Brunidor Portfolio No. 1, Plate 1: Rhabdomancie

1947

Brunidor Portfolio No. 1, Plate 1: Rhabdomancie, 1947. Yves Tanguy (French, 1900–1955), Edition Brunidor, New York. Color etching ; platemark: 29.7 x 22.4 cm (11 11/16 x 8 13/16 in.); sheet: 40.7 x 33 cm (16 x 13 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2016.4 © Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York In his Surrealist compositions, the painter and printmaker Yves Tanguy conjured mysterious forms that seem to float in otherworldly expanses. Although rhabdomancie means dowsing, or searching underground for water, Surrealist titles were not meant to explain content but to set a poetic mood. The three figures in this composition could be involved in the activity of searching; accessing the subconscious played an important role in Tanguy’s artistic practice. This print is the largest one that Yves Tanguy created.