Untitled
Yves Tanguy
American, born France. 1900–1955
1940
A small pencil-and-ink drawing in which Yves Tanguy assembles ambiguous, biomorphic shapes into a compact, dreamlike composition that seeks to make the unconscious visible.
You first notice a tight cluster of crisply outlined, oddly articulated forms — a draped rectangular plane, a crutch-like prong and bulbous ovals — set in a wide, empty white field so the objects read like uncanny, hovering presences.
The work exemplifies Tanguy’s Surrealist practice of inventing sculptural, otherworldly objects in open space, a visual strategy that helped propel mid‑century biomorphic abstraction and influenced generations of artists exploring the uncanny.
Medium
Pencil and ink on paper
Dimensions
11 1/2 x 11 7/8" (29.3 x 30.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Kay Sage Tanguy Bequest
Accession
443.1963
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
