Max Ernst

The use of symbols in surrealism and the meaning within these paintings by Max Ernst played a significant influence on the notion of my experimental art making. He was a German painter, sculptor and a graphic artist but also considered as one of the primary pioneers of the Dada and Surrealism movement. They aimed to revolt against everyday reality by exploring the construction of the unconscious mind. By exploring the mind and transforming reality by surveying the desires of the human nature, it allows one to contemplate on the actuality and the realities of our world. Uniquely, Ernst created his own set of techniques such as collage, frottage, grattage, decalcomania and oscillation in order to convey his symbolism of his art making – but it also later incentivized artists such as Jackson Pollock and William De Kooning, revealing his such influence and impact in the art world.

Max Ernst’s work has several dimensions and characteristics, most notably the dubious character of his illustrated worlds that have contributed to the appeal of the audiences. His prime concern was to present irresolvable isolation. As his father inspired his son a penchant for challenging the authority whilst being interested in painting and sketching nature, Ernst was motivated to take up painting himself. Moreover, he studied philosophy and psychology in 1909 at the Bonn University but also later dropped out. Most notably, during the course he visited an asylum and studied the work of the insane, a study inspired by Freud’s theory of the unconsciousness. This proved to be absolutely crucial in his development as an artist and took many ideas incorporated in Freud’s work and used them in order to identify himself – like other surrealists, he used it...

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His father was a devout Catholic and denounced his son’s works. This painting is displayed as rising out of their troubled relationship together but it resists precise analysis. His revolt against his father is highlighted through, “But, dear Father, for what reason are you so opposed to dreams…? It would seem to me that dreams are a bastion against the regularity and familiarity of life and interrupt the perpetual earnestness of adults with a joyous children’s game.”

Overall, Max Ernst, in particular the symbols and meanings that he is able to convey within his works. Moreover, he explored the unconsciousness of a human’s mind reflected through his works as part of the surrealism movement and revolted against the everyday reality of our lives – his primary theme and concerns of our sub-conscious and unconsciousness, in that I aim to explore.