Yves Tanguy (1900–1955) was one of the first generation of painters associated with the group of literati around André Breton after the publication of the First Manifesto of Surrealism (1924). Tanguy, an autodidact, used a singular language of forms – organically curved, harshly constricting or softly expanding abstract bodies in the midst of a seemingly endless world – that anticipates the pliant forms of Salavador Dalí, while recalling the abstract reliefs of Hans Arp and foreshadowing the amorphous figurations of WOLS.

At the centre of the exhibition are the artist’s little-known prints. Although small in number, they display a surprising variety. Based on the various chapters of the artist’s life and through individual works of art, the exhibition maps out the artist’s oeuvre, highlighting peculiar aspects of Surrealism that connect Tanguy’s work to that of his contemporaries.