Flying Tanagras

Author: Sofía Bassi

Title: Flying Tanagras (Tanagras volando)

Date: 1965

Material: Oil on masonite

Dimensions: 31.5 × 23.6 inches

Location: Private collection

Rights: Sofía Bassi Foundation

Flying Tanagras (Tanagras volando, 1965) is a striking example of Sofía Bassi’s dreamlike aesthetic. Two spectral female figures traverse an ethereal, mountainous landscape. The two figures appear suspended in a dance with the wind, their garments dissolving into the terrain in a seamless fusion of body and environment. The title’s reference to Tanagras, small terracotta figurines from ancient Greece, introduces an allusion to classical antiquity and to sculptural traditions associated with representations of the human figure.

As in much of Bassi’s work, the scene is imbued with a surreal, otherworldly atmosphere. The translucent figures reflect Bassi’s sustained interest in transformation and in the shifting boundary between visible and invisible realms. The evocation of Greek forms connects these figures to earlier sculptural models, while redirecting them toward her own exploration of altered states and spiritual change.