Max Ernst and Alchemy (Paperback)

M.E. Warlick

ISBN 10: 0292791364 / ISBN 13: 9780292791367

Published by University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 2001

About this Item

Paperback. Surrealist artist Marx Ernst defined collage as the "alchemy of the visual image". Students of his work have often dismissed this comment as simply a metaphor for the transformative power of using found images in a new context. Taking a wholly different perspective on Ernst and alchemy, however, the author persuasively demonstrates that the artist had a profound and abiding interest in alchemical philosophy and often used alchemical symbolism in works created throughout his career. A revival of interest in alchemy swept the artistic, psychoanalytic, historical, and scientific circles of th elate 19th and early 20th centuries, and the author sets Ernst's work squarely within this movement. Looking at both his art (many of the works she discusses are reproduced in the book) and his writings, she reveals how thoroughly alchemical philosophy and symbolism pervade his early Dadaist experiments, his foundational work images in surrealism, and his many collages and paintings of women and landscapes, whose images exemplify the alchemical fusing of opposites.This pioneering research adds an essential key to understanding the multilayered complexity of Ernst's works, as if affirms his standing as one of Germany's most significant artists of the 20th century. Surrealist artist Max Ernst defined collage as the 'alchemy of the visual image'. This book demonstrates that the artist had a profound and abiding interest in alchemical philosophy and often used alchemical symbolism in works created throughout his career. It helps you understand a multilayered complexity of Ernst's works. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780292791367

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Max Ernst and Alchemy (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin, TX
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0292791364
• ISBN 13: 9780292791367
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Surrealist artist Max Ernst defined collage as the "alchemy of the visual image." Students of his work have often dismissed this comment as simply a metaphor for the transformative power of using found images in a new context. Taking a wholly different perspective on Ernst and alchemy, however, M. E. Warlick persuasively demonstrates that the artist had a profound and abiding interest in alchemical philosophy and often used alchemical symbolism in works created throughout his career.

A revival of interest in alchemy swept the artistic, psychoanalytic, historical, and scientific circles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Warlick sets Ernst's work squarely within this movement. Looking at both his art (many of the works she discusses are reproduced in the book) and his writings, she reveals how thoroughly alchemical philosophy and symbolism pervade his early Dadaist experiments, his foundational work in surrealism, and his many collages and paintings of women and landscapes, whose images exemplify the alchemical fusing of opposites. This pioneering research adds an essential key to understanding the multilayered complexity of Ernst's works, as it affirms his standing as one of Germany's most significant artists of the twentieth century.

About the Author

M. E. Warlick is Professor of European Modern Art at the University of Denver.