Lot Essay
LIKE MANY OF THE SURREALISTS, TANGUY WAS PROMPTED TO BECOME A PAINTER AFTER ENCOUNTERING THE WORKS OF GIORGIO DE CHIRICO. HIS STRONGLY ILLUSIONISTIC STYLE OF PAINTING A NUMBER OF CAREFULLY DELINEATED BIOMORPHIC SHAPES ARRANGED IN PUZZLING COMBINATIONS AGAINST AN EMPTY SPACE THAT SEEMS TO SUGGEST AN OCEAN BED OR A DESERT FLOOR WAS FIRST DEVELOPED IN 1927. IT WAS A STYLE HE PERSISTED WITH FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE - THE STARK EMPTY SPACES OF HIS EARLY WORKS SLOWLY GIVING WAY TO SCENES INCREASINGLY POPULATED BY BIOMORPHIC ABSTRACT FORMS THAT BECAME ROCK OR BONE-LIKE RECALLING THE MENHIRS AND BOULDERS FOUND ALONG THE COAST OF BRITTANY WHERE TANGUY SPENT THE SUMMERS OF HIS CHILDHOOD. TOWARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE, THESE FORMS DEVELOPED INTO INCREASINGLY COMPLEX ARRANGEMENTS THAT LEND HIS PAINTINGS AN ALMOST HALLUCINATORY INTENSITY THAT HAS BEEN INTERPRETED BY MANY CRITICS AS SUGGESTING A PRESCIENCE OF DEATH.