Max Ernst
Max Ernst | |
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A Week of Kindness (1934) | |
Movement | Dada, Surrealism |
Spouses | Marie-Berthe Aurenche
(m. 1927–1942) |
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Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker,
Ernst was born in Brühl. He began painting in 1909 while studying at the University of Bonn, and later joined the Die Rheinischen Expressionisten group of artists. Ernst's work often featured ironic juxtapositions of grotesque elements with
Early life
Max Ernst was born in
In 1912, he visited the Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne, where works by
In 1914, Ernst met
Dada and surrealism
In 1918, Ernst was demobilised and returned to Cologne. He soon married art history student Luise Straus, of
Ernst and Luise's son
Although apparently accepting the ménage à trois, Éluard eventually became more concerned about the affair. In 1924, he abruptly left, first for
In 1925, Ernst invented a graphic art technique called
Ernst developed a fascination with birds that was prevalent in his work. His alter ego in paintings, which he called
World War II and later life
In September 1939, the outbreak of World War II caused Ernst, being German, to be interned as an "undesirable foreigner" in Camp des Milles, near Aix-en-Provence, along with fellow Surrealist, Hans Bellmer, who had recently emigrated to Paris. He had been living with his lover and fellow Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington who, not knowing whether he would return, saw no option but to sell their house to repay their debts and leave for Spain. Thanks to the intercession of Paul Éluard and other friends, including the journalist Varian Fry, he was released a few weeks later. Soon after the German occupation of France, he was arrested again, this time by the Gestapo but managed to escape and flee to America with the help of Peggy Guggenheim, a member of a wealthy American art collecting family, and Fry.[12] Ernst and Peggy Guggenheim arrived in the United States in 1941 and were married at the end of the year.[13] Along with other artists and friends (Marcel Duchamp and Marc Chagall) who had fled from the war and lived in New York City, Ernst helped inspire the development of Abstract expressionism.[14][15]
His marriage to Guggenheim did not last and in
Legacy
Ernst's son
Max Ernst's life and career are examined in Peter Schamoni's 1991 documentary Max Ernst. Dedicated to the art historian Werner Spies, it was assembled from interviews with Ernst, stills of his paintings and sculptures, and the memoirs of his wife Dorothea Tanning and son Jimmy. The 101-minute German film was released on DVD with English subtitles by Image Entertainment.
The Max Ernst Museum opened in 2005 in his home town Brühl, Germany. It is housed in a late-classicist 1844 building integrated with a modern glass pavilion. The historic ballroom was once a popular social venue visited by Ernst in his youth. The collection spans 70 years of his career including paintings, drawings, frottages, collages, nearly the entire lithographic works, over 70 bronze sculptures. and more than 700 documents and photographs by Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lee Miller, and others. The core of the collection dates back to 1969 with works donated to the City of Brühl by the artist. Thirty-six paintings, gifts from the artist to his fourth wife Dorothea Tanning, are on permanent loan from the Kreissparkasse Köln. Some noteworthy works include the sculptures The King playing with the Queen (1944) and Teaching Staff for a School of Murderers (1967). The museum also host temporary exhibitions by other artist.[20]
The Menil Collection, in Houston, Texas houses a significant collection of surrealist art including well over 100 pieces by Max Ernst. Notable paintings include In Praise of Freedom (1926), Loplop Presents Loplop (1930), Day and Night (1941–1942), Surrealism and Painting (1942), Euclid (1945), A Swarm of Bees in the Palais de Justice (1960), The Marriage of Heaven and Earth (1964). Ernst's work in the Menil Collection is typically exhibited a few pieces at a time along with other surrealist art in the collection on a rotating basis.[21]
Exhibitions, retrospectives, and honors
- Venice Biennale, Venice (1954), received Grand Prize for Painting
- Musée National d'Art Moderne Paris (1959), awarded the Grand Prix national des arts
- Museum of Modern Art, New York (1961)
- Tate Gallery, London (1962)
- Kunsthaus Zürich (1963)
- Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1969)
- A retrospective of 104 works spanning the years 1920–1968, drawn entirely from the The Art Institute of Chicago, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). The opening of the exhibition in Paris was augmented with 44 pieces from various collations and opened on 2 April 1971, Max Ernst's 80th birthday.[22]
- In 2005, "Max Ernst: A Retrospective" opened at the grattage, involving scratching at the surface of a painting; and decalcomania, which involves altering a wet painting by pressing a second surface against it and taking it away.[23]
- Dada is Dada retrospective group exhibition at Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden, running from 17 November 2017 to 20 May 2018.[24]
Documentary images
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Opening of the Max Ernst exhibition at the gallery Au Sans Pareil, May 2, 1921. Left to right: René Hilsum, Benjamin Péret, Serge Charchoune, Philippe Soupault (top of the ladder), Jacques Rigaut (upside down), André Breton and Simone Kahn-Breton
