Max Ernst PDF
Preview Max Ernst
' -^'y. ," i-.'. »- P ^ - p^/^^ / Si fl / i H&>l Mfl ^fl 'Jlil 1 1 s 1 ig >i^- i \r^y^ :^H^^ £==^ ._""' ^^ ^ftBS^^5m jj~"r-. >•»'l[<"— ' "~~"* •-^^-«!2 mS^^S-^1 i^ —jr "- ^gH 1 l^g^ BY GASTON DIEHL 'Wv. CC^TC C^l//N>J The Q.L.P. Art Series MAX ERNST bv Gaston Diehl Despite the fact that Max Ernst has long been regarded by his peers as a major trailblazer in research into the subconscious, a pioneer of oneiric art, and a prince of the kingdom of the bizarre, neither in France nor in the United States has he received the general public acclaim he deserves. Only in the past decade has this imfortunate lack ofunderstanding finally evap- orated, and his work, which has always been appreciated by a few friends and faithful collec- toi~s, is now enjoying a imiversal \ogue, as is evidenced by numerous international exhibitions. The authorof this book has already had occasion to consider similar situations, and towrite studies of Picasso, Modigliani, and Pascin. Now he enthusiastically and lucidly examines the work of Max Ernst, surveying the phases in the career of this great creative artist, his major role in the flowering of a pictorial Surrealism which he initiated with the sure hand of the master, and the numerous difficulties he encountered. He carefully recalls and emphasizes the impor- tance of the artist's German origins and the remarkable state of development he had already attained before his arrival in Paris. In the French capital he was able to benefit from his surroundings and to integrate and develop his numerous experiments with various art forms. In particular, the author shows that with his genius and his gift for prophecy the artist has always been ahead of his time, even in the United States, despite the frequently difficult \icissitudes he has known. This constantly ap- parent mastery is evidence of his exceptional gifts and his profound sense of irony, which have rendered him such excellent service in every phase of the plastic arts and poetry. Thanks to the selection and the quality of the reproductions complementing the text, this book is the best possible vehicle for making Ernst's work,with itsdifficult and sometimes unexpected aspects, truly accessible to the general public. 54 paintings in color II drawings and sculptures in black and white Front cover illustration: The Anger of the Red Man, 1927 Oil, 32" X 391/2" Collection Marcel Mahille, Brussels Back cover illustration: Children Playing the Astronauts Oil, 35" X 46" Private Collection CROWN PUBLISHERS, Inc. 419 Park Avenue South, New York, N.\. 10016 MAX ERNST 'WvCi^J^ C^i/VvJ /^CV- miauth^ by Gaston Diehl CROWN PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK - Tide page: Portrait of Max Ernst by Bemmel Translated from the French by: Eileen B. Hennessy Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-84222 ISBN: 0-517-500043 Printed in Italy Industrie Grafiche Cattaneo - Bergamo - © 1973 by Pallas Script Agency S.A. Naefels, Suisse All Rights in the U.S.A. are reserved by Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, N.Y. Sea-Shells, 1927 Frottage and Oil 16" X 25Va" Collection Alexander lolas New York, Paris, Geneva, Milano A recognition too long delayed I have always retained a vivid and precise recollection of the work of Max Ernst, with which I became acquainted on the eve of the Second World War. Later conversa- tions with Eluard and especially with Desnos had often revived this recollection, whether it was a question of his sets for the production of « Ubu enchaine » staged by Sylvain Itkine in 1937 at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees, his participation in the International Surrealist Exhibition in January 1938 in the Faubourg Saint-Honore, or his collages for Histoire Naturelle or Une Semaine de Bonte, which Jeanne Bucher kindly offered to show me during my visits to her gallery, where I had also seen a small collection of his paintings and sculptures, together with bindings by Rose Adler. — From then on, certain titles and images which had literally fa—scinated me In the Stable of the Sphinx, He WJio Escaped, The Court of the Dragon had become so fixed in my memory that many years later I rediscovered them, intact and almost obses- sive. Then I was convinced: such an artist compelled recognition, with an obviousness which admitted of no discussion. The Conjugal Diamonds Yrottage «Histoire Naturelle» .^A./ '^ ^S^- T^e Origin of the Pendulum Frottage «Histoire Naturelle» However, things did not happen as one might have expected. First came the suc- c-ession of events on the international scene, of which the artist was the unfortunate victim, and which kept him away from Paris until 1953. Then, the pubUc and some- times the critics remained cool to him for a long time and, the artist admits, turned most of the exhibitions organized in his honor during this long period in the United States, France, and Germany into failures. What is the reason for such an unexpected estrangement? So manv of those who were directly or indirectly involved in the conflict and suffered from its horrors are tempted, in a kind of reaction, to reject works that accuse and overwhelm them with their own responsibilit\'. So many, too, seeking peace and quiet, mereh' turn awa\' from works which seem to them disconcerting, cruel, and full of anxiet^' and irony. EspecialK" in France, the wave of guilt feeUngs which submerged our ci\'ilization as it emerged from the agony readily attacked the Expressionists and Surreahsts for ha\"ing been the first to denounce the e\ils which that civilization ultimate- ly discovered for itself but sought to forget as soon as possible. The triumphal flower- ing first of geometric abstraction and then of lyrical abstraction seemed to occur just in time to fulfill the \\ishes of artistic circles, to affirm a reasoned hope in wfiich logic has its place, and to lead ^raduallv to a collective language while allowing ever\- individual the desired exteriorization and, as a consequence, facilitating the exaltation of the en- croaching mechanization. Despite the confusion and fundamental dogmatism blinding many minds, a turn- ing point came in favor of Max Ernst in 19>3, in Knokke Het Zoute and Cologne. However, the artist \\as obliged to w^ait for the next stages of a recognition which was so unjustly belated in comparison with many others: — 1954 His participation in the \^enice Biennial won him the first prize for painting, but condemned him to a renewal of the abusive tirades of fiis former comrades. — 1955 The \erA thorough study of his work published by Patrick W'aldberg fortunately filled an almost inexplicable gap, and the country in which he had been hving since 1922 finally decided to confer upon him the richlv deser\ed rights of full citizenship. — 1959 The cit)- of Paris decided to pay him solemn tribute at the Musee National d'A—rt Modenie, an action which was imitated shortlv thereafter by other capitals and cities New York, London, Cologne, and Zurich. — 1971 In celebration of his eightieth birthday, a retrospective traveled to the major cities on both sides of the Atlantic. One is obhged to admit that it was high time to make amends for past errors! However, it must be said that the reser\-ations and rejections of this society were in part well founded, insofar as it felt by impUcation that it was the target, that it was being disparaged and unmasked by the work of this artist who, as we shall see, has always had the admirable abiht\- to tuni the resources of sculpture and poetry to good account in order to reexamine continualh" the established order and demand, with a prophetic clair\oyance, the most exigent and total freedom.
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