Max Ernst biography
Max Ernst, born in Brühl on 2 April 1891 and died in Paris on 1 April 1976, is a famous German artist, naturalized French, considered one of the greatest exponents of the t12>surrealism. Son of the teacher for the deaf Philipp Ernst, Max Ernst approached art from an early age. In 1909, he enrolled at the University of Bonn to study philosophy, psychology and the art of the insane, but soon devoted himself completely to art.
In 1912, Max Ernst founded the group "Das Junge Rheinland " with August Macke, exhibiting for the first time in Cologne. Two years later, he meets Hans Arp , starting a long friendship. During the First World War, despite his military service, he managed to continue painting, exhibiting at the "Der Sturm" gallery.
In 1918, he married Luise Strauss and discovered the work of Giorgio de Chirico, which inspires him deeply. He founded the Dada group W / 3 West Stupidia and organized the first Dada exhibition in Cologne. In 1920, during his second trip to Paris, he was appreciated by critics and began to collaborate with exponents of surrealism such as André Breton and Paul Éluard.
Max Ernst is known for having invented semi-automatic techniques such as frottage, grattage and oscillation. Some examples of these techniques include "Histoire naturelle" (1926) for frottage, "Bird Wedding" (1925), and "The Whole City" (1935 /36) for the grating, and "The Confused Planet" (1942) for the oscillation. He also explored collage and decalcomania, producing significant works such as "La femme 100 têtes" (1929) and "Une semaine de bonté" (1934).
With the rise of Nazism, Max Ernst was labeled a degenerate artist and in 1939 he was arrested by the French. He fled to the United States in 1941, where he married Peggy Guggenheim and, later, the painter Dorothea Tanning. During his stay in America, he experimented with new expressive forms and created important sculptures.