Max Ernst in the Würth collection

Exhibition at the Mönchsberg Museum of Modern Art

June 12 – October 3, 2010

Nightmare and Release

The artist, Max Ernst, was a man of books. Books were also his primary form of expression. He wrote artist books and illustrated the texts for his surrealistic artist friends including Paul Eluard and Antonin Artaud.

The exhibition focuses on his prints and cycles, often serving as a basis for his illustrated artist books and rarely shown to this extent at exhibitions. The presentation outlines all of the creative phases in the career of the Dadaist and surrealist, one of the most inspiring and influential artists of the 20th century. His bewildering and disturbing surrealistic paintings influenced generations of artists. The works on display range from his early work in 1921 during the Dada Movement in Cologne, to those following his emigration to the USA in 1941 and works created after his return to France from 1953 to 1976.