Dorothea Tanning
1910
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August 25th, Galesburg, Illinois. Second daughter of Andrew and Amanda Tanning.
Amanda and Andrew Tanning
Dorothea Tanning with her mother, Amanda Tanning
Dorothea Tanning
![](/images/work_image/thumbs_small/small/10.2.02Childhooddrawingthumb.jpg "<i>"The Waiter Smiles..."</i>")
"The Waiter Smiles..."
Untitled (Portrait of Girl)
1926
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Education in Galesburg public schools. Graduation 1926 from high school (the building burned down in 1965). Two grades had been “skipped” thus creating a lifelong weakness in arithmetic.
Dorothea Tanning in her studio, Galesburg, Illinois
Dorothea Tanning, Galesburg High School Yearbook, Senior Year
1927
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Employment at The Galesburg Public Library (the building, with its 200,000 volumes, burned to the ground in 1958).
1928
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Matriculation at Knox College in Galesburg, a liberal arts school, ergo, no applied art courses. Dorothea draws and paints in spare time. Illustrations for school publications.
Dorothea Tanning
Cover for The Siwasher, March 27, 1929
Cover for The Siwasher, April 27, 1929
Cover for The Siwasher, February 25, 1930
“The Sophmore and Freshman Classes” (illustration for Knox College Yearbook)
![](/images/work_image/thumbs_small/small/31.2.21IllustrationforTheGaleWomensFraternities2.jpg "<i>"Women's Fraternities"</i> (illustration for Knox College Yearbook)")
"Women's Fraternities" (illustration for Knox College Yearbook)
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August. Escapes to Chicago where an ex-library pair of friends, turned city dwellers, offer her a room in their apartment. Gains employment at a downtown restaurant as a hostess (carrying menus, seating diners). Enrolls at The Chicago Academy of Art, afternoon classes. Length of stay, three weeks. Attends instead the great rooms of The Chicago Art Institute where the paintings, gazed at almost daily, give her splendid instruction in how to make art.
Dorothea Tanning, Chicago
1933
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Operates marionettes at The Chicago World’s Fair. The booth: Buster Brown Shoes. The director of the show: Meyer Levin. The play: Buster Brown Foils Twillinger.
1934
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October. New Orleans. First exhibition, watercolors in a bookshop gallery.
1935
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May. To New York. Finds work as freelance commercial artist.
Dorothea Tanning
1936
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December. Discovers dada and surrealism at the monumental exhibition of Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Self-Portrait
1937
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Autumn, winter, San Francisco. Draws for The Coast, a monthly magazine. (Covers and cartoons). The magazine folds after six issues.
Dorothea Tanning, San Francisco
Cartoon for The Coast, May 1938
Cartoon for The Coast, July 1938
