German painter Max Ernst was born in 1891 in Brühl near Colonge. As one of the leading Surrealists his works include collaging, painting, sculpturing and printmaking. Ernst was self taught and never received any formal artistic training. He studied philosophy and psychiatry at Bonn University from 1910-1914 and this is where he took a keen interest in painting. Ernst was a soldier in the First World War and when he returned he was deeply traumatised and had his own strong views on Western culture.
He was an innovative artist, which liked to shock and provoke his audience, with an interest in dreamlike fantasy imagery that mocked the behaviour and beliefs of society. Ernst discovered the technique of frottage (rubbing), which gave him the opportunity to create hallucinatory visions. After the war he saw the modern world as irrational, which was an idea that became the basis of his artwork. This vision combined with his humour is shown in his Dada and surrealistic works. He actively took part in the Surrealist movement, founded the Colonge Dada group in 1919-1921 with Arp and Baargeld and became a pioneer of both movements. Ernst was awarded the main painting prize at the 1954 Venice Biennale. He moved to America in 1941 where he worked and lived until 1950 when he moved back to France. This is where he mainly lived until he died in Paris at the age of 84 in 1976.
This collaged piece of work called “ The Postman Cheval (Le Facteur Cheval)” was created in 1932. It is part of the Peggy Guggenheim collection. Ernst has produced this collage using paper and fabric as well as ink and gouache on paper. The composition is interesting and well balanced mainly made up by three rectangular shapes. The largest rectangle looks like a wall hanging containing small cut out circles showing a portrait, flowers and what looks like silk clothing. The striped background creates movement in an otherwise flat surface. There is a family portrait in a partly ripped envelope, which only shows a small part of the image. This evokes the viewer’s curiosity, making them want to see more. The section at the bottom left helps balance the piece and could be interpreted as a sunset. The circular shape closely links and has been repeated from other parts of the piece. Ernst’s keen interest in birds is reflected in the dark blue section of the piece and it includes and image of what seems to be a piece of coral, representing the sea. The use of gouache paint gives the piece a heavier and more opaque look and makes the colours appear more reflective. Ernst has used a successful combination of both warm, earthy colours and cold shades of blue. The tones of colours come across as dull giving the piece a dated look, which is also emphasised by the creased looking background in the main rectangle. It could be said that the message behind this piece could be Ernst’s way of letting the viewers share part of his life story through a selection of images personal to him.
The way he has created this piece only showing small parts of different images has inspired me to consider how to engage the viewers by highlighting small important details within my own collages.
Image Lab Madeleine Page 