
Max Ernst
The Antipope
1941–1942
On view
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Max Ernst
1927
From humorously clinical depictions of erotic events in the Dada period, Max Ernst moved on to celebrations of uninhibited sexuality in his Surrealist works. His liaison and marriage with the young Marie-Berthe Aurenche in 1927 may have inspired the erotic subject matter of this painting and others of this year. The major compositional lines of this work may have been determined by the configurations of string that Ernst dropped on a preparatory surface, a procedure according with Surrealist notions of the importance of chance effects. However, Ernst used a coordinate grid system to transfer his string configurations to canvas, thus subjecting these chance effects to conscious manipulation. The centralized, pyramidal grouping and the embracing gesture of the upper figure in The Kiss have lent themselves to comparison with Renaissance compositions, specifically the Madonna and Saint Anne (1501–1519) by Leonardo da Vinci (Collection Musée National du Louvre, Paris).
Not on View
Artist | Max Ernst |
Original Title | Le Baiser |
Date | 1927 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 129 x 161.2 cm |
Credit line | Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York) |
Accession | 76.2553 PG 71 |
Collection | Peggy Guggenheim Collection |
Type | Painting |
Copy caption
Not on View
Max Ernst
1941–1942
On view
Max Ernst
1927–28
Not on View
Max Ernst
1960
On view
Max Ernst
1935–36
On view