Max Ernst - Softcover

Uwe M. Schneede

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0275714802 ISBN 13: 9780275714802

Publisher: Praeger Publishers, 1973

Synopsis

For any proper understanding of twentieth-century art, Max Ernst is essential. No one picture or series of pictures of this, the greatest magician of all the Surrealists, can be taken in isolation as fully representative of the multiplicity of ideas he explored. But in more than 400 illustrations in this book, combined with historical and critical commentaries by Uwe Schneede, we can unravel the distinctive marks of his long and complex evotution: great innovations in tech­nique - in 1919 collage and rubbing, in 1925 frottage and grattage, in 1940 decalcomania, in 1942 drip painting; thema­tic inventiveness, especially in the years 1925-40; intro­spective interludes, seen in such works as Design for a Manifesto (1920) and Paintings for Young People (1940); and astonishing climactic points, single masterpieces central to the history of twentieth-century art, such as The Elephant of the Celebes, Oedipus Rex and The Robing of the Bride. His work evokes, with uncanny accuracy, the hideous premoni­tions of the 1930s, the inexorable power of sexuality, and the secret life (reflected in the human mind) of inanimate nature. Max Ernst has never been at rest, never quite predictable, even in the later, sunnier days of his long life. In his own words, "the fact that he has succeeded in not finding him­self is regarded by Max Ernst as his only 'achievement.'" The works of art that have resulted from this strange non­quest are the subject of this absorbing survey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Praeger Publishers
• Publication date: 1973
• ISBN 10: 0275714802
• ISBN 13: 9780275714802
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 403