Max Ernst was born in Brühl south of Cologne, Germany in 1891. He was part of a family with 9 children in total. His father teached the deaf and was an amateur painter. Max was inspired by his father to paint. In 1909 he went to the University of Bonn (Germany) to learn about philosophy, art history, psychology and psychiatry. He became influenced by art of mentally ill patients he met in mental asylums.
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| Feldarbeit an der Parkmauer in Brühl - 1912 |
His first paintings were made in the garden of Brühl caste and portraits of his sister and himself. He joined the "Die Rheinischen Expressionisten" group of artists. And around 1912 his work was based on Cubism and Expressionism inspired by Picasso, Van Gogh and Gauguin. In 1912 he finished his studies at the University but then World War I was there and he was sent to the front where he managed to continue painting when he was assigned to chart maps. Some German expressionists died at World War I at the front including: August Macke and Franz Marc.
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| Woman, Old Man and Flower Femme - 1923 |
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| Loplop presents André Breton 1930 |
When the World War I ended he returned to Cologne and married Luise Straus. She was an art history student and Jewish. Their marriage lasted only a year. In 1919 he met Paul Klee and was inspred by the works of Giorgio de Chirico. He started working on collages collaborating with Johannes Theodor Baargeld to publish magazines and organised Dada exhibitions. More collaborations followed with Paul Éluard and André Breton. He moved to Paris leaving his wife and son and started living with Paul Eluard and his wife Gala. By 1923 Max started painting murals. In 1924 the three started traveling to Saigon, Vietnam and then Max alone traveled through South East Asia. At the end of 1924 Max returned to Paris and was given a full time painting contract by Jacques Viot. In 1925 he established a painting studio and invented a graphic art technique called frottage. The next year he collaborated with Joan Miró on designs for Sergei Diaghilev. Ernst developed a fascination with birds which was prevalent in his work. He painted himself as a bird called Loplop. For example in his work "Loplop presents André Breton".
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| At the First Clear Word - 1923 |
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| The Virgin Chastises the infant Jesus before Three Witnesses - 1926 |
His painting from 1926 called "The Virgin Chastises the infant Jesus before Three Witnesses: André Breton, Paul Éluard, and the Painter" led to controversy. In 1927 he married Marie-Berthe Aurenche who became an inspiration for his works like "The Kiss".
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| The Kiss - 1927 |
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| The Angel of the home or the Triumph of Surrealism - 1937 |
In 1938 the rich American art collector Peggy Guggenheim bought a number of Max Ernst's works, which she displayed in her gallery in London. In september 1939 he was arrested when World War II broke out for being an "undesirable foreigner". By the help of Paul Éluard and other friends including journalist Varian Fry he was released a few weeks later. Then he was arrested again. This time by the Gestapo but managed to escape to America with the help of Fry and Peggy Guggenheim. He lived in New York with artists like Marcel Duchamp and Marc Chagall who became friends and also left Europe because of World War II. There he developed abstract expressionism.
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| The eye of silence - 1943 |
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Untitled - 1970
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| Capricorn - 1948 |
Ernst and Guggenheim were married from 1941 to 1946. In October 1946 he married American surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning. They lived together in Sedona, Arizona from 1946 to 1953 where the desert landscapes inspired them. A book about Max was released and he created his masterpiece sculpture "Capricorn" which led to financial success. He started living in France again around 1954. He died at the age of 84 on the 1st of April 1976 in Paris and is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
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| Drawing for Paul Éluard's book Repetitions -1922 |
