© Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
On view
Modern and Contemporary Art
Theodora Walton William Walton III Pavilion
Theodora Walton William Walton III Pavilion
Par la Forêt (Through the Forest),
1952
Yves Tanguy, 1900–1955; born Paris, France; died Woodbury, CT; active Paris and New York, NY
y1964-161
Through the Forest depicts a vignette that suggests both a landscape and a tableau of abstract forms. This painting embraces ambiguity; the combination of subject, color palette, and illusionistic depth imbues the work with an air of isolation and emotional drama. With the growing power of National Socialism in Europe, many Surrealist artists—including Tanguy, Kay Sage, and Max Ernst—drew negative and potentially harmful attention for working in a style that expressed the liberation of the imagination. The Nazis labeled many Surrealists “degenerate,” prompting these artists and other members of the avant-garde to relocate to New York.
Information
Title
Par la Forêt (Through the Forest)
Dates
1952
Maker
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
31.3 × 25.3 cm (12 5/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
frame: 53 × 47.8 × 7 cm (20 7/8 × 18 13/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Kay Sage Tanguy
Object Number
y1964-161
Signatures
Crayoned on (spectator's) right strip of stretcher: Y.T.
Inscription
Title and date (1952) crayoned on top of stretcher.
Culture
Type
Yves Tanguy; by descent to Kay Sage Tanguy; 1964 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.
- Patrick J. Kelleher, "College museum notes", Art journal 23, no. 1 (Autumn, 1963): p. 46-56., p. 46
-
"Recent acquisitions", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 23, no. 2 (1964): p. 34-55.
, p. 41 - "Acquisitions of 1964", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 24, no. 1 (1965): p. 20-23., p. 20
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 29 (illus.)
