Dorothea Tanning

Dorothea Tanning was an American painter, sculptor, and writer who is best known for her surrealist artwork. She was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and spent most of her early life in the Midwestern United States.

In 1930, Tanning attended Knox College in Galesburg, where she studied painting and drawing. After graduation, she moved to Chicago, where she worked as a commercial artist and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1935, Tanning moved to New York City, where she became involved with the Surrealist movement and met artists such as Max Ernst, who would later become her husband.

Tanning's artwork from this period was heavily influenced by Surrealism and often depicted dreamlike, fantastical scenes with distorted figures and ambiguous narratives. 

In 1946, Tanning and Ernst moved to Sedona, Arizona, where they lived for several years before settling in France in 1953. In the 1950s and 1960s, Tanning's work began to evolve, incorporating more abstract elements and experimenting with new materials and techniques, such as soft sculpture and installation art.

Dorothea Tanning died on January 31, 2012, at the age of 101. Today, her artwork can be found in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate Modern in London. Her legacy as a pioneering woman artist and a key figure in the Surrealist movement continues to inspire artists and art lovers today.