Mark Tansey (American, b.1949) is a painter best known for his monochromatic and allegorical works. Born in San Jose, CA, he was raised in a family of art historians and studied at Art Center College of Design. Inspired by the Surrealist artist René Magritte, Tansey creates elaborate allegories that draw of philosophical, literary, and historical themes, and thinkers such as Plato, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jacques Derrida. His Forward Retreat (1986), for example, depicts horseback riders in uniforms that represent the nationalities of the most well-known artists of the 20th century.
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