Max Ernst

pseudonym: -

birth data

date of birth: 1891

place of birth: Brühl bei Köln

death data

date of death: 1976

death: Paris

biography

The painter, graphic artist and sculptor Max Ernst was born on 2 April 1891 in Brühl. As the leading representative of the Cologne Dada group and Surrealist painters, Ernst was one of the defining avant-garde artists in the first half of the 20th century. He created enigmatic works with bizarre creatures and fantasy landscapes in paintings, collages and sculptures. He also wrote poems and theoretical essays on art and developed a variety of artistic techniques such as drip painting and, as such, can be seen as a direct precursor of the American Abstract Expressionists. Ernst initially studied philosophy, psychology and art history in Bonn and, at this time, became friendly with August Macke. During World War I he participated at a Dada exhibition in Zurich. In the 1920s Ernst moved to Paris and joined the Surrealist circle of artists. In World War II he escaped from internment in France and sought exile in the USA. In 1948 Ernst was granted American citizenship. It was not until 1953 that he returned to France. In 1961 the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a retrospective of his work and, in the years to follow, he received a number of awards. In 1975 a retrospective was staged at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and at the Grand Palais in Paris. The artist died on 1 April 1976 in Paris.