Dorothea Tanning
On Time Off Time
Why I chose it
• My main reason for choosing On Time Off
Time and the reason it caught my eye during
my first visit to the Museum of Modern Art
was its surrealist quality, with similarities to
Magritte and Dali
• I have always been drawn to surrealism, the
ability it has to make you think and question
so I believe subconsciously I knew going in
that I wanted to focus on a painting of that
genre.
In the Museum
• On the 4th floor of the Museum of Modern
Art. The painting is 14 1/8 x 20 ½.
• Even though the painting is of fairly large size I
feel it gets lost because it is on a floor with
“big name” artists such as Jackson Pollack,
who has almost an entire room
• Words that come to mind: Elements, women
nature
• At first view the element to the left resembles
a women of longing, the element being fire.
– Why is this curvaceous women portrayed in this way and with
this element?
– Is it supposed to be a woman?
Throughout my Observations
• The character spitting water contains the only
cool colors in the piece
• The geometric structure organizes the whole
piece.
• Divided into 6 sections
• Flat with not depth
• The black outline forces the structure into the
foreground
• The objects are about equal distance from
eachother
• There is no real rhythm to the piece
• Your eye is centered in the piece
• The elements appear like they were carefully
and purposely place where they are.
Surrealism
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Painted at the height of surrealism
The term surrealism means “above reality”
Surrealism gained popularity in the 1920s.
After WWI artists believed that surrealism could
best express the uncounsious
• Jung believes everyone has the knowledge to
understand their feelings through the art they
observe
• Freud did not believe in the unconscious mind
Research
Tanning
• “A Biography for me, if it isnt a fragrant lie is,
at best, a distorting mirror.”
• Born in Galesburg Illinois
• Studies art in Chicago
• Married Max Ernst in a double ceremony
• At the end of her life she concentrated more
on poetry
• Passed away at 101 in NYC in 2012
• Known for her representational and peculiar
paintings with recurring elements
• Most popular work is Birthday
• She painted On Time Off Time in 1948
• “What I remember most about this picture is the
support. IT was a piece of wonderful linen that I
stretched and prepared myself. It was the only time I
ever did any such thing. And then of course when I was
done, I felt I had to make some rare precious picture on
it, and I think the words I used were the key to the
enigmatic quality that I wanted.”
• Tanning never explains what the words mean
• Critics think that the images are a result of child abuse
After Thoughts
• after reading more about Dorothea Tanning,
especially about the kind of imagery she was
known for, the feeling of the piece made more
sense to me and the relationship between the
images. Furthermore even if I did not agree
with the outsider’s opinion it was interesting
to read about critics theories behind the
reasons for the images in her pieces.