Materiality and Illusion Brings One Back to History

A formal analysis of Dorothea Tanning’s painting Insomnias in relation to

art historyKarolin Ivarsson

Avdelningen för konsthistoria och visuella studier

Istitutionen för kulturvetenskaper

Lunds universitet

KOVK02, 15 p. Kandidatkurs ht 2012

Handledare: Cecilia Sjölin

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Presentation of Subject Material 3

Purpose 3

Theory and Method 4

Research Overview 5

Delimitations 5

Definitions 6

Disposition 6

Thesis 7

Painting and Illusion 7

Overview of Insomnias 8

Compositional Direction and Color 9

Materiality in Insomnias 12

Thick Application of Medium 12

Thin Application of Medium 13

Specific materiality used to convey Illusion 14

Illusion in Insomnias 16

Viewer’s Interpretation 16

Formal Aspects That Create Illusion 16

Ambiguous Illusion 17

Brings One Back to History 18

Renaissance and Baroque Painting 18

Landscape Painting 19

Cubism 21

Abstract Expressionism 24

Surrealism Divides Materiality and Illusion 26

Conclusion 29

Bibliography 31

2

Introduction

Presentation of Subject MaterialMedium has always been present in art yet it did not gain focus as something

besides a means to create an illusion until the 1800s. During Impressionism the medium

achieved importance as a physical entity that has its own meaning and depiction. Thus

bringing attention to the physical surface of the canvas. The interest continued into

Modernism, reaching its height during Abstract Expressionism. Abstract Expressionism

put focus on the rather than illusion discovering the possibilities the paint could offer.

Clement Greenberg, the art critic, wrote a great deal about medium and illusion in

relation to Abstract Expressionists as well as Cubism during the early to mid 1900s.

Dorothea Tanning was an active painter at the time and painted Insomnias in

1957. Tanning’s content identified her as a surrealist, but this thesis focuses on the formal

qualities of Insomnias - which would categorize her painting as being many things apart

from surrealist and closer to an Abstract Expressionist or Cubist. Insomnias is an oil

painting on stretched canvas it has a vertical rectangular format with the dimensions 207

cm by 145 cm (fig.1)

Fig. 1: Dorothea Tanning, Insomnias, 1957, oil on canvas, 207 x 145 cm,

Moderna Museet.

PurposeTanning’s painting exists as a blend of art historical styles, materiality, and

illusion. Insomnias does not fit into one category perfectly, rather it draws what it needs

from each style. One cannot address form in a painting without discussing the illusion,

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just as one cannot avoid seeing the style of painting. By using formal analysis, I will be

focusing on how each of the formal aspects is incorporated into the painting. The focus is

on illusion and medium, and how they work together, but on not content. While I am

going to discuss the general understanding of the painting, I will not delve into the deeper

meaning.

In this analysis, I will examine the physical qualities of paint and how artists have

used these qualities to their advantage. It is also my purpose to explore how materiality

affects a painting in ways that an illusion is incapable of doing, while also discussing how

the materiality works together with illusion. Formal analysis places the physicality of the

painting in focus as well as how formal qualities affect the illusion. The formal qualities,

recall other painting styles from the past that used similar techniques or forms. Formalism

can bring one closer to history specifically in Insomnias, which draws on other historical

styles, and these styles way of using illusion and material in distinctive ways.

Theory and MethodFormalist theory is used to analyze the formal aspects of the painting, based on

observation as separate from, but still connected to, the content.1 Formal aspects include

shape, color, composition, line, and medium.2 All of which effect the depiction of an

illusion, but do not include the meaning behind these illusions. E.H. Gombrich discusses

the way a viewer takes an active roll in interpreting forms as illusion.3 Each viewer

perspective on illusions is based off of the formal aspects and the viewer knowledge of

interpreting these aspects.

The art critic, Clement Greenberg’s writes about illusion of depth in relation to

the flatness of the canvas. He does so by addressing aspects of Cubism including creating

depth with physical layering compared to shading as well as the use of trompe l’oeil.

Along with his description of what the term painterly means in relation to Abstract

Expressionism, which imply the possibilities of the medium.

1 H Foster, R Krauss, Y Bois, B Buchloh, Art Since 1900, Vol. 2 1945 to the present, Thames & Hudson, New York, 2007, p. 33.2 A D’Alleva, How To Write Art History, Laurence King Publishing Ltd, London, 2005, p. 18.3 EH Gombrich, Art & Illusion, Phaidon Press Limited, London, 5th edition, 1977, p. 157.

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Research Overview A great deal has been written about Tannings earlier Surrealist work. Martin

Sundberg and Alain Bosquet are two that have addressed her later work including a focus

on Insomnias. Their attention has been upon her life in connection with the production of

her work. Even though her style changed, they persist she is a surrealist painter citing her

expression of the unconscious though her choice of forms as well as her paintings’

content as evidence. Sundberg addresses the material qualities of the paint as relating to

her husband and fellow artist, Max Ernst’s work.4 Sundberg also discusses her work in

relation to feminist theory and the gaze based on a comparison to her past work.5

Materiality and possibilities of the medium is discussed by James Elkins in his

book What Painting Is. He compares artists to alchemists, noting that the two trades

function in similar ways. Alchemists like painters experiment and rely on those

experiments to increase their knowledge of the material in order for it to come into use

later. The material becomes second nature, but they do not understand the actual

chemistry.6 These experiments can be seen on the surface of the canvas in the materiality

of the paint.

DelimitationsTanning has been a productive painter, sculptor, and poet, but I will only be

including her painting Insomnias, no other works by the artist will be discussed. The

focus of this thesis is upon painting. Therefore, the word artist is only referring to

painters. The term paint refers only to oil paint, due to the fact that Insomnias is painted

in oil paint. Her painting will only be compared to other oil paintings.

