I have always had an interest in art, both in creating and looking at art. A challenge many face when creating art is what exactly to paint, it can be difficult to come up with ideas and in reality, it becomes more difficult when you are actively trying to think of ideas. Surrealism is a form of art that doesn’t really have this issue, you do not need to think with your conscious mind to generate ideas, but rather create from your subconscious. One of the most influential surrealists is Max Ernst.
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was born near Cologne, Germany in 1891. His father introduced him to painting from a very young age and taught him much about painting. He studied philosophy in college but dropped out to focus on painting. Ernst was forced into the German army during WWI; in the war, he was subject to much of the horrors and trauma that come with war. These traumatic experiences caused Ernst to view the world in its absurdity which greatly contributed to his surrealistic works. Another source of inspiration for Ernst was the works of Sigmund Freud. Freud's ideas about the subconscious are a common tool for surrealists and Ernst was one of the first to employ his ideas in artwork.
The Triumph of Surrealism (1937)
Ernst gained quite a reputation for his works, especially during his time in France and the US post-WWI; he gained this reputation due to his art being unlike anything they had seen before. A prime example of this is his painting The Triumph of Surrealism. When looking at this painting it is evident that it is a depiction of something alive, and that is about all you get from it. Ernst painted this as a response to the chaos and ruin fascism has been bringing to Europe through the numerous wars. The creature is actually an angel according to Ernst and he did this to force audiences to question their notion of what is right. It also forces audiences to see it as not an angel of hope, but one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, that being the angel of death. One can see how Ernst's experiences in the war have influenced his art here. There is the fact that its subject matter is that of war, but the way he depicts chaos is extremely intriguing. His ability to depict chaos without overt symbolism is really only something that can be done by one who has experienced it firsthand. Creating a work of art like this would be almost impossible to do completely consciously and intentionally, it is so abstract and absurd that it must come from somewhere other than the conscious mind.
At the First Clear Word (1923)
Ernst applied Freud’s theories about dreams and the unconscious mind to himself and his art. He tried to separate any conscious effort to create something and instead tried to allow his inner psyche to be expressed. This process of creating his art without much conscious effort allows for his art to express exactly what he feels about the subject matter even if he himself doesn’t understand it. This was seen in The Triumph of Surrealism and another example of this is At the First Clear Word. This is a great example of Ernst’s application of Freud’s psychoanalytic theories, the composition of this painting is very odd. It features a hand reaching through a wall with fingers unnaturally crossed holding a red ball; it also features a bug and two identical trees. This painting makes absolutely no sense and often times that is the essence of surrealism. It doesn’t have to make sense because it comes from one's unconscious. To further help himself remove any conscious process Ernst used a process where he would place a piece of paper over some textured surface and rub it with a pencil to create an abstract starting point. This allowed him to have no intentional starting point which only further allowed him to use his unconscious mind.
The use of the unconscious mind is a practice many still use today; often times one isn’t even aware of the fact they are looking into their unconscious. A great example of this is Nick Cave. In an interview with Cave, he talks about how his music comes from a sort of intuitive place. He further begins to describe this intuition in more detail. He describes it as a place that cannot be summoned, a place that is separate from your imagination and the rational world. He calls it an impossible realm, a place where glimpses into what is beyond our understanding and what is normal and possible. This realm sounds very similar to the unconscious mind, Cave is basically trying to separate any conscious effort in creating music and letting this impossible state of mind do the work for him. This is exactly how Ernst created his paintings.
Creating art is always a difficult process and trying to figure out what to paint can be an even more difficult process. I used to struggle a lot with what to paint which would often lead me to just not paint anything at all, this was extremely demotivating. I would spend so much time trying to think of some grand thought-provoking idea which inevitably led to nothing. Taking inspiration from Ernst and other surrealists has allowed me to just paint whatever. My art has no real meaning and I think that’s ok. My art is nowhere near the likes of Ernst but applying his process has allowed me to make art again. So if you ever struggle with what to paint, sometimes you just need to stop thinking so much and just let whatever happens on your canvas happen.
Sources:
https://www.thehistoryofart.org/max-ernst/at-the-first-clear-word/
https://www.moma.org/artists/1752
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/ernst-max/
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