Always slightly ahead of his time, Max Ernst is one of my favourite artists. He was creating drippy paintings long before Pollock and was one of the founders of the Cologne Dada group. There is often a hint of humour in Ernst’s 2D and 3D work, but he had a dark and gloomy side to his art too.
Aquis submersus. 1919. oil on canvas. 54 x 43.8 cm. Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany.
Max Ernst. The Fall of an Angel / La Chute d’un ange. Collage and oil on paper. 44 x 34 cm. Private collection.Max Ernst, La Plus Belle (detail), 1967. Photo: courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery.“Max Ernst Paramyths: Sculpture, 1934–1967” at Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York (installation view). Photo: courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery.“Max Ernst Paramyths: Sculpture, 1934–1967” at Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York (installation view). Photo: courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery.
Every so often, I like to create strange doodles. Some of them have funny little stories too.
A man is drunk and dreaming on a wagon that drifts eternally on the sea – a bat hangs from the moon. 2014Locked away fears fuel grief, drowning and cleansing all to enable them to rescue one another. 2015. J