The analysis of the formal qualities of the painting is based on my observations

from 2012, at Moderna Museet in Malmö, Sweden. It has only been viewed in a museum

context, but will not be compared to the other works in the room. The age difference

4 M Sundberg, ‘The Metamorphosis of Dorothea Tanning: On the Painting Insomnias’ in Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History, Routledge, Vol. 79, Issue 1, March 2010, p. 24. 5 Ibid., p. 27.6 J Elkins, What Painting Is, Routledge, New York, 2000, p. 22.

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between the viewing and making of the work may allow for some physical changes of the

work, but all observations are based off of 2012. I will not be relating Tannings work to

her biography or to the politics of the time. Feminist theory will also not be discussed in

relation to her work, because it does not affect the materialist qualities of the painting.

Definitions

Materiality is a term that will be used to describe characteristic traits of a specific

medium. Materiality in this case does not refer to material or physical possessions.

Content will be used to mean the deeper, interpreted meaning of the painting that is not

directly present in the form, and may include symbolism. Illusion here is not part of

content, but stands alone as a depiction.

DispositionStarting with the formal description of the Insomnias leads the subject matter into

the use of the medium, which affects the illusions created. The formal aspects in the

painting such as materiality draw connections to other art historical styles such as

Renaissance and Baroque painting, Landscape painting, Cubism, as well as Abstract

Expressionism. Followed by discussing Surrealism in relation to the formal aspects.

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Thesis

Painting and IllusionPainting has a tradition of being representative and mimetic. It was inherent to

painting to be as mimetic as possible, particularly before the invention of photography.

As photography developed, many believed it would lead to the end of painting. Instead, it

freed the medium from its need to represent the world.7 This freedom can be seen as a

reason for the growing interest in materiality and new forms of representation during

modernism. The medium became a more evident part of the painting. It is not just a way

to represent, but has its own meaning and purpose.

The paint medium can become an obsession for the artist. For some artists, the

material is intoxicating.8 They use the paint medium like alchemists use ingredients.

Elkins defines alchemy as “the generic name for those unaccountable changes: it is

whatever happens in the foggy place where science weakens and gives way to ineffable

changes.”9 This is because alchemy does not use chemistry in the way we use it today

with atoms and equations, but with experimentation and familiarity with the materials.

The artist does the same by combining different pigments and oils, specifically in oil

paint. The viscosity of paint will have an evident effect on the outcome of the painting.

Therefore, the artist is consciously aware of the medium and knows how to handle it

without actually understanding why it reacts the way it does.10 There are exceptions, but

the majority of artists work this way.

Today most paint comes ready made in tubes, which makes artists even more

reliant on experience. Most artists are unaware of how the paint was made, from how

much of each ingredient was used to what temperature they were mixed at. The paint is

used as a base mixture that is unknown chemically, but known with experience. By

mixing other known ingredients, such as oil and turpentine, the artist can alter the paint to

a desired consistency and texture. Elkins describes a Claude Monet’s painting being

7 S, Wallenstein, Painting- The Extended Field, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, 1996, p. 41.8 Elkins, p. 5.9 Ibid., p. 121.10 Ibid., p. 22.

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dependent on two things “the precariously balanced viscosity of the pigment, and a nearly

masochistic pleasure in uncomfortable, unpredictable twists and turns.”11 This description

can be applied to most paintings, and especially Tanning’s. The application of the paint

on the canvas has an equally great effect as the medium on the outcome, from the tool

used to apply the paint to the motion of application.

Overview of InsomniasIn Dorothea Tanning’s painting Insomnias the motif is an accumulation of

abstract forms combined with evident depictions. Certain forms have illusionistic depth

but are not easily recognizable as a specific object. Sundberg describes it as “…eluding

the viewer’s grasp while remaining in motion,” meaning that the painting is not easily

comprehended it leads the viewer in one direction and then changes.12 The viewer may

recognize a figure, but that figure suddenly dissolves into faceted forms without any real

connection to the other figures within the picture plane. The composition leads the eye in

many directions and can be entered into from many different points of view.

The term ‘prismatic’ aptly describes the color as well as the faceted forms of the

painting.13 From my observation the painting consists of dioxazine purple, cadmium red,

cadmium orange, cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, and white.14 All the

fully saturated colors are present except for phthalocyanine green. The green that exists

on the canvas is either an impure green that has been blended together which include an

ocher-green or a turquoise-blue. There is a great deal of white in the center leading out to

each edge divides the painting into quadrants.

Some viewers may recognize different illusions in the ambiguous forms, but these

are as subjective as seeing shapes in clouds and are based on the viewer’s expectations.

There are three clear figurative forms that can be easily recognized and do not clearly fall

11 Elkins, p. 18.12 Sundberg, p. 18.13 Ibid., p. 28. 14 While describing the colors within the painting I have taken into consideration Elkin’s explanation from his book What is Painting, p. 43 that counting colors is like counting individuals in a family, each is unique and helps create the unit, common math of one plus one equals two does not apply. Therefor each color is identified by its proper name, like an individual. (Author’s Note)

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into the category of ambiguity. These three forms, which include a child figure, a

woman’s face, and a dog like form, are in the lower right quadrant of the painting. Each

form is painted in arbitrary analogous colors, which do not correspond to their natural

color. The right side of the painting contains the majority of the figures as well as smaller

faceted forms that are distinctly defined with a great deal of contrast. The left side of the

painting, however, is less representative and has softer abstract shapes that blend

together. It also contains more complex colors that are layered and blended together. The

entire painting was built up with many thin layers in a variety of colors that creates a base

undercoat for all the forms. The painting is signed in bottom right hand corner Dorothea

Tanning 57 in black.

Compositional Direction and ColorThe composition is built of color and forms that work together to shape the image.

