The breathless, fleeing girl with clothing in flames epitomizes Tanning’s surreal narratives. The ambiguity of the half-clothed figure suggests a state of metamorphosis. Her forward thrust is thwarted by a brick wall that swallows her forearms. As in a nightmare. Tanning had fled Paris on the brink of war in 1939, and she returned in 1949 to a devastated city. Despite the possible biographical connection, the meaning of this image is unclear because, as the artist explained, “My work is about the enigmatic, about leaving the door open to imagination.”