Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012) was an American artist renowned for her contributions to Surrealism and her exploration of the human form through painting, sculpture, and writing. Born in Galesburg, Illinois, she initially studied at Knox College before moving to Chicago in 1930 and briefly attending the Chicago Academy of Art. Largely self-taught, Tanning's career evolved across the United States and France.

Tanning’s early surrealist paintings quickly garnered the attention of gallerist, Julien Levy, who introduced her to the New York Surrealist circle. With the flood of refugee artists to New York from Europe during World War II, Tanning was introduced to Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, and her future husband Max Ernst. In 1942, she met Max Ernst, who selected her surrealist, self-portrait "Birthday" for the “Exhibition by 31 Women” organized by his wife, Peggy Guggenheim. Ernst left Peggy and married Tanning in 1946, forming a lifelong personal and artistic partnership. They lived in Sedona, Arizona, and later moved to France, where Tanning's work transitioned from figurative Surrealism to prismatic abstractions and soft fabric sculptures. She explored color, light, shape, and volume, pushing the boundaries of abstraction and challenging perceptions of reality and imagination

After Ernst's death in 1976, Tanning returned to New York where she continued painting until 1998. Her extensive body of work, comprising over 1,500 pieces, is held in prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She was celebrated in major solo exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and Tate Modern in London.

In addition to her visual art, Tanning was an accomplished writer. Tanning published two collections of poetry, "Coming to That" (2011) and "A Table of Content" (2011), as well as two memoirs, "Birthday" (1986) and "Between Lives" (2001), and a novel, "Chasm" (2004). Additionally, in 1994, Dorothea established the Wallace Stevens Award for poetry, to be awarded annually by the American Academy of Poets. She remained active in the art and literary world until her passing at the age of 101, on January 31, 2012.