Max Ernst

Max Ernst, Cards, Edition 75/150, 7 x 5 inches

Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalized) 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, traumatized and critical of the modern world. During World War II he was designated an "undesirable foreigner" while living in France.

Max Ernst

1891 - 1976

Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA