If there is one artist who defies all classification, it is Max Ernst. A co-founder the Dada movement in Cologne in 1919, he became associated with the future Surrealists immediately after arriving in Paris in 1922, but he was above all an antiestablishmentarian who constantly questioned his environment and explored the depths of his inner world. From his sense of poetry sprang a proliferation of dazzling images that created a fascinating universe from which reality was excluded.
Collage, which be began to investigate in 1919, offered him an opportunity to make multiple compositions. The frottage and grattage (rubbing and scraping) techniques were an important focus of his work. The improbable creatures and unimaginable cosmic spaces he painted seemed to be contained within the materials themselves.
His dexterity in the use of techniques, the richness of his sources of inspiration and the diversity of his themes all tend to disconcert viewers, who lose their bearings as they are immersed in the artist’s world.
Following an exhibition of the work of Yves Tanguy in 2002, the gallery Malingue is once again demonstrating its attachment to artists linked at various times to the Surrealist movement, which it has been exploring for 40 years. Through these exhibitions, Daniel Malingue plans to bring some lesser-known artists to the attention of the general public.
This is the first show dedicated to Max Ernst to be held in France since the retrospective at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in 1992. The show will include some 40 works from public and private collections, demonstrating the great diversity of the artist’s areas of interest and accomplishments.