Prehistoric Future

Ubl, Ralph

ISBN 10: 0226823725 / ISBN 13: 9780226823720

Published by The University of Chicago Press, 2013

About this Item

One of the most admired artists of the twentieth century, Max Ernst was a proponent of Dada and founder of surrealism, known for his strange, evocative paintings and drawings. This title reveals, Ernst was interested in the construction and phenomenology of both collective and individual modern history and memory. Translator(s): Tucker, Elizabeth. Num Pages: 248 pages, 4 color plates, 60 halftones. BIC Classification: ACXD7; AFC; AGB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 254 x 178 x 25. Weight in Grams: 885. . 2013. Hardback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780226823720

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Prehistoric Future
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226823725
• ISBN 13: 9780226823720
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

One of the most admired artists of the twentieth century, Max Ernst was a proponent of Dada and founder of surrealism, known for his strange, evocative paintings and drawings. In Prehistoric Future, Ralph Ubl approaches Ernst like no one else has, using theories of the unconscious—surrealist automatism, Freudian psychoanalysis, the concept of history as trauma—to examine how Ernst’s construction of collage departs from other modern artists.
 
Ubl shows that while Picasso, Braque, and Man Ray used scissors and glue to create collages, Ernst employed techniques he himself had forged—rubbing and scraping to bring images forth onto a sheet of paper or canvas to simulate how a screen image or memory comes into the mind’s view. In addition, Ernst scoured the past for obsolete scientific illustrations and odd advertisements to illustrate the rapidity with which time passes and to simulate the apprehension generated when rapid flows of knowledge turn living culture into artifact. Ultimately, Ubl reveals, Ernst was interested in the construction and phenomenology of both collective and individual modern history and memory. Shedding new light on Ernst’s working methods and the reasons that his pieces continue to imprint themselves in viewers’ memories, Prehistoric Future is an innovative work of critical writing on a key figure of surrealism.

About the Authors

Ralph Ubl is professor of art history at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

 Elizabeth Tucker translates German with a specialization in the history and theory of art and architecture. Recent books include Las Vegas in the Rearview Mirror and Cindy Sherman: The Early Works, 1975–1977: Catalogue Raisonnée. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.