Birthday

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The Philadelphia Art Museum (the USA).

Tanning’s fundamental work, noted by Peggy Guggenheim and Max Ernst. It presents motifs that will be repeated throughout her entire creative career. A person with a strong character (in this case self-portrait) opens the door of the room, from which an enfilade of many open doors starts. In the surrealistic clothes, different styles combine and symbols are present: the skirt «grows» from the natural foliage, while the blouse is aristocratic silk and lace. At the feet of the heroine, there is an animal identified as a winged lemur associated with the night and the world of the soul. This symbol of the unconscious, released from sleep, is found in works of Leonora Carrington and R. Varo.