La Ville Petrifiee (The Petrified City)

Max Ernst 1891 - 1976

Summary

An abstracted urban landscape comprising of textured, patterned 'grattage' rectangles piled one upon the other beneath a large, pale full moon. The patterns are created by pressing painted paper over a textured surface and then scraping away the paint in layers.

Display Label

The Petrified City 1933 Max Ernst 1891 - 1976 Oil on paper stuck down on board The Petrified City captures the anxiety of Europe between the World Wars. Many critics have commented on the fact that this painting was created in the year that Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Civilisation abandoned to the forces of nature is a common theme in earlier German painting. This painting was created using 'frottage', a technique where Ernst took rubbings from everyday textured surfaces like floorboards. The strong element of accident and chance in this appealed to Surrealist artists such as Ernst who wanted to bypass reason and planning in art in order to release the power of the subconscious. Purchased 1955.112