Details
Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012)
Sketch for Pictor Mysteriosa (Burnt Umbrage)
graphite and ink on paper
9 x 11 ⅞ in. (22.9 x 30.2 cm.)
Executed in 1997.
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Alison Jacques Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Special notice
Please note that Christie's has not been able to inspect this lot pre-sale. Payment remains due pursuant to the Conditions of Sale. Once government restrictions have been lifted and Christie's premises have re-opened, this lot will be shipped to Christie's premises for inspection by a Christie's specialist. Following satisfactory inspection by Christie's and receipt of full payment, title to the lot will pass to the buyer.
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Lot Essay

The present work is a sketch for a painting of the same title. The painting belongs to a series of 12 paintings of imaginary flowers, captured in a book, Another Language of Flowers (New York: George Braziller 1998), with poems written by poet friends. The poem for this work is by Adrienne Rich:

"Pictor mysteriosa (Burnt Umbrage)"

Pistil, stamen and bract
but never abstract:
the flower becomes the eye
we see her by.

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