From August 31 to November 3, 1996, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is exhibiting the Lufthansa Collection of prins and books by Surrealist artist Max Ernst.
Max Ernst was born in Germany in 1891. He later emigrated to France and then to America. He was a leading exponent od both Dada and Surrealist movements in Europe between the world wars. In December 1941 he was married to Peggy Guggenheim, his third wife. He died in Paris in 1976. He is internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of this century.
The exhibition provides the most comprehensive survey to date of his printed and graphic work.
The early lithographs of the 1920s, the arcane world of the collage books of the 30s, amd the important livres d'artiste of Max Ernst later years offer the visitor an insight into his highly inventive graphic techniques based on etching, frottage, photogram and