What makes Dorothea Tanning feel so alive to contemporary artists today? In this intimate conversation, painter Tali Lennox reflects on the emotional power, strange beauty, and psychological depth of Tanning’s work—where wonder, unease, tenderness, and transformation exist all at once.
From shifting identities and dreamlike figures to glowing thresholds and hidden symbols, Lennox explores how Tanning’s paintings invite viewers into a liminal world that feels both unsettling and deeply human. It is also a meditation on what Surrealism means now—and why artists still need to “protect the magic.”
This May, Témoins du drame by Dorothea Tanning, from The Collection of Sybil Shainwald, will take its place in Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction, presented by CELINE, taking place live in New York on 19 May 2026.
