shows, Tanning’s oeuvre was much greater than her labeling as a Surrealist. These labels are debilitating and counterproductive for anyone—such-and-such’s wife, or she is a Surrealist or whatever. Tanning rose above this and did her own thing brilliantly.One thing Lyford has shown in her study, which was quite astonishing for me, was Tanning’s power of action and thought to make her own way in what was most definitely a maledominated world, and of course art scene/establishment. Tanning did this with quiet determination, confidence, and unflinching resolve, but without resorting to extreme, table-thumping feminist rhetoric.The book has an Introduction, then six chapters, followed by an Epilogue, References, and Bibliography. Refashioning SurrealismScreening Female DesireMiseducated GirlsAux environs de Paris and Historical MemorySculpture and Narrative: Body HauntingsNo Exit: Tanning’s Cinematic VisionAs mentioned, the book is lavishly illustrated with both color and black-and-white images—artworks, personal photographs, and catalog covers and contents. These are well notated, so the reader may move easily back and forth to follow the discussion, especially Lyford’s analysis of the paintings.One of Tanning’s main themes was a near-obsession with the sexuality of young girls. She explored this in many of her paintings, attempting to show the thoughts and desires associated with their developing sexuality. This was not done in a pornographic way, but certainly pushed the boundaries of acceptability back in the 1940s and 1950s. She did this from the female perspective, not from that imagined and judged by others. “Two examples of this body of work, Musical Chairs and Interior with Sudden Joy, underscore Tanning’s interest in depicting pubescent girls inside domestic spaces, where we see the girls becoming sexually aware and responsive to their own internal desires, rather than remaining naïve and childlike (illus. 52, 53)” (p. 99).A further quote illustrates the importance of this aspect of Tanning’s career: By studying the varied perspectives on youthful sexuality, girlhood eroticism, and the power of dreams and fantasy, the domestic and schoolroom interiors that Tanning showed in New York in 1953 shaped her reputation as a painter who relished upending the rules of art, and heteronormative desire—all by depicting girlish childhood fantasies, and fears (p. 129).Tanning was American-born, from Swedish parents in the small town of Galesburg. An English-speaking woman, she also lived for many years in France, at the time when Paris and New York were the artistic centers of the “universe,” so to speak. Being in these places of course enhanced her career, but she was always a little outside the center, enabling her to see things from her perspective. As mentioned above, her labeling by curators and critics, even thirty years after her first exhibition, “belie the diverse and complex nature of her art, as well as her desire to create her own pathway as a creative artist who kept reinventing her practice rather than resting on her ‘Surrealist’ laurels” (p. 190).Tanning’s work with film is not generally known or appreciated. Lyford devotes a considerable part of this book to exploring this aspect of Tanning’s creative output, including an analysis of just what Tanning was trying to achieve with her films, including films that explored her painting in close-up detail. Tanning’s scripts and storyboards are reproduced to give the reader an idea of Tanning’s control and direction of these films. Referring to Unheard of News, “Tanning’s film does more than tell a story about how she would like us to see, and engage with, her work. She also imagined this film as providing viewers with a framework for understanding her art and its legacy in the late twentieth century” (p. 215) [my emphasis].This book does a wonderful job of showing Tanning, the artist and woman, “warts and all,” and fills many gaps in previous works about this unique, amazing artist. A true inspiration: “She refused to be limited or to limit herself to the monikers of Surrealist, painter, woman artist” (p. 191).