Yves Tanguy

1 9.9

A French-born American painter of dreamlike landscapes and strange abstract shapes

proper noun
/iv tɑ̃ˈɡi/

: Yves Tanguy

Many art critics regard Yves Tanguy as a master of dreamlike landscapes.

Examples

The museum's new exhibition features the surreal works of Yves Tanguy.
Inspired by Yves Tanguy, she experimented with abstract forms and imaginative shapes in her paintings.
Look at Yves Tanguy!
The famous surrealist painter Yves Tanguy created many iconic works.
Many art critics regard Yves Tanguy as a master of dreamlike landscapes.
The museum's new exhibition features the surreal works of Yves Tanguy.
Inspired by Yves Tanguy, she experimented with abstract forms and imaginative shapes in her paintings.

Surface Forms

Yves Tanguy main

Morphology

Yves + Tanguy

This is a personal name (proper noun) rather than a compositional phrase; the constituents 'Yves' and 'Tanguy' carry no general lexical meaning that would allow a learner to infer 'French-born American surrealist painter.' Identifying the person requires encyclopedic/world knowledge, so a B1 learner who only knows the name forms would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Yves Tanguy is the name of a French-born American painter who made strange, dreamlike landscapes full of smooth, abstract shapes. Because his paintings look like dreams, people often use his name to describe 'surreal' or 'dreamlike' art.