About this artwork
In many of the collages that Ernst made at the height of the Dada period, he cannibalised popular, and often outdated, manuals and magazines which were illustrated with engravings of machines, instruments, and appliances. Sometimes his intervention was limited, as here, to one or two additions to the main image, but the absence of any explanatory text released the inherent strangeness and absurdity of the original source. The central importance of bizarre juxtapositions to his collages, the way inanimate objects tend to be endowed with an obvious human presence, and the exploitation of illusions to strengthen the atmosphere of irrationality, are all devices which reflect the direct influence upon Ernst of the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:
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title:Untitled
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date created:1921
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materials:Collage mounted on paper
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measurements:7.20 x 4.40 cm (mount 11.80 x 8.80 cm)
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object type:
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credit line:Bequeathed by Gabrielle Keiller 1995
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accession number:GMA 3971
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Max Ernst
Max Ernst
German-French painter Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany. After studying philosophy at university he turned his attention to art, and became the leader of the Cologne Dada group in 1919. He moved to Paris in 1922 to work with the Surrealists, adapting the techniques of collage and photomontage...