On Fire

Dorothea Tanning, On Fire, 1949, pencil and colored pencil on paper, sheet and image: 13 ⁷⁄₈ x 9 ⁷⁄₈ in. (35.4 x 25.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Gibson Fahnestock, 1995.10

Artwork Details

Title: On Fire
Artist: Dorothea Tanning
Date: 1949
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet and image: 13 ⁷⁄₈ x 9 ⁷⁄₈ in. (35.4 x 25.1 cm)
Credit Line: Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Gibson Fahnestock
Mediums: pencil
Mediums Description: pencil and colored pencil on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: Portrait female — Tanning, Dorothea — full length
Portrait female — Tanning, Dorothea — self-portrait
Occupation — art — printmaker
Occupation — art — designer
Occupation — art — sculptor
Occupation — art — painter
Disaster — fire
Object Number: 1995.10
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1995.10

Artwork Description

The breathless, fleeing girl with clothing in flames epitomizes Tanning’s surreal narratives. The ambiguity of the half-clothed figure suggests a state of metamorphosis. Her forward thrust is thwarted by a brick wall that swallows her forearms. As in a nightmare. Tanning had fled Paris on the brink of war in 1939, and she returned in 1949 to a devastated city. Despite the possible biographical connection, the meaning of this image is unclear because, as the artist explained, “My work is about the enigmatic, about leaving the door open to imagination.”

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009