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Endgame: Tanning’s Masterpiece from a Private Family Collection
DOROTHEA TANNING (1910-2012)
Endgame
Details
DOROTHEA TANNING (1910-2012)
Endgame
signed 'Dorothea Tanning' (lower right)
oil on canvas
17 x 17 in. (43.2 x 43.2 cm.)
Painted in 1944
Endgame
signed 'Dorothea Tanning' (lower right)
oil on canvas
17 x 17 in. (43.2 x 43.2 cm.)
Painted in 1944
Provenance
Hans Richter, New York (acquired from the artist via Julien Levy, 27 January 1949).
Julien Levy, New York; Estate sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 4 November 1981, lot 110.
Acquired at the above sale.
Julien Levy, New York; Estate sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 4 November 1981, lot 110.
Acquired at the above sale.
Literature
J. Gibbs, "Presenting the 'Imagery of Chess'" in The Art Digest, vol. 19, no. 6, 15 December 1944, p. 11.
C. Shaw, ed., "Levy’s Gambit" in Newsweek, vol. XXIV, no. 26, 25 December 1944, pp. 82 and 84.
K. Harkness, "Chessmen of Tomorrow" in Chess Review, vol. 13, no. 1, January 1945, p. 6 (illustrated; titled White Queen Stepping on Black Bishop).
A. Bosquet, Dorothea Tanning, Paris, 1966, p. 45 (illustrated; dated 1947 and titled Jeu d’échecs).
A. Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, New York, 1970, pp. 66 and 519.
J.C. Bailly, Dorothea Tanning, New York, 1995, pp. 62 and 393 (illustrated, pl. 16; dated 1947).
L. Jacobs and I. Schaffner, eds., Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998, p. 145 (illustrated in color, pl. 56).
D. Tanning, Between Lives: An Artist and Her World, New York, 2001 (illustrated, p. 91).
Max Ernst: The King Playing with the Queen, exh. cat., Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, 2002, p. 22 (illustrated in color).
Y. Marek, Art, échecs et mat, Paris, 2008, p. 134 (illustrated in color, p. 145).
C. McAra, “Blind Date: Tanning’s Surrealist Anti-tale” in Anti-Tales: The Uses of Disenchantment, Newcastle, 2011, p. 108 (illustrated).
M.-Y. Moriuchi, "Space, Place, and Gender in the Art of Dorothea Tanning" in Art and Social Change: Essays on the Collection of La Salle University Art Museum, Philadelphia, 2016, pp. 166-167 (illustrated in color, p. 167).
J. Pech, Max Ernst: D-paintings, Zeitreise der Liebe, exh. cat., Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, 2019, pp. 26-27 and 30-31 (illustrated in color, p. 27).
"Features" in Frieze, no. 201, March 2019, p. 109 (illustrated in color).
V. Carruthers, Dorothea Tanning: Transformations, London, 2020, p. 64 (illustrated in color).
C. Rabinovitch, Duchamp's Pipe: A Chess Romance, Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski, Berkeley, 2020, pp. 168-170 (illustrated, p. 169).
B. Forest and F. Flahutez, "Introduction: La victoire des échecs" in Surréalice: Lewis Carroll et les Surréalistes, exh. cat., Musées de la ville de Strasbourg, 2022, p. 10 (illustrated in color, p. 11).
B.G. Warren and M. Difilippantonio, Julien Levy: The Man, His Gallery, His Legacy, Newtown, Connecticut, 2023, pp. 1959 and 2021.
C. Shaw, ed., "Levy’s Gambit" in Newsweek, vol. XXIV, no. 26, 25 December 1944, pp. 82 and 84.
K. Harkness, "Chessmen of Tomorrow" in Chess Review, vol. 13, no. 1, January 1945, p. 6 (illustrated; titled White Queen Stepping on Black Bishop).
A. Bosquet, Dorothea Tanning, Paris, 1966, p. 45 (illustrated; dated 1947 and titled Jeu d’échecs).
A. Schwarz, The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp, New York, 1970, pp. 66 and 519.
J.C. Bailly, Dorothea Tanning, New York, 1995, pp. 62 and 393 (illustrated, pl. 16; dated 1947).
L. Jacobs and I. Schaffner, eds., Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998, p. 145 (illustrated in color, pl. 56).
D. Tanning, Between Lives: An Artist and Her World, New York, 2001 (illustrated, p. 91).
Max Ernst: The King Playing with the Queen, exh. cat., Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, 2002, p. 22 (illustrated in color).
