Fanny Brennan; French-Born Surrealist Painter

Fanny Brennan, 80, a painter of miniature surrealist still-lifes, died July 22 in New York City.

Brennan was born in 1921 in Paris, and attended art school there in 1938. She met Dada poet Tristan Tzara, had her portrait drawn by Alberto Giacometti and taught Pablo Picasso how to play Chinese checkers.

Brennan left Paris for New York, where she worked for Harper’s Bazaar magazine and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Her paintings usually were 3 or 4 inches across.