Max Ernst

Untitled

previous next

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In many of the collages that Ernst made at the height of the Dada period, he cannibalised popular, and often outdated, manuals and magazines which were illustrated with engravings of machines, instruments, and appliances.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
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Tell us what you think.

Max Ernst

Max Ernst