Object number2022.17.1
To Climb a Ladder
Date1987
Artist
Dorothea Tanning
(American, 1910 - 2012)
CultureAmerican
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 47 1/4 x 41 3/8 in. (120 x 105.1 cm)
Framed: 48 3/4 x 43 x 2 in. (123.8 x 109.2 x 5.1 cm)
Framed: 48 3/4 x 43 x 2 in. (123.8 x 109.2 x 5.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, gift of Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thompson, by exchange
On View
On viewPeriod20th c
Classification(s)
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryDorothea Tanning: Doesn't the Paint say it all?, Kasmin, New York, NY, March 3 - April 26, 2022; What Now? (Or Not Yet), Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, January 21 - September 10, 2023Label TextActive in both the United States and Europe, Tanning achieved international renown for bold experiments across media—printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation—as well as for an acclaimed body of fiction, memoir, and poetry. Her dreamlike, formally innovative works express a highly personal vision while encompassing broader themes of fear, fantasy, desire, obsession, and the interplay between the conscious and unconscious. In To Climb a Ladder the vertical “ladder” of amorphous figures, set against a dark background, suggests a dreamworld of interpenetrating bodies in a state of flux and transformation.
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Mytrice Snead West
Lillian Faye Barker
