Untitled

1930s

His influence on younger Surrealist painters

His style becomes an important influence on several younger painters — Roberto Matta, Wolfgang Paalen, Toyen and Esteban Francés — who adopt a Surrealist style in the 1930s.

1930s

A bohemian life and the failure of his first marriage

Throughout the 1930s Tanguy embraces the bohemian lifestyle of the struggling artist with gusto, which eventually leads to the failure of his first marriage, to Jeannette Ducrocq.

1938

His first British retrospective, in London

He travels to London with his wife, Jeannette Ducrocq, to hang his first British retrospective at Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery, Guggenheim Jeune. The show is a great success: by Guggenheim’s own account, Tanguy found himself rich for the first time in his life, and she buys his “Toilette de l’Air” and “The Sun in Its Jewel Case” (Le Soleil dans son écrin) for her collection.

1938

Begins a relationship with Kay Sage

After seeing the work of the fellow Surrealist artist Kay Sage, he begins a relationship with her that will lead to his second marriage.

1938

An affair with Peggy Guggenheim

During the London trip with his wife, Tanguy begins an intense affair with Peggy Guggenheim, for whom he paints two earrings. The affair continues in London and Paris and ends only when he meets the woman who will become his second wife.