Yves Tanguy

French, 1900-1955

Divisibilité indéfinie (Indefinite Divisibility)

© Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

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© Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Divisibilité indéfinie (Indefinite Divisibility), 1942

Artwork Details

Collection Highlight

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 40 x 35 inches (101.6 x 89 cm); framed: 51 1/4 x 46 x 3 1/8 inches (130.18 x 116.84 x 7.94 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1945

Accession ID

RCA1945:2

Without employing direct references to the real world, Yves Tanguy painted surreal landscapes laden with strange, indeterminate forms. Tanguy taught himself how to paint after seeing a work by Giorgio de Chirico through the window of an art gallery. In 1925, he joined the Surrealist group in Paris, and in a relatively short time, he developed a style that remained consistent from 1927 until his death. In Indefinite Divisibility, which Tanguy painted after moving to the United States, a mysterious structure dominates the foreground and casts a dark shadow, a visual motif he borrowed from de Chirico. In this work, space appears infinite, like an endless desert. The atmosphere is dense and oppressive, yet also penetrated by strong, warming light.

Label from Picasso: The Artist and His Models, November 5, 2016–February 19, 2017