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Cover of Répétitions (1922) by Paul Éluard, with illustrations by Max Ernst
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"Les Fusains": 22, rue Tourlaque, 18th arrondissement of Paris where Max Ernst established a studio in 1925
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Three bronze sculptures: left to right: Large Frog (1967), Turtle (1944), and The Spirit of the Bastille (1961), Lenbachhaus, Munich
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Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, Germany (photo 2004)
Selected works
Early work, Germany (1891–1922)
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First French period (1922–1940)
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American period (1941–1952)
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Second French period (1953–1976)
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Prints, collages, and illustrations
- Illustrations for books by Paul Éluard: Répétitions (1922), Les malheurs des immortels (1922), Au défaut du silence (1925)
- Histoire Naturelle (ca. 1925–1926), a set of 34 collotypes after frottages
- La femme 100 têtes (1929, graphic novel)
- Rêve d'une petite fille qui voulut entrer au carmel (1930, graphic novel)
- Une Semaine de Bonté(1934, graphic novel)
- Illustrations for editions of works by Lewis Carroll: Symbolic Logic (1966, under the title Logique sans peine), The Hunting of the Snark (1968), and Lewis Carrols Wunderhorn (1970, an anthology of texts)
- Deux Oiseaux (1970, lithograph in colours)
- Aux petits agneaux (1971, lithographs)
- Paysage marin avec capucin (1972, illustrated book with essays by various authors)
- Maximiliana: the illegal practice of astronomy : hommage à Dorothea Tanning (1974, art book)
- Oiseaux en péril (1975, etchings with aquatint in colours; published posthumously)
See also
- List of German painters
- Transatlantic (portrayal in 2023 TV series)
Notes
- ^ Max Ernst working in decalcomania is shown in the 1978 documentary on the Dada and Surrealist art movement, Europe After the Rain.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "MAX ERNST". Kasmin Gallery. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Spies et al. 2005, pp. 285–286.
- ^ a b "The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ Ernst et al. 1991, p. 56.
- ^ Spies et al. 2005, p. xiv.
- ^ Warlick 2001, p. 83.
- ^ Ernst et al. 1991, p. 128.
- ^ "Atelier 17: Europe and the Early Years". Swann Galleries News. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ Ernst et al. 1991, p. 285.
- ^ Image: The Blessed Virgin Chastises the Infant Jesus Before Three Witnesses: A.B., P.E. and the Artist
- ^ Flint, Lucy. "The Kiss (Le Baiser)". Guggenheim Collection. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015.
- ^ a b Olga's Gallery. "Max Ernst biography".
- ^ Iyengar, Rishi (6 April 2015). "New Google Doodle Honors Surrealist Painter Leonora Carrington". Time. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ "Max Ernst: German Painter and Sculptor". theartstory.
- ^ "Max Ernst". Ordovasart.
- ^ Flint, Peter B. (21 January 1991). "Juliet Man Ray, 79, The Artist's Model And Muse, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ Waldman 1975, p. [page needed].
- ^ "Max Ernst 1891–1976". Tate Etc.
- ^ "Max Ernst". www.historyofcreativity.com.
- ^ Max Ernst Museum, Brühl, Germany (accessed 11 February 2021)
- ^ The Menil Collection: Surrealism (accessed 11 February 2021)
- ^ Hofmann, Schmied & Spies 1973, p. [page needed].
- ^ "A Max Ernst Retrospective Opens Today in NY". Art+Auction. 7 April 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "DADA IS DADA". Bildmuseet. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017.
- ^ (15 March 2019). Max Ernst. A beautiful day, (1948). artdesigncafe.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
Works cited
- Ernst, Max; Metken, Sigrid; Schneede, Uwe M.; von Maur, Karin; Wilson, Sarah (1991). Spies, Werner (ed.). Max Ernst: A Retrospective. Prestel. ISBN 978-3-7913-1140-1.
- Hofmann, Werner; Schmied, Wieland; Spies, Werner (1973). Max Ernst: Inside the Sight. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-914412-06-9.
- Spies, Werner; Derenthal, Ludger; Gaehtgens, Thomas; Storr, Robert; Karmel, Pepe; Heroy, Catherine (2005). Spies, Werner; Rewald, Sabine (eds.). Max Ernst: A Retrospective. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-300-10718-0.
- Waldman, Diane (1975). Max Ernst: A Retrospective. New York: Guggenheim Museum (NY).
- Warlick, M. E. (15 March 2001). Max Ernst and Alchemy: A Magician in Search of Myth. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-79136-7.
Further reading
- John Russell. Max Ernst: life and work (New York, H.N. Abrams, 1967) OCLC 2034599
- OCLC 54157692
- Max Ernst Books and Graphic Works. Institut fur Auslandsbeziehungen, 1977.
- Legge, Elizabeth M. (1989). Max Ernst: The Psychoanalytic Sources. UMI Research Press.
- David Hopkins. Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst: The Bride Shared (Oxford, 1998).
- William Camfield. Max Ernst Dada and the Dawn of Surrealism (MoMA, 1993).
External links
- Max Ernst at the Museum of Modern Art
- Max Ernst, A Retrospective, The Metropolitain Museum of Art
- Paintings in Museums and Public Art Galleries Worldwide, Artcyclopedia
- Works in the National Galleries of Scotland
- Max Ernst in American public collections, on the French Sculpture Census website