The Katonah Museum of Art is a non-collecting museum that mounts ten to twelve shows annually, either guest-curated or developed in conjunction with another small institution. I became familiar with the museum several years ago when they produced a superb exhibition dedicated to the art of Joseph Cornell entitled "Andromeda Hotel" that was so well done it warranted a train ride to the suburbs to visit. This summer, in conjunction with the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Katonah Museum is presenting "Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy". Several years in the planning and already postponed once, this show has overcome its esoteric subject matter to achieve both critical and popular success and is proof that the public really will come out for something they don't quite understand but find intriguing.
Yves Tanguy was born in Paris in 1900 and grew up on the Brittany coast, an environment that influenced his work during his life. He was one of the original followers of André Breton's Surrealist Manifesto and remained a key member of the Movement throughout his career.
Katherine Linn Sage was the daughter of a wealthy Albany family whose parents divorced when she was quite young and she spent her formative years with her mother traveling in Europe. Although always interested in art, she did not begin her painting career until she was almost middle aged and divorced from an Italian nobleman.

As a couple Kay and Yves were inseparable, but as painters each retained his own identity and they refused to be considered a "team" of painters. The title of this exhibition, "Double Solitaire", aptly refers to their artistic lives together, dueling yet companionable, private yet shared, and was the name of the only other exhibition ever dedicated to this Surrealist "It" couple presented at the Wadsworth Atheneum in 1954.

When Yves Tanguy dropped dead of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954, his widow was devastated. Her life had no meaning without him and the prophetic title of the original painting she saw of his, "I Am Waiting For You", became true when she shot herself in the heart to join him in Eternity. The 15 year marriage of Tanguy and Sage was remarkable partnership on many levels and they were able to live their lives as they painted their canvas', separate but together, a "Double Solitaire".
As I drove back to the City, past the many lovely homes and estates in the area, I thought about what it must have been like to live in Woodbury during the 1940's and 50's, surrounded by fellow artists including Calder, Matta and Gorky. Although they all socialized, Yves Tanguy and Kay Sage remained true to their Surrealist roots and never made the transition to the popular Abstract Expressionist movement. Their 15 year marriage was a remarkable partnership both emotionally and creatively, and they were able to live their lives as they painted their canvas', separate but together, a "Double Solitaire". Congratulations to curators Jonathan Stuhlman and Stephen Robeson Miller on a wonderful exhibition!
Left: Yves Tanguy "There, Motion Has Not Yet Ceased", 1945
Right: Kay Sage "I Saw Three Cities", 1944