The Surrealists: Max Ernst and Joan Miro

1. The Surrealists: Max Ernst and Joan Miro

2. Max Ernst

3. Max Ernst: Early Life • B. 1891 in Brühl, Germany. • Enrolled in the University of Bonn to study philosophy, art history, psychology and literature in 1909 • Decided to become a painter in 1911 • Became involved with the artists surrounding August Macke, an expressionist painter • Exhibited for the first time in 1912 with Macke’s group, Die Rheinischen Expressionisten(The Rhineland Expressionists)

4. Max Ernst: Early L ife (cont.) • Wrote art criticism for the newspaper Volksmund in the summer and fall of 1912 • Enlisted in the Twenty-third Field Artillery Regiment in Koblenz on August 24, 1914. • Served from July 1915 to March 1916 in the artillery division • Suffered minor head and hand injuries • Granted a military leave of absence and exhibited over fifty works in a two man exhibit in January 1916.

5. Dada Years • Exhibit entitled “Max Ernst: George Muche” • Continued to publish articles on art during the war • Married Luise Amelie Straus, an art historian on October 17, 1918 • Settled in Cologne in 1918 • Created and led the Cologne Dada group with Johannes Theodor Baargeld in autumn 1919 • Produced first collages in 1919

6. Ernst in military uniform, c. 1914-1918

7. “Fatagaga” 1920

8. “Le Limacon de Chambre” 1920

9. “Un peu malade le cheval patte pelu..” 1920

10. Dada Years (cont.) • Dada: “A western Europe artistic and literary movement (1916-23) that sought the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional culture and aesthetic forms.” • Cologne Dadaists experimented with photomontage, use of everyday objects as artistic materials, and incoherent juxtapositions • On April 12, 1920 Ernst & Baargeld published Die Schammade, a major publication of the Cologne Dadaists

11. Dada Years (cont.) • Ernst was the center of the Cologne Dada movement, and called himself “Dada Ernst” • Believed that Dada had an honest side under its absurdity • Organized a 1920 exhibit of his collages at the Au Sans Pareil bookstore • In 1920 a Dada exhibit was closed by the Cologne police on grounds of obscenity • The charges were eventually dropped and the exhibit was reopened

12. Dada siegt! 1920

13. New Techniques • Ernst’s son Ulrich was born on June 24, 1920 • Ernst moved to Paris (abandoning his wife and child) in 1922 and began to paint reliefs • Reliefs: “Projections of figures or forms from a flat background, as in sculpture, or the apparent projection of such shapes in a painting or drawing.” • Ernst collaborated with poet Paul Eluard on a book of poetry and collages called “The Misfortunes of the Immortals.” • Book released on July 25, 1922

14. “Au rendez-vous des amis” 1922

15. “Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale.” 1924

18. New Techniques • In the summer of 1925 Ernst perfected his ‘frottage’ technique • In this technique, Ernst first rubbed paper with black lead. • He next applied layers of paint, with the darkest layer last. • Ernst them scraped away the layers to reveal the lightest color.

19. “The Forest,” 1927,-1928

20. Ernst demonstrating his frottage technique, 1963

21. New Techniques • Ernst also employed his own version of Decalcomania developed by surrealist painter Oscar Dominguez. • In this technique, paper or paint was applied to the surface of glass, and then peeled away. • Most surrealists left the spontaneous design untouched, but Ernst modified his pieces to show cities, forests, and animal forms.

22. Later Years • Over the next few years Ernst would experiment with some of his favorite themes: • Torn shapes, bird-people, transfigured forests or cities, apparitions and landscaped of crystals and shells. • Ernst was accused of spying and interned at a camp in Milles, but managed to escape to New York.

23. Later Years (cont.) • While in New York, Ernst contributed to the ‘drip’ style of painting that would be used in the future by abstract expressionists • Ernst lives in Arizona until 1949 with his new wife, Dorothea Tanning • He sculpted and painted deserts with crystalline structures • Ernst accepted a prize in painting from the Venice Biennale in 1954

24. Ernst with wife Dorothea Tanning, 1948

25. Europe After the Rain, 1940-1942

26. Later Years (cont.) • Ernst returned to France in 1953, and by this time had acquired international acclaim • His later work included collages made from everyday objects such as lace, cages, and blowtorches, frottages, and bronze sculptures. • Ernst died on April 1, 1976.