Surreal Saturday: Max Ernst
Max Ernst, by Irish author and photographer Edward Quinn (1920–1997), was published in Paris by Éditions Cercle d'art in 1976. Ernst and Quinn worked very closely together on this book, resulting in a work that is autobiographical, with images of its 400 paintings, collages, prints, and drawings personally approved by Ernst. Additional essays are provided by noted art historians Uwe M. Schneede and Diane Waldman, and by art critic and surrealist specialist Patrick Waldberg.
Max Ernst’s (1891-1976) artistic career can be traced through multiple styles and eras. When he first began to draw, his stylistic expression seemed to take greater inspiration from Expressionism. After fighting in World War I, Ernst, like many German men who had been on the frontline, came back jaded. Following his return home, he became interested in the Dadaist movement that had begun to form in Germany and established the Cologne Dada group with a few of his friends. Although Ernst was born in Germany, the majority of his artistic career was in Paris, France, moving there in 1922 and leaving his wife and son behind. No longer a Dadaist, Ernst became entrenched in the Surrealist movement and today is remembered as one of the leading Surrealist artists in Paris at the time.
Ernst’s style is dreamlike; the surrealist quality of the figures jumps dramatically from the ethereal to the nightmarish. In one painting, a strange creature dances across a desert landscape—in another the crucifixion of Jesus takes place somewhere dark, jagged, and sharp. The images shared here are only a small sample of Ernst’s work, but the variety in what he creates is impressive. In some, he has fragmented his figures into shapes, constructing the painting like building blocks. For others his human figures are realistic but retain the surrealist features that mark them as Ernst classics. Beside paintings, his works also include sculptures, collages, poetry, and prints.
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-Olivia, Special Collections Art History Fieldworker
