The evolution of form and content in the work of the major Surrealist artists was often rapid and protean, with noteworthy developments occuring throughout their careers. The work of Ives Tanguy is the great exception. He was the only self-taught artist among those who used illusion in their Surrealist paintings. His earliest paintings are primitivistic, but by 1927, he arrived at the vision and technique which would carry him through the next three decades. Strange biomorphic shapes--some which resemble 'soft' versions of de Chirico's wooden metaphysical characters and furniture, others which pre-figure Arp's late sculptured forms in the round--are usually seen 'scuttling' across a desert wasteland, an ocean floor or a landscape out of prehistory.

The poetry of Tanguy's mature imagery differs from that
of the other illusionist Surrealists, and even from that
of most of the "abstract" painters in the group; it is less
specifically literary. Though on occasion his forms are
anthropomorphic--those of Through Birds, Through Fire, but
Not Through Glass recall de Chirico's muses and lovers out
of antique literature--they are never particularized with
features or anatomical details. Nor can his forms ever
be identified as recognizable objects, as can the shapes
of Miró and Masson, to say nothing of those of Magritte
and Dali. If Tanguy's style is realistic, his visual poetry
is abstract. (W.S. Rubin, Dada, Surrealism and their Heritage, New York, 1968, p. 102)