Tanning was a painter, poet, author, ballet costume designer, and sculptor. Her early production shows explicit Surrealist influence, which she came in contact with in New York. The 1950s were the years of a turning point or, in her words, the moment she “broke the mirror she has been seeing the world through up to the point.” She modelled for Irving Penn and Man Ray, and has always maintained how art has a salvific power for humans.
