Saturday, September 03, 2005

Yves Tanguy

Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 - January 15, 1955) was a surrealist painter. He was born in Paris, France, the son of a retired navy captain. His parents were both of Breton origin. After his father's death in 1908, his mother moved back to her native Locronan, Finist�re, and he ended up spending much of his youth living with various relatives.

In 1918, Yves Tanguy briefly joined the merchant navy before being drafted into the Army, where he befriended Jacques Pr�vert. At the end of his military service in 1922, he returned to Paris, where he worked various odd jobs. By chance, he stumbled upon a painting by Giorgio de Chirico and was so deeply impressed he resolved to become a painter himself in spite of his complete lack of formal training.

Through his friend Jacques Pr�vert, Tanguy was introduced about 1924 into the circle of surrealist artists around Andr� Breton. Tanguy quickly began to develop his own unique painting style, giving his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1927, and marrying his first wife later that same year.

Throughout the 1930s, Tanguy adopted the bohemian lifestyle of the struggling artist with gusto, leading eventually to the failure of his first marriage. In 1938, after seeing the work of fellow artist Kay Sage, Tanguy began a relationship with her that would eventually lead to his second marriage.

With the outbreak of World War II, Sage moved back to her native New York, and Tanguy, judged unfit for military service, followed her. He would spend the rest of his life in the United States. Sage and Tanguy were married in Reno, Nevada on August 17, 1940. Toward the end of the war, the couple moved to Woodbury, Connecticut, converting an old farmhouse into an artists' studio. They spent the rest of their lives there.

In January 1955, Tanguy suffered a stroke at Woodbury, and died from it; his body was cremated. Preserved until Sage's death in 1963, his ashes were scattered by his friend Pierre Matisse on the beach at Douarnenez in his beloved Brittany, together with those of his wife.

Yves Tanguy's paintings have a unique, immediately recognizable style of nonrepresentational surrealism. They show vast, abstract landscapes, mostly in a tightly limited palette of colors, only occasionally showing flashes of contrasting color accents. Typically, these alien landscapes are populated with various abstract shapes, sometimes angular and sharp as shards of glass, sometimes with an intriguingly organic look to them, like giant amoeba suddenly turned to stone.

 

Links

  • Yves Tanguy - Comprehensive site that includes a biography, images, and locations of museums. [French/English]
    -- http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yt/yt/index.html   Arts: Art History: Artists: T: Tanguy, Yves   (5)

  • AskART: Yves Tanguy - Auction results, biography, images, and periodicals.
    -- http://askart.com/artist/t/yves_tanguy.asp   Arts: Art History: Artists: T: Tanguy, Yves   (5)

  • CineFile: Tanguy - Recensione del film di Etienne Chatilliez. A cura di Francesco Puglisi.
    -- http://www.cinefile.biz/tanguy.htm   World: Italiano: Arte: Cinema: Titoli: T: Tanguy   (2)

  • Filmtabs - Tanguy - Der Nesthocker - Eine kurze Kritik von G�nter H. Jekubzik.
    -- http://www2.arena.de/FILMtabs/archiv/T/Tanguy%20Der%20Nesthocker.html   World: Deutsch: Kultur: Film: Titel: T: Tanguy   (2)

  • Yves Tanguy - Biographie, Katalog und Ausstellung "Yves Tanguy und der Surrealismus" in der Stuttgarter Staatsgalerie, Fr�hjahr 2001
    -- http://www.cosmopolis.ch/cosmo23/yvestanguy.htm   World: Deutsch: Kultur: Kunstgeschichte: K�nstler: T: Tanguy, Yves   (2)

  • Araud, Tanguy - Biologiste sp�cialis� dans la biologie cellulaire et mol�culaire. St Priest en Jarez, France.
    -- http://www.t-araud.com   World: Fran�ais: Commerce et �conomie: Emploi: CV   (1)

  • Tanguy, Marc - The French painter's official site, with recent works, news and archives.
    -- http://www.tanguy.com/   Arts: Visual Arts: Painting: Painters: Contemporary: T   (1)

  • Malmanche, Tanguy - Dramaturge. Pr�sente une biographie succincte, bibliographie et des articles, liens.
    -- http://webmalmanche.9online.fr/   World: Fran�ais: Arts: Arts du spectacle: Th��tre: Dramaturges   (1)

  • Follio, Tanguy - Compositeur pour images, biographie, filmographie et extraits � �couter.
    -- http://tanguyfollio.free.fr/   World: Fran�ais: Arts: Audiovisuel: Cin�ma: Musiques de films: Compositeurs   (1)

  • Rouen par Jacques Tanguy - Pr�sentation d'une s�lection de monuments, annuaire sur la ville.
    -- http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rouen/   World: Fran�ais: R�gional: Europe: France: R�gions: Haute-Normandie: Seine-Maritime: Villes et villages: Rouen   (1)
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