Max Ernst: Experimentation

Max Ernst - Summer Night in Arizona - 1944 - Oil on canvas - 11 x 17 in. - Gift of Mrs. Julien Levy, 1983.1507 - Art Institute of Chicago (click photo for larger image)German born painter Max Ernst (1891-1976) spent most of his life in France, creating both Dada and Surrealist works. Ernst one of the leading advocates of irrationality in art, and an originator of the Automatism movement of Surrealism. Automatism--a technique used for exploring the creative force of the unconscious in art was begun by the Surrealist poets, who tried writing in a hypnotic, trancelike state. The technique was heavily influence by Freudian theory--and eventually was explored by visual artists.