Max Ernst: Beyond Painting

The Museum of Modern Art 

September 23, 2017–January 01, 2018

This exhibition surveys the career of the preeminent Dada and Surrealist artist Max Ernst (French and American, born Germany. 1891–1976), with particular emphasis on his ceaseless experimentation. Ernst began his pursuit of radical new techniques that went “beyond painting” to articulate the irrational and unexplainable in the wake of World War I, continuing through the advent and aftermath of World War II.

Featuring approximately 100 works drawn from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition includes paintings that challenged material and compositional conventions; collages and overpaintings utilizing found printed reproductions; frottages (rubbings); illustrated books and collage novels; sculptures of painted stone and bronze; and prints made using a range of techniques.

Several major, multipart projects represent key moments in Ernst’s long career, ranging from early Dada and Surrealist portfolios of the late 1910s and 1920s to his late masterpiece—a recent acquisition to MoMA’s collection

Max Ernst. Folio 10 from 65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Exercise of Astronomy (65 Maximiliana ou l’exercice illégal de l’astronomie). 1964. Illustrated book with twenty‑eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints by Ernst and letterpress typographic designs by Ilia Zdanevich (Iliazd). Page: 16 1/16 × 12 1/16″ (40.8 × 30.7 cm). Publisher: Le Degré 41 (Iliazd), Paris. Printer: Georges Visat. Edition: 65. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of David S. Orentreich, MD, 2015. Photo: Peter Butler. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

—65 Maximiliana, ou l’exercice illégale de l’astronomie (1964). This illustrated book comprises 34 aquatints complemented by imaginative typographic designs and a secret hieroglyphic script of the artist’s own invention.

Max Ernst. Plate I from Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art (Fiat modes pereat ars). c. 1919. One from a portfolio of eight lithographs. Sheet: 17 3/16 x 12 9/16″ (43 x 31.9 cm). Publisher: Schlömilch Verlag, Cologne. Printer: unknown, Cologne. Edition: 60 announced; only a few known sets. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Hat Makes the Man (C’est le chapeau qui fait l’homme). 1920. Gouache, pencil, oil, and ink on cut‑and‑pasted printed paper on paper. 13 7/8 x 17 3/4″ (35.2 x 45.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: Paige Knight. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Gramineous Bicycle Garnished with Bells the Dappled Fire Damps and the Echinoderms Bending the Spine to Look for Caresses (La Biciclette graminée garnie de grelots les grisons grivelés et les échinodermes courbants l’échine pour quêter des caresses). c. 1921. Gouache, ink, and pencil on printed paper on paperboard. 29 1/4 x 39 1/4″ (74.3 x 99.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1937. Photo: Robert Gerhardt. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Woman, Old Man, and Flower (Weib, Greis und Blume). Paris 1923, Eaubonne 1924. Oil on canvas. 38 x 51 1/4″ (96.5 x 130.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1937. Photo: Kate Keller. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale (Deux enfants sont menáces par un rossignol). 1924. Oil on wood with painted wood elements and frame. 27 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 4 1/2″ (69.8 x 57.1 x 11.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase,1937. Photo: Kate Keller. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Wheel of Light (La Roue de la lumière) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle). c. 1925, published 1926. One from a portfolio of 34 collotypes after frottage. Sheet: 12 11/16 × 19 5/8″ (32.3 × 49.8 cm). Publisher: Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris. Printer: unknown. Edition: 300. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of James Thrall Soby, 1959. Photo: Peter Butler. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Rendezvous of Friends ‑ The Friends Become Flowers (Le rendez-vous des amis – Les amis se changent en fleurs). 1928. Oil on canvas. 51 1/8 x 63 3/4″ (129.8 x 161.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Samuel A. Berger and the artist (by exchange), 1973. Photo: Paige Knight. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Birds above the Forest (Oiseaux au-dessus de la forêt). 1929. Oil on canvas. 31 3/4 x 25 1/4″ (80.6 x 64.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Katherine S. Dreier Bequest, 1953. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Butterflies (Papillons). 1931. Cut‑and‑pasted printed and painted paper, cellophane, and pencil on paper. 19 3/4 x 25 1/2″ (50.2 x 65.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Loplop Introduces Members of the Surrealist Group (Loplop présente les membres du groupe surréaliste). 1931. Cut‑and‑pasted gelatin silver prints, cut‑and‑pasted printed paper, pencil, and pencil frottage on paper. 19 3/4 x 13 1/4″ (50.1 x 33.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. One page from Oedipus (Oedipe), Volume IV, from A Week of Kindness or the Seven Capital Elements (Une Semaine de bonté ou les sept éléments capitaux). 1933–34, published 1934. Line block after collage, from a five-volume serial novel with 182 line blocks after collages. Page: 10 3/4 x 8 1/16″ (27 x 20.5 cm). Publisher: Éditions Jeanne Bucher, Paris. Printer: Georges Duval, Paris. Edition: 812. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1964. Photo: Robert Gerhardt. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Bird‑Head (Oiseau-tête). 1934‑35. Bronze. 20 5/8 x 15 x 10 3/8″ (52.4 x 38 x 27.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the James Thrall Soby Bequest, 1983. Photo: Thomas Griesel. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Napoleon in the Wilderness. 1941. Oil on canvas. 18 1/4 x 15″ (46.3 x 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase and exchange, 1942. Photo: Thomas Griesel. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Blind Swimmer (Nageur aveugle). 1934. Oil on canvas. 36 3/8 x 29″ (92.3 x 73.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mrs. Pierre Matisse and the Helena Rubenstein Fund,1968. Photo: Mali Olatunji. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The King Playing with the Queen (Le roi jouant avec la reine). 1944 (cast 1954). Bronze. Overall: 38 1/2 x 33 x 20 1/2″ (97.8 x 83.8 x 52.1 cm); 20 1/2 x 18 1/2″ (52.1 x 47 cm) at base. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of D. and J. de Menil, 1955. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.