Cambridge schedules Alyce Mahon talk on Dorothea Tanning study
The 23 November event will consider Mahon’s account of how Tanning tested Surrealism’s conventions across painting, sculpture and writing.
The University of Cambridge’s History of Art department has scheduled a conversation with Professor Alyce Mahon on ‘Dorothea Tanning: A Surrealist World’ for 23 November, from 6 to 7 pm, at the Buckingham House Lecture Theatre in Cambridge.
The event will explore Mahon’s book and its contribution to the study of Surrealism and modern and contemporary art history. It is a programme announcement, not confirmation that the talk has taken place.
In the book, Mahon reconsiders established accounts of Surrealism, arguing that Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012) expanded the movement’s artistic possibilities while challenging its conventions. The study examines Tanning’s position in the avant-garde, including her influence on post-war Surrealism and her experience as a woman artist working internationally.
Mahon draws on Tanning’s art and philosophical writings to trace a career extending over seven decades. The book considers work in painting, sculpture and writing, following the artist’s movements between Chicago, Arizona, Paris, Seillans and New York. Its account of Tanning transforming these places and experiences into imaginative worlds is Mahon’s interpretation.
Mahon curated the first major retrospective of Tanning at the Reina Sofía in Madrid in 2018-2019. According to her Cambridge profile, the exhibition subsequently travelled to Tate Modern in London in 2019.
Sources & further reading
University of Cambridge History of Art
University of Cambridge History of Art: Professor Alyce Mahon