The two elements are so closely intertwined it is almost impossible to describe them

separately. This is due to the fact that the colors and forms balance each other as well as

lead the eye. When looking at Insomnias the viewer will see the composition striving

towards the center, but also the eye will be led counter clockwise around the painting (see

fig. 2). In my opinion, the easiest entrance point into the painting is from the bottom

center. This is because the majority of the illusions are in the bottom and the eye wants to

go to something it recognizes. One of the first recognizable forms is the dog-like

hindquarters centered in the bottom of the painting. As the viewer follows the form, it

turns into more of a ferret creature nestled next to a child figure. The paws of this

creature establish a ground surface that is shared by the child. The child’s knee seems to

rest on that same surface. As the viewer look at the child’s face they are then drawn to the

right and see the woman’s face and arm. This quadrant goes changes hue from red-purple

to ocher-green to cobalt and ultramarine blue.

Leading into the upper right quadrant (figure 3), the woman’s face leads the

viewer up into another dark ocher-green color then up into the dark dioxazine purple of

the upper right hand corner. The forms begin to have softer boundaries, but are still

divided into small shapes. The eye then goes down into the dark brown area specked with

cobalt blue that is thickly laid in dabs across the brown. The brown creates depth in the

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painting because of its high degree of color contamination and dark value in comparison

to the saturated naturally dark hues that do not recede to the same degree. From this area,

the eye is led down into the pure cadmium orange and red, which are so bright they

almost glow. This is due to the complementary blue beside the orange as well as the

value contrast of the saturated orange and the light cobalt blue.

One’s eye is led out of this darker thicker paint area into the light blue-white area

that is formed into an uneven surface across to the upper left quadrant. The light valued

form that connects the two sides has softer boundaries and transitions. The white is given

volume with the use of a light yellow, cobalt blue, turquoise, as wells as a light purple.

The white paint is thickly applied while the other colors are undercoats. The light purple

is actually a dark dioxazine purple pigment but is seen as a light value because it is

thinned out to the point that it has become transparent in many areas. The eye blends the

purple and white of the canvas so we experience the purple as a light value. The color

variation in the white gives the form variations in height by pushing the bluer tones back

into space and bringing the yellow closer. As the viewer follows the white form, it

transitions into darker values of ultramarine blue and purple that are formed with the use

of line. The eye is then led into the light yellow-orange corner.

From the upper corner, the eye is drawn down into the dark dioxazine purple

oblong form that leads the viewer into the bottom left quadrant. This form changes hue

similar to the purple form in the quadrant above. Both forms seem to oscillate behind and

in front of the white areas. The dark purple and blue form functions as a counterweight to

the dark areas on the right side including the face of the child and the brown area in the

upper right. The contour line defines the form while there is only some shading and far

less highlights than the faceted forms throughout the painting.

10

Fig. 2: Dorothea Tanning, Insomnias, 1957, oil on

canvas, 207 x 145 cm, Moderna Museet,

alterations by K Ivarsson, 2012.

Fig. 3: Dorothea Tanning, Insomnias, 1957, oil on canvas, 207 x 145 cm, Moderna Museet, alterations by K Ivarsson, 2012.

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The thin layers of the purple on the top progress down into ultramarine blue and

into a contaminated dark blue. These colors are sunk into the canvas in a way that makes

hard to determine how they were applied. It looks as though the colors are rubbed into the

canvas like a stain. This can be done by applying thin but highly pigmented paint with a

brush and then pulling the paint out of this stroke so it becomes blurred around the initial

line that remains in place. Another possibility is that the artist used a rag or piece of cloth

to rub out a detailed area and the pigment that remains is that which has stuck to the

canvas.15 The grain of the canvas can be seen through the pigment so the paint becomes

one with the canvas.

Materiality in Insomnias

Thick Application of MediumApplying thick layers of paint to the canvas gives the painting an automatic

physical presence that cannot be ignored. The paint comes physically closer to the viewer

and covers that which is underneath. Insomnias has a balanced distribution of thick and

thin layered areas throughout the painting. The pure white areas are all thickly applied

making them standout along with their clear value contrast.

The pure dabs of cobalt blue and cadmium orange in the upper right quadrant,

which were mentioned earlier, are also applied thickly. These dabs use paint direct from

the tube, which makes them intense in color, and are surface of the canvas. This

application leaves a mark of the artist causes as well as having the paint to lie on top of

the canvas surface. Separating the illusion from reality. They exist on the canvas and not

in the illusion. The orange dabs do not stand out visually as much as the blue, due to the

fact that the area has a great deal of orange and cadmium red as a base. This base is not

just made up of thin layers of orange and red, which occurs in other areas, but a more

opaque layer that softens the transition between the dabs of paint and the canvas. The

thick applications of paint also brings focus to those area, this can be seen in the child

figure as well as the white forms in the center. These areas stand out due to their

application as well as the physical emphasis that draws the views attention to them.

15 Sundberg, p. 20.

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Thin Application of MediumOften materiality is associated with thick layers of paint that demand attention,

but the thinning of paint is just as materialistic. Thinning makes the paint less apparent,

but emphases its ability to be transparent as well as other aspects that are not possible

with thick layers. The thin layers that form the base coat allow the grain of the canvas to

show through and the color pigment catches onto the ridges of the grain. It is apparent in

the bottom left corner where a lighter turquoise white was laid down thinly and quickly.

In this corner there are many colors, but they do not build a thick surface on the contrary

they work almost like watercolor where they blend together so the border between the

colors disappears.

On the upper edge as well as on a few places along the left hand side of the

painting, the paint seems to have been drawn out of the canvas. This can be done by

splattering turpentine on the surface and leaving it there. The turpentine pulls out the

pigment and creates lighter areas in the place of the droplets when the liquid is wiped

away. Based off of the round droplet like forms left on the painting, the canvas must have

been laid flat on the ground, otherwise they would have been streaks rather than droplets.

The spots are not perfectly round, but slightly waving along the edge. It is an effect very

similar to the appearance of raindrops on the ground. These marks continue down the left

side of the canvas. This is a process that emphasizes Elkin’s description of an artist who

learns from experience without actually understanding what actual chemically is taking

place.16 If you have painted this way yourself, it is easily recognizable.

The same process seems to be used in the upper left corner, but instead of having

the canvas laid flat it was vertical, as on an easel. The thinning is used on an area that is

light brown, which changes into yellow and cobalt blue. It becomes difficult to discern

where the colors transfer into the next. The surface does not seem to have a physical

thickness in this area but instead pigment looks to be part of the canvas. The blue hue that

leads towards the center of the painting is just as thin, but because more layers where

applied the color is denser and more vivid. The turpentine blends the area even more and

creates a streak about 40 cm down the canvas. This process makes the area lighter in

16 Elkins, p. 9.

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value without adding more paint, which is different from many other areas of the

painting, including directly beside it. There is a layer of thicker white that is applied to

lighten the area.

Specific Materiality Used to Convey IllusionThe materiality in some areas emphasizes the illusion and gives the formal

qualities it needs to be convincing. This can be seen in the many faceted forms as well as

in the figures. A few of the forms use chiaroscuro technique to show depth while other

areas are just shaded. Greenberg explains the difference between the two techniques as

the chiaroscuro the contrast of light and dark, while shading is a gradient.17 The small

detailed faceted forms, compared to the larger forms, are built up in a use chiaroscuro to

create depth. The majority of these forms have a base color that is determined by the thin

background colors that are thinly applied. A thicker more saturated color that acts as a

shading tool is applied on top as well as a darker shade of that color for the core shadow.

The highlight is added on top to create the full contrast.

The large faceted forms have less contrast and either keeps to the lighter values or

the darker but still contains a base color. These were also created using thinner layers,

which allows them to create a gradient rather than contrast. Darker contour lines that are

stained into the surface function as shading between forms in order to distinguish the

forms and create depth. These forms function to create a more undulating space that is

difficult to perceive, due to their less specific illusionistic qualities to concrete forms.

Another area that uses chiaroscuro to delineate the form is the in the depiction of

the child’s leg, while also using the materiality of the medium to its advantage. The leg is

framed by the dog-like form on the left and the faceted turquoise background to the right.

The in this area the canvas was first stained with thin layers of paint consisting of, from

the bottom up, dioxazine purple, a red-purple, and an ochre-yellow. The layers glide into

each other and are hard to distinguish between them in certain areas. This layer creates a

17 C Greenberg, ‘A critical exchange with Fairfield Porter on “American-Type” Painting’ in J O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 3, Affirmations and Refusals 1950-1956, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, p. 239.

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base layer that is a medium tone and allows Tanning to put in lights and darks to sculpt

the form.

The two sides of the leg are defined in different ways, but both function to curve

the form into a volumetric form. On the right side that defines the outer edge of the leg is

built up of wavy searching lines that are ultramarine blue and dark red which are a shade

darker than the hue they are painted upon. The lines together are perceived as shading as

well as a shadow, because they are slightly darker in value and emphasize the color in

which they were painted upon. They also allow for a gap between the lines, which can be

perceived as reflective light, because of their lighter value. These searching lines were

applied wet on dry with a viscous, probably using turpentine, because the paint is matte.

This is also seen in the line quality, which has an even edge, and is more solid or dense in

nature. Because the lines do not blend with the background or protrude from the surface,

they look as though they stained into the area after the thin base layer had dried.

The shading on the inside of the leg, on the left, is done using thicker layers. The

paint is smoother and applied thickly so that the canvas texture is barely discernable. The

knee uses the base layer as a highlight and then shaded with a darker layer of the same

hue, as well as the use of contour lines in the same ultramarine blue. Above the knee,

there is a thick area of paint that has a darker undercoat of red with light turquoise blue

on top. These colors were applied wet on wet, which gives them this smooth intertwined

quality. The colors were applied one after another and were not given time to dry so

instead of contrasting each other which turquoise and red usually do the colors seep

together and becomes flat. This is also due to the fact that the turquoise covers almost all

of the red giving that area of the leg a flat color. Even though this color lays flat on the

surface, it gives the leg depth because it is on the inner edge and contrast to the centered

thin light undercoats.

Highlights are the final tough that forms the leg into a recognizable shape. The

highlights are painted on dry brush and leave traces from the bristles. The paint has an

uneven contour as well as leaving specs of paint at the end of each stroke, which is what

happens when the brush is running out of paint.

Illusion in Insomnias

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Viewer’s InterpretationIllusion is a concept that depends a great deal on the viewer’s investigation of the

image, some forms lend themselves more easily to interpretation, while others seem to

slip away as one tries to grasp them. Not all the illusions are figurative, yet they all work

to form plastic space if sometimes ambiguous.

Alexander Cozens explains how viewers can see objects in indistinct abstract

forms. “It comprises the attitudes and expectations which will influence our perceptions

and make us ready to see, or hear, one thing rather than another.”18 Meaning that if the

viewer is inclined to see something specific, they will be able to do so because they are

projecting an idea onto the image. This can explain why certain people see different

objects and figures besides the three distinct forms in the lower right quadrant. Other

faces or forms can attract the views attention and can thus be interpreted based on the

views knowledge of visual depiction. Gombrich explains this clearly by stating, “… the

painter’s skill in suggesting must be matched by the public’s skill of in taking hints.”19

Implying that the viewer takes an equally large responsibility in interpreting the illusion

the artist tries to create. Some areas may only give hints of illusion, where the viewer fills

in the missing gaps in their imagination for example the darker line that runs near the

edge of the lower left quadrant could be interpreted as drapery in a sheet or a mask like

face that has been compressed looking to the left. These are equally valid interpretation,

due to the fact that they are based off of visual clues that are interpreted by the viewer

using their knowledge of imagery.

Formal Aspects That Create IllusionThe illusions in Insomnias are successful due to the use of color, shading,

highlights as well as contour line. These aspects can be seen as tools that help create

plastic forms. Each aspect becoming a clue to form three dimensional, while all the

aspects being tied together due to fact that they were created using the same medium.

18 Gombrich, p. 157.19 Ibid., p. 165.

16

In describing Insomnias, the word shading has been used rather than chiaroscuro

due to the fact that shading can exist without the latter, but not vise versa.20 This has been

done to clarify that not all shading is chiaroscuro, which is contained to the child figure

as well as some of the small faceted forms beside this figure. Other areas use shading and

highlighting to create plastic forms, yet the absence of a consistent light source causes the

forms to exist separately.

The shading is done using color that has an inherent base value. Much of the

shading as well as contour lines use dominant hue of that area and occasionally darkened

in value. These lines often being dioxazine purple or cobalt blue as well as a red-purple,

which are dark in and of themselves. The contour lines define the facets as well as

functioning as shading in areas. Not all the contour lines define boundaries but also

indicate indentations or folds.

Ambiguous IllusionAlthough the forms create depth using different colors and value they do not

always create an understandable space. This causes a degree of inconsistency that makes

the plastic space ambiguous. Gombrich explains ambiguity “We notice it only by

learning to switch from one reading to another and by realizing that both interpretations

fit the image equally well.”21 This is due to the use of similar visual clues such as

shading, highlight, and color which are elements that one is accustomed to using to

interpreting space. When these clues insinuate different types of spaces it becomes

ambiguous.

This can bee seen in Tanning’s painting in the upper left quadrant the dark

dioxazine purple and ultramarine blue form that is cupped or almost pocketed by a white

dominated form from below. The two forms are separated by the darker forms contour

lines. The right side of the white form blends slowly in the backgrounds light blue shade,

as does the darker form. The two forms play off of each other and oscillate between

foreground and background. The contour lines separate the forms, but do little to show

which form comes forward. There is line variation, but what makes the darker form 20 Greenberg, ‘A critical exchange with Fairfield Porter on “American-Type” Painting’, p. 239.21 Gombrich, p. 211.

17

appear to recede is the darkness in value. At the same time, if a viewer wants the darker

form to come forward the contour lines allow for that as well.

Brings One Back to History Anyone with basic knowledge of art history could easily make connections from

the forms and medium in Tanning’s painting to art history, without going into the deeper

meaning of the painting. As Barthes wrote “To parody a well-known saying, I shall say

that a little formalism turns one away from History, but that a lot brings one back to it.”22

This means by looking closely and only at the formal qualities, the only thing relevant is

its relation to art history. The viewer easily relates the formal qualities of Insomnias, to

other styles, due to its similarities and excludes others due to their differences. The

formal qualities create the illusion therefore they must both draw connections from the

same style. The recognizable figures in bottom right recall renaissance and baroque art

with the use of chiaroscuro in the form of the child that resembles cupid, or putto. As

well as landscape painting from the 1800s that worked with aerial perspective and

atmosphere, specifically William Turner. The fragmented forms that create an ambiguous

space that are interpreted as background has strong similarities to Analytic Cubism as

well as the avoidance to become surface decoration. The materiality of paint from the

thick physical layers to the thin stains, relates to Abstract Expressionism. While Sundberg

has argued Insomnias recalls Surrealism it does not use the physical materiality combined

with illusion to make this connection.

Renaissance and Baroque PaintingThe child figure resembles cupid or a putto due to its depiction as well as its use

of Chiaroscuro to create the of the form, this is a simple association many make due to

the frequency of both in Renaissance and Baroque painting. While not discussing the

content of the painting, the cupid/putto is one of the most illusionistic parts of the

painting. Therefore, attention is drawn to that area and the rest of the illusionistic areas

are in comparison to the child’s distinct face. The painting as a whole does not associate

with cupid, but certain elements of the figure can be interpreted as such. The area 22 Foster, p. 32.

18

between the child’s back and the woman’s face is filled with blue green faceted forms

that are sculpted with lights and darks. A great deal of darker shading is near the back of

the child that seems to lighten and almost form a pointed wing shape. The figure is out of

religious or mythological context, but still has a connection with cupid/putto. The type of

shading used is done with chiaroscuro, which was used in Renaissance and Baroque

painting. This specific use of chiaroscuro also makes the child into a convincing illusion,

due to its use of contrast. This formal quality establishes support for the illusion of the

figure as a cupid/putto.

Both Sundberg and Donald Kuspit have used mythology, specifically relating to

Daphne and cupid in their analyses of Tanning’s work to achieve a deeper content that

relates to feminism and Surrealism.23 This type of interpreting of the figure would imply a

deeper investigation into the content as well as a great deal of literary knowledge.

Therefore, it goes beyond the formal aspects of the painting and is based more in

interpretation than the painting itself.

Landscape PaintingInsomnias is not a landscape painting yet it contains elements which evoke

landscape specifically the focus on atmosphere and use of ground plane. Tanning and

William Turner share a similar type of atmosphere that is based on a limited value range

that creates an unclear defused space. This use of limited value was first used by Turner

as Greenberg points out Turner “…bunched value intervals together at the lighter end of

the color scale for effects more picturesque…”24 Turner consciously chose to use specific

values to create and effect the outcome of the painting. This can also be said of Tanning

who uses a similar ‘bunched value interval’ along the left and upper edge of the painting.

Although Tanning uses all values in Insomnias from darkest darks to lightest lights there

are certain areas that keep to one side of the value scale. In the light areas, for example

the upper left quadrant the values stay within the lighter range with the exception of a few

dark lines that enter the area and function more to define forms rather than the

23 Sundberg, p. 28.24 C Greenberg, ‘“American-Type” Painting’ in J O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 3, Affirmations and Refusals 1950-1956, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, p. 229.

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atmosphere. These dark lines are not in themselves that dark, barely past middle gray.

However, appear to be due to the contrast with the narrow value change within the light

area. These small changes in value give a subtler effect of depth rather than stark

contrasts. Greenberg also notes that it was important to retain depth when using a narrow

value range, which Turner and Tanning do.

The upper left quadrant has a progression from contaminated mixture of colors

into light yellow that has turpentine effects upon it. The colors flow smoothly into each

other creating a flat surface emanates a defused light. Turner’s painting, Norham Castle,

Sunrise, 1845 (fig. 4) has a similar light source that comes through a foggy defused

atmosphere. The color as well as the slight value change creates the effect of an

atmosphere.

The application of the medium supports the illusion that the lighter values create

an atmosphere. The paint is applied in light thinned out layer it is similar to fog, which

defuses. Just as the paint allows the viewer to see the grain of the canvas through the

layers of pigment, in the same way fog and atmosphere allows to viewer to see through

the water molecules to that behind.

The use of value and paint quality creates a formal likeness to landscape that

Sundberg does not notice. He agues these vague illusions to atmosphere and landscape

are to inexplicit to evoke landscape. I disagree with this, because landscape painting often

times is not explicit, even in Turner’s painting none of the forms are concretely defined.

Everything is defused yet the atmosphere as well as ground plane form a type of horizon.

A clear horizon line is not necessary for a landscape because if the ground plane are

present, the viewer can interpret where the horizon line should be. Tanning has a ground

plane and an atmosphere, which gives the painting a definitive space and viewing

direction. The viewer can imagine where the horizon is without seeing it. This interpreted

horizon also establishes the viewer direction. The painting cannot be turned upside down.

Otherwise, the space becomes abstract and top heavy. By not being able to turn the

painting in another direction, it indicates that the painting has a preferred orientation that

connects it landscape, which can also not be rotated.

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Fig. 4: Joseph Mallord William Turner, Norham Castle, Sunrise, 1845, oil on canvas, 90.8 x 121.9 cm, Tate Britain.

CubismInsomnias has many formal similarities to Cubism, through its use of shading,

composition, as well as formation of depth. The use of color in Tanning’s painting differs

greatly from the brown, grey and black commonly seen in Picasso and Braque’s Analytic

Cubist work and draws itself closer to Synthetic Cubism. Insomnias will be compared to

Georges Braque’s oil painting Violin and Pitcher, 1910, (fig. 5) which was made at the

end of Analytic Cubism and on the cusp of Synthetic Cubism.

The faceted forms as well as the emphasis on shading in Braque’s painting ties

him to Analytic cubism, which is also shared by Tanning’s. Greenberg describes Analytic

Cubist depiction, as “the object was not so much formed, as exhibited by precipitation in

groups or clusters of facet planes out of an indeterminate background of similar planes,

which later could also be seen as vibrating echoes of the object.”25 This description can

be applied to Tanning’s painting equally as much. Greenberg’s description emphasizes

the ambiguity of the illusion and how the painting is built up of facets that work together

to create forms rather than existing as abstract art. The overall effects of the painting are

similar due to the emphasis on faceted forms which are more condensed in the center and

are larger and less defined closer to the edges of the canvas. These faceted forms also

25 C Greenberg, ‘Master Lédger’ in J O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 3, Affirmations and Refusals 1950-1956, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, pp. 167-168.

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function to deconstruct the relationship object-and-background.26 Certain recognizable

forms pop out at the view while the rest becomes undulating space that is difficult to

decipher. To prevent the forms from becoming flat, shading is used as well as leaving the

forms open allowing for other forms to connect and creates varying depth that is difficult

to interpret. This shading functions as a clue to create illusionistic forms if the shading on

two forms contradicts each other, creating an incohesive reality, which makes the space

becomes ambiguous.27 This type of shading is specific to analytic cubism and prevents

the background from being only “surface pattern.”28

Although the two paintings share the break up of the surface into faceted forms,

they differ in the quality of these facets. Tanning’s facets have softer edges that are more

organic in nature, while Braque’s are more geometric. The materiality of the paint as well

as the brush strokes vary in the two paintings, while they both depict interconnected

shapes with shading and highlights.

Braque’s painting Violin and Pitcher (fig. 5) differs from some of his earlier

Analytic Cubist work and brings him closer to collage as well as synthetic Cubism due to

his use of trompe l’oeil and contour lines.29 These two elements can also be seen in

Tanning’s painting the illusion of the child figure is done in convincing chiaroscuro that

creates a trompe l’oeil form, while also painting her name and date in the bottom right

corner.

26 Greenberg, ‘Master Lédger’, p. 168.27 Gombrich, p. 239.28 C Greenberg, ‘The Pasted-Paper Revolution’ in J O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 4, Modernism with a Vengeance 1957-1969, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, p. 62.29 Ibid., p. 64.

22

Fig. 5: Georges Braque, Violin and Pitcher, 1910, oil on canvas, 117 x 73 cm, Kustmuseum Basel.

There is a difference between the illusion of the nail and the child figure, but both

are a clear illusion of depth into three-dimensional space. The child’s face is convincing

in its use of chiaroscuro technique of stark contrast as well as the use of foreshortening in

the three quarter view profile, yet due to its arbitrary blue color it is not convincing as the

actual object it represents unlike the nail. The child is however convincing as a plastic

form and therefore has the same trompe l’oeil effect that the nail in Braque’s painting

contains. The nail as well as the child form gives the two paintings a definitive scale and

depth that the rest of the painting can compare to. Gombrich explains, “familiar objects

allows us to estimate the scale.”30 The nail was used as a new way to keep the painting

from becoming a decorative pattern, besides the use of shading.31 This use of illusion

creates a more definitive depth into the painting that seemed hard to grasp when

observing the facets alone. Greenberg also states that “…specifying the very real flatness

of the picture plane so that everything else shown on it would be pushed into illusionistic

space by force of contrast.”32 He means by this that the flatness of the canvas permeates

the illusion, and the illusion itself reasserts the flatness. By attempting to create an

30 Gombrich, p. 205.31 Greenberg. ‘The Pasted-Paper Revolution’, p. 63.32 Greenberg. ‘The Pasted-Paper Revolution’, p. 62.

23

illusion of three-dimensional depth on a two-dimensional surface it causes a reverse

effect of making the two-dimensional more evident. This can be seen in the face of the

child, by looking closer at the illusion one will be struck by the application of paint and

the way it lies flat on the surface. The thicker layers of cobalt blue which function as

shading lays closer to the surface than the middle tone and highlights in the face. The

artist’s name is often used to demonstrate this phenomenon because it is placed on the

surface rather than within a form creating depth. The use of illusion both creates and

negates the depth of the painting and points back to the surface of the canvas as flat.

Abstract Expressionism Tanning’s use of form ties her to earlier traditions including Cubism which retain

a degree of depiction, yet her clear use of medium brings her painterly style closer to

Abstract Expressionism. Bosquet supports this statement indicating Tanning’s style as

relating to Abstract Expressionism yet retaining some figure forms.33 Insomnias also fits

into Greenberg’s explanation of Abstract Expressionism “It was, in effect, a painterly

reaction against the tightness of Synthetic Cubism that at first used the vocabulary itself

of Synthetic Cubism.”34 The loose handling of the paint in Tanning’s painting shows a

divergence form the stricter Synthetic Cubism yet the composition as well as depth

remains Cubist style. She uses techniques as well as other aspects from the Action as well

as the Color Field Painters to emphasis the use of the medium.

To explain Abstract Expressionism’s relation to medium and paint Greenberg

states.

If the label “Abstract Expressionism” means anything, it means painterliness:

loose, rapid handling, or the look of it; masses that blotted and fused instead of

shapes that stayed distinct; large and conspicuous rhythms; broken color; uneven

saturations or densities of paint, exhibited brush, knife, or finger marks…35

33 Sundberg, p. 25.34 C Greenberg, ‘After Abstract Expressionism’ in J O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 4, Modernism with a Vengeance 1957-1969, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, p. 123.35 Greenberg, ‘After Abstract Expressionism’, p. 123.

24

Painterliness is the key to Abstract Expressionism therefore the medium becomes the

focus as well as its application method.

The Action Painters such as Pollock are well known for their thick layers as well

as rapid application of paint with a variety of techniques and motion. Tanning’s

application of thick pure color onto the canvas as seen in the upper right quadrant is

reminiscent of this type of Action Painting. The application of the paint is done quickly

and leaves a mark as evidence of the artist’s motion. The dots in the upper left quadrant

that were done with the use of turpentine shows that Tanning, like Pollock, placed her

canvas on the ground and dripped medium onto the surface. This creates a break with

traditional easel painting while also allowing the medium to make its own forms using

gravity. Pollock’s paintings are known for their allover effect, which are devoid of

figurative illusion yet viewers still see forms within the drips. Greenberg calls the

phenomenon of abstract painterly forms that still suggest illusion, “homeless

representation.”36 This also creates ties Gombrich’s earlier mentioned statement that

viewers interpret forms based on what they see along with their own knowledge.37

Insomnias, can be interpreted as having ‘homeless representation’ in the abstract faceted

forms that previously have been referred to as creating undulating depth.

While Abstract Expressionism is most often identified with the thick tactile lays

of paint, thin layers of paint that show the diversity of the medium are just as much a part

of the materiality. Color Field Painting exemplifies this other side of materiality that

emphasizes the color as well as the staining and thinning possibilities of the paint.

Tanning’s use of thin layers of paint to tone the canvas along with allowing the colors to

blend together into soft transitions recalls the techniques used in color field painting.

Greenberg seems to feel color field painting does not fit into Abstract Expressionism

completely he identifies Rothko and Newman’s art as “…a synthesis of painterly and

non-painterly or, better, a transcending of the differences between the two.”38 He

describes Color Field Painting as a transition due to their choice to focus on color as well

as other qualities of the medium that many Abstract Expressionists had avoided.39 In my

36 Ibid., p. 124.37 Gombrich, p. 165.38 Greenberg, ‘After Abstract Expressionism’, p. 129.39 Greenberg, ‘“American-Type” Painting’, p. 232.

25

opinion, Rothko and Newman’s avoidance of the well known painterly expressions does

not make them less painterly. Rather, it just shows a different type of painterliness. For a

painting to be a part of Abstract Expressionism, it does not need to fulfill all of the

qualities specified by Greenberg as painterly. The action painters do not fulfill all the

qualities in each of their works, they select certain aspects, which are then executed in the

painting. Therefore, the Color Field Painters are equally entitled to use specific aspects of

the medium which emphasis its medium specificity. This can be seen in Tannings use of

staining in the contour lines of the dark oblong form that transcends the upper and lower

left quadrants. This staining technique demonstrates a relation to Newman’s canvases,

which uses the same technique in a larger scale. The variety in application of paint brings

the medium to the forefront and becomes the focus.

Surrealism Divides Materiality and Illusion The formal aspects of Tanning’s painting do not tie to Surrealism, which is devoid

of material similarity that supports the illusions created. The painting contains

illusionistic elements that can evoke Surrealism, yet the formal application of paint that

emphasizes the surface does not support these illusions. Sundberg argues for the content

of the painting being of Surrealist subject matter, which is true, yet it is not expressed by

solely observing the formal elements such as medium, color, and shading. Surrealism is

identified by its focus on subject matter and content rather than medium and style, which

would separate Tanning from Surrealists because she is concerned more with the

medium. Otherwise, the subject matter would have been be depicted in a different less

materialistic manner.

Sundberg points out that the title of the work, Insomnias, connects the work to

Surrealism due to its interest in dreams and the subconscious. The title is not a formal

element of the painting it is outside of the painting and is more part of the context.

Another argument Sundberg makes for the painting being Surrealistic is based on

the formal elements of the blurred and indistinct forms to evoke the unconscious.

26

The issue here has ultimately to do with control and involves various forms of

experimentation to avoid a ››controlled‹‹ creativity in order to bring the

unconscious to expression.40

This meaning that the painted is meant to express the unconscious using

controlled experiments. By not accessing the unconscious, Tanning is able to create a

balanced painting, which varies in application of paint. Yet this interest in the application

of paint goes against Surrealism, which Greenberg describes in his interpretation of a

lecture by Hans Hafmann.

From the point of view of this formulation, Surrealism in plastic art is a

reactionary tendency which is attempting to restore “outside” subject matter. The

chief concern of a painter like Dali is to represent the processes and concepts of

his consciousness, not the processes of his medium.41

Tanning’s use of paint indicates an interest in the paint medium beyond the point

of conveying an idea, insomnia. She has made a choice to experiment with the paint; to

thin out, rub out, layer and blend in an assortment of ways instead of clearly depicted her

subject matter. The obvious variety and allowance for the medium to act in new ways

shows an indisputable interest in the medium over just a means to an end that the

Surrealists lack. For Sundberg to relate these experiments to the unconscious it would

involve looking into semiotics as well as a deeper content, which is not applicable to the

formal analysis of this work.

Some of the illusions within the painting indicate metamorphosis, which would

draw connections to surrealist imagery.42 Yet these illusions are depicted using

materialistic applications of paint, which do not relate to Surrealist style. Surrealist

painting is known for its meticulous illusions that use the canvas as a window into

another world rather than a surface of its own. Sundberg himself admits Tanning diverges

from Surrealist style into another visual style.43 Due to the fact that the materiality that

creates the illusion of the metamorphosis, such as the dog like form does not the support

40 Sundberg, p. 25.41 C Greenberg, ‘Avant-Garde and Kitsch’ in John O’Brian (eds), Clement Greenberg The Collected Essays and Criticism, Vol. 1, Perceptions and Judgments 1939-1944, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989, p. 9.42 Sundberg, p. 27. 43Sundberg, p. 30.

27

Surrealism, it negates the formal influence of Surrealism. Sundberg argues for each part

separately the materiality as one thing and illusion as another avoiding the fact that the

materiality creates the illusion meaning they must support one another in the style.

ConclusionInsomnias emphasizes the materiality of paint, while using this materiality to its

advantage to form illusionistic space, that the viewer interprets. Using elements and

28

techniques from past styles to make these illusions successful, attention is drawn, back to

the formal aspects of the painting. Tanning has experimented with the medium like an

alchemist testing how to produce a desired outcome. By describing the formal aspects of

the painting in detail one is able to understand how the painting was created and the

amount of attention that was given each application of to the medium.

The illusions that are created, be it figures or undulating ambiguous space are

dependent on the application of the medium. The painting can be interpreted using only

the formal elements due to the extreme variety as well as historical style associations it

creates. Each use of the material recalls an art historical style and helps create an

illusion. In the use of chiaroscuro, which recalls Renaissance and Baroque art calls

attention to the contrast in color value as and sculpting effect that shading can have. The

illusion of atmosphere created by layering thin layers of paint creates not only a

connection to Turner’s painting but also to the physical atmosphere itself. That is also

built up in layers that creating a defused view of reality. Tanning’s painting has a great

deal of illusionistic similarities to cubism with its use of faceted forms that use the formal

aspects of shading to create depth rather than ‘surface pattern.’ The shading on these

forms contradicts each other and creates ambiguous space by changing the viewer’s

concept of reality. As well as the use of trompe l’oeil in order to bring illusion to the

forefront while, simultaneously destroying the illusion. Greenberg’s stresses the

impossibility of the trompe l’oeil illusion, which is self-destructive and brings the focus

to the surface of the painted canvas. The clear application of paint in thick layers as well

as the discrete thin layers draws connections to Abstract Expressionism of both Action

and Color Field Painting. The focus on medium as a representation of itself as in the dabs

of pure color exemplify the thick layers while the thin layers that are stained into the

canvas recall color field painting. The diverse use of the paint medium brings attention to

its importance to the painting as a surface as well as its ability to create illusion. The

formal aspects of the painting do not support all art historical styles, which are

demonstrated in its dissimilarity to Surrealism. The medium is only relatable to

Surrealism through the use of content. While the illusions only create connections

through what they represent and not how they are depicted in formal qualities.

29

The formal influence of all these styles allows Tanning to create a painting that

crosses barriers visually and exist as illusion built on materiality.

Bibliography

30

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Image

Fig. 1: Tanning, D, Insomnias, 1957, oil on canvas, 207 x 145 cm, retrieved 2 December

2012. Moderna Museet, © Dorothea Tanning/BUS 2011

<http://www.modernamuseet.se/en/The-Collection/The-collection1/Research/In-the-

shadow-of/Dorothea-Tanning/>.

Fig. 2: Tanning, D, Insomnias, 1957, oil on canvas, 207 x 145 cm, Moderna Museet,

alterations by K Ivarsson, 2012, retrieved 2 December 2012. © Dorothea Tanning/BUS

2011 <http://www.modernamuseet.se/en/The-Collection/The-collection1/Research/In-

the-shadow-of/Dorothea-Tanning/>

Fig. 3: Tanning, D, Insomnias, 1957, oil on canvas, 207 x 145 cm, Moderna Museet,

alterations by K Ivarsson, 2012, retrieved 2 December 2012. © Dorothea Tanning/BUS

2011 <http://www.modernamuseet.se/en/The-Collection/The-collection1/Research/In-

the-shadow-of/Dorothea-Tanning/>

32

Fig. 4: Turner, J, Norham Castle, Sunrise, 1845, oil on canvas, 90.8 x 121.9 cm, Tate

Britain. Reference N01981, retrieved 15 December 2012.

<http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-norham-castle-sunrise-n01981>

Fig. 5: Braque, G, Violin and Pitcher, 1910, oil on canvas, 117 x 73 cm, Kustmuseum

Basel, retrieved 15 December 2012.

<http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/braque/v_pitchr.jpg.html>

33