859. Max Ernst (1891-1976), German,

A Friends’ Reunion, 1922. Oil on canvas,

130 x 195 cm. Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Pre-Surrealism.

 

 

Max Ernst

(1891 Brühl – 1976 Paris)

 

Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist and poet who is known as one of the founding members of both the Dada and Surrealist movements. He was born in Brühl, Germany and enrolled in the University in Bonn to study philosophy in 1909. He soon abandoned his courses and began painting in that same year, though never received formal artistic training. During World War I he served in the German army, which was a momentous interruption in his career as an artist. He perceived this period as a time when he died and was born again with an alter-ego. After the war he along with artist Jean Arp and political activist, Alfred Grüwald created the Cologne, Germany Dada Group. In 1919, Ernst visited the artist Paul Klee and created numerous paintings, block prints, collages and also experimented with different mixed media. Later in 1922, he joined his fellow Dadaists André Breton, Gala and Tristian Tzara in the artistic community in Paris called Montparnasse. Ernst was later known to create different painting techniques such as “frottage”- where he used pencil rubbings as a source of his images- and “grattage”- where the paint is scraped across the canvas to reveal the objects underneath. While still experimenting with these different techniques he began collaborating with Joan Miró to pioneer more specifically his “grattage” technique. During the same period he also experimented with the decalcomania technique which involved pressing paint between two surfaces. Between 1929 and 1939 he began producing books of collages and soon began distancing himself from the Surrealist Communist group. At the end of World War II Ernst fled to America with Peggy Guggenheim and moved to New York City where, along with fellow European émigré artists, he worked and shared his knowledge and experience with younger American colleagues, thus leaving a profound influence on American Modern art.