Exhibition of Max Ernst’s books and prints
November 1 through November 23, 2000
Max Ernst’s work is situated between languages and nationalities. Born in the Rhineland, he moved to Paris in his thirties, where he joined a group of like-minded friends. In the early 1940s he fled to the U.S.A to escape the Nazis. Returning to Europe a decade later, he lived variously in Paris and in the south of France. The present exhibition of books and prints reflects an adventuresome life.
Max Ernst is a towering figure in the history of 20th century art whose mind exhibits an astounding mixture of fantasy and vision unprecedented among his contemporaries. His work is wholly devoid of all elements that make for decorative harmony or visual comfort. In general, it tends to disconcert rather than delight. From the very outset he went beyond all the accepted conventions of painting and printmaking. Max Ernst fascinates, captivates and unsettles the mind of the beholder. He consciously strives to achieve this dual effect, which comes as second nature to him: “Painting takes place on two separate yet complementary planes. It evokes both aggressivity and elation.” On another occasion he observed: “A painter may know what he does not want. But once he wants to know what he wants, that will be the end. A painter who finds himself is lost.” Max Ernst claims as his sole “merit” his success in never having found himself.
