Dorothea Tanning
Disregarding her three-week tenure as a student at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art; Dorothea Tanning was a completely self-taught artist. Her early works have been considered some of her most notable, including, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1943), which was painted while on her first trip to Sedona, Arizona. In spite of Mozart's upbeat composition, for which the piece was named after, this unsettling oil-on-linen depicts two female figures who appear to be recovering from a brawl with a gargantuan sunflower, which has been strewn across a hotel hallway. Both gorgeously rendered and disconcerting, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik beautifully uses color, scale, and line to provide the viewer with a hazy, dream-like and narrative experience whilst viewing the
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From the muted, sickly green of the walls, to the stark contrast of the blood-red carpet, color plays an important role in setting the tone of this piece. Correspondingly, the colors used in the chief subjects of the painting (young girls, sunflower, carpet) are less organic than the hues used for the more subtle areas of the painting (walls, door, steps). The neutral tones of the background help to “corral” the viewer's eye into looking at the focal point and the action happening around it. In the same token, Tanning’s use of complementary colors allows the red carpet to seemingly “cut” through the painting, providing a perfect backdrop for the vibrancy of the yellow sunflower. The two girls are dressed in white, yet, the figure against the door frame carries semblances from the sunflower and the carpet, represented in her cardigan and the petal she holds. The two lost petals at the foot of the stairs become almost an afterthought when compared to the stark hue of the sunflower, as they are slightly more muted shade of yellow. Finally, the open door at the end of the hallway leaves the viewer with many unanswered questions. Upon first glance, the hazy warm tones may convey a sense of an emblazoned fire, but upon further inspection, it could simply be the light of a hotel lamp flooding the hallway. What is happening behind the door? Is this where the girls came from, and if so will they return? Tanning leaves all these questions up in the air with her use of ambiguity in the focus and color of the final
From the muted, sickly green of the walls, to the stark contrast of the blood-red carpet, color plays an important role in setting the tone of this piece. Correspondingly, the colors used in the chief subjects of the painting (young girls, sunflower, carpet) are less organic than the hues used for the more subtle areas of the painting (walls, door, steps). The neutral tones of the background help to “corral” the viewer's eye into looking at the focal point and the action happening around it. In the same token, Tanning’s use of complementary colors allows the red carpet to seemingly “cut” through the painting, providing a perfect backdrop for the vibrancy of the yellow sunflower. The two girls are dressed in white, yet, the figure against the door frame carries semblances from the sunflower and the carpet, represented in her cardigan and the petal she holds. The two lost petals at the foot of the stairs become almost an afterthought when compared to the stark hue of the sunflower, as they are slightly more muted shade of yellow. Finally, the open door at the end of the hallway leaves the viewer with many unanswered questions. Upon first glance, the hazy warm tones may convey a sense of an emblazoned fire, but upon further inspection, it could simply be the light of a hotel lamp flooding the hallway. What is happening behind the door? Is this where the girls came from, and if so will they return? Tanning leaves all these questions up in the air with her use of ambiguity in the focus and color of the final