Y. Marek, Art, échecs et mat, Paris, 2008, p. 134 (illustrated in color, p. 145).
C. McAra, “Blind Date: Tanning’s Surrealist Anti-tale” in Anti-Tales: The Uses of Disenchantment, Newcastle, 2011, p. 108 (illustrated).
M.-Y. Moriuchi, "Space, Place, and Gender in the Art of Dorothea Tanning" in Art and Social Change: Essays on the Collection of La Salle University Art Museum, Philadelphia, 2016, pp. 166-167 (illustrated in color, p. 167).
J. Pech, Max Ernst: D-paintings, Zeitreise der Liebe, exh. cat., Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, 2019, pp. 26-27 and 30-31 (illustrated in color, p. 27).
"Features" in Frieze, no. 201, March 2019, p. 109 (illustrated in color).
V. Carruthers, Dorothea Tanning: Transformations, London, 2020, p. 64 (illustrated in color).
C. Rabinovitch, Duchamp's Pipe: A Chess Romance, Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski, Berkeley, 2020, pp. 168-170 (illustrated, p. 169).
B. Forest and F. Flahutez, "Introduction: La victoire des échecs" in Surréalice: Lewis Carroll et les Surréalistes, exh. cat., Musées de la ville de Strasbourg, 2022, p. 10 (illustrated in color, p. 11).
B.G. Warren and M. Difilippantonio, Julien Levy: The Man, His Gallery, His Legacy, Newtown, Connecticut, 2023, pp. 1959 and 2021.
Exhibited
New York, Julien Levy Gallery, The Imagery of Chess: A Group Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, Newly Designed Chessmen Music and Miscellany, December 1944-January 1945.
Washington, D.C., Caresse Crosby Gallery, Dorothea Tanning, March-April 1945, no. 3.
Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum, The Disquieting Muse: Surrealism, January-February 1958, p. 46 (dated 1946 and titled The White Queen and Black Bishop).
New York, The Equitable Gallery, Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery, August-October 1998.
New York, National Academy of Design and Phoenix Art Museum, Surrealism USA, February-September 2005, pp. 145 and 189 (illustrated in color, pl. 99).
New York, The Noguchi Museum and Houston, The Menil Collection, The Imagery of Chess Revisited, October 2005-January 2007, pp. 97-99 and 186 (illustrated in color, p. 98; illustrated again, p. 161).
San Francisco, Frey Norris Gallery, Dorothea Tanning: Beyond the Esplanade, Paintings, Drawings and Prints from 1940 to 1965, November 2009-January 2010, p. 5-12 and 21, no. 3 (illustrated in color, p. 20).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Québec City, Musée National des Beaux-Arts and Mexico City, Museo de Arte Moderno, In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, January 2012-January 2013, pp. 58-59 (illustrated in color, pl. 38; titled The Game of Chess).
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and London, Tate Britain, Dorothea Tanning, October 2018-June 2019, pp. 24 and 191 (illustrated in color, p. 120).
Washington, D.C., Caresse Crosby Gallery, Dorothea Tanning, March-April 1945, no. 3.
Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum, The Disquieting Muse: Surrealism, January-February 1958, p. 46 (dated 1946 and titled The White Queen and Black Bishop).
New York, The Equitable Gallery, Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery, August-October 1998.
New York, National Academy of Design and Phoenix Art Museum, Surrealism USA, February-September 2005, pp. 145 and 189 (illustrated in color, pl. 99).
New York, The Noguchi Museum and Houston, The Menil Collection, The Imagery of Chess Revisited, October 2005-January 2007, pp. 97-99 and 186 (illustrated in color, p. 98; illustrated again, p. 161).
San Francisco, Frey Norris Gallery, Dorothea Tanning: Beyond the Esplanade, Paintings, Drawings and Prints from 1940 to 1965, November 2009-January 2010, p. 5-12 and 21, no. 3 (illustrated in color, p. 20).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Québec City, Musée National des Beaux-Arts and Mexico City, Museo de Arte Moderno, In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, January 2012-January 2013, pp. 58-59 (illustrated in color, pl. 38; titled The Game of Chess).
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and London, Tate Britain, Dorothea Tanning, October 2018-June 2019, pp. 24 and 191 (illustrated in color, p. 120).
Further Details
We are grateful to the Dorothea Tanning Foundation for their assistance in cataloguing this work.
Brought to you by
Rachael White Young
Senior Vice President, Senior Specialist, Co-Head of 20th Century Evening Sale