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Dorothea Tanning
Aug 6, 2026 7:52 PM

  Dorothea Tanning American painter and writer Actions Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dorothea-Tanning Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dorothea-Tanning Also known as: Dorothea Margaret Tanning Written by Karen Sottosanti Karen Sottosanti is a writer and editor who works in educational publishing. Karen Sottosanti, Alicja Zelazko Alicja Zelazko is Associate Editor, Arts and Humanities, covering topics in the visual arts, architecture, music, and performance. Before joining Encyclopædia Britannica in 2017, she worked at the Art... Alicja Zelazko•All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Aug 2, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents In full: Dorothea Margaret Tanning (Show more) Born: August 25, 1910, Galesburg, Illinois, U.S. (Show more) Died: January 31, 2012, New York, New York (aged 101) (Show more) Notable Works: “Birthday” (Show more) Movement / Style: Surrealism (Show more) Notable Family Members: spouse Max Ernst (Show more) Dorothea Tanning (born August 25, 1910, Galesburg, Illinois, U.S.—died January 31, 2012, New York, New York) was an American artist and author who, during her seven-decade career, moved between painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, and writing. Her art was associated with Surrealism, and she built on the movement’s ambitions and visual elements to create new forms. In her paintings, she took as her subjects the human figure, the unconscious mind, dream landscapes, sexuality, and desire. As the Tate Modern museum wrote in an introduction to its 2019 exhibition of her work, “Tanning wanted to depict ‘unknown but knowable states’: to suggest ...(100 of 909 words)

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