- 39
Max Ernst
Description
- Max Ernst
- Creatures of the swamp
- Signed max ernst and dated 45 (lower right)
- Oil on canvas
Provenance
Galleria Galatea, Turin
Francesco Grosso, Turin
Sale: Christie's, London, February 4, 2002, lot 81
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Literature
Catalogue Note
The Surrealists, including Max Ernst, instantly found inspiration in this new process. In Creatures of the Swamp, this technique has resulted in a dreamlike, otherworldly composition dominated by plants and fantastical creatures. The unidentifiable organisms that occupy all corners of the canvas appear to be moving and metamorphosing in front of the viewer, and, like the forest theme of the 1920s, this subject can be interpreted as Ernst’s exploration of the unconscious. The dark, nightmarish tone of the depicted world, lying beyond civilization as we know it, is certainly a reflection of the artist's state of mind at the end of the Second World War, which saw him in exile in the United States at the time this work was executed.