Ernst, Composition for Werner Spies (Spies/Leppien 251) (after) 1974

Description

Lithograph on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: Published by M. … more Lithograph on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: Published by M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne; printed by Pierre Chave, Vence, 1974.

MAX ERNST (1891-1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic training, but his experimental attitude toward the making of art resulted in his invention of frottage—a technique that uses pencil rubbings of textured objects and relief surfaces to create images—and grattage, an analogous technique in which paint is scraped across canvas to reveal the imprints of the objects placed beneath. Ernst is noted for his unconventional drawing methods as well as for creating novels and pamphlets using the method of collages. He served as a soldier for four years during World War I, and this experience left him shocked, traumatised and critical of the modern world. During World War II he was designated an "undesirable foreigner" while living in France. Ernst was in the milieu of Picasso, Dali, and Miro. less