In the art piece Tableau Vivant by Dorothea Tanning, we are shown an incredibly large dog cradling a woman who appears to be in a vulnerable or compromised state. By painting the dog upright and abnormally large, we get an odd sense that the dog is more human than animal, especially if you truly analyze its facial features, which give off an almost protective and defensive gaze. The stance the dog is rendered in makes it seem as though, between it and the woman, the dog is in charge and possesses a feeling of ownership towards her. This alters our cultural boundary between nature and human, which puts the human in a place of ownership over animals because of our “implicit” superiority over them. The woman being painted as naked also contributes to this, as it makes her seem vulnerable and weaker than the large dog holding her upright. There is also a sense of separation because of the general imposing aura that the dog gives, almost as if it was cut and pasted into the painting in place of a human, making the structural feeling of the art piece less cohesive and decentralized from our cultural views of the human.
I agree with your idea that the painting disrupts the boundary between humans and animals. I think it is interesting that the artist portrayed the human as vulnerable and the dog as the "powerful" figure, which disrupts the structure of society. I also agree that the rigid structure of the painting creates a less cohesive perception of the artwork.
59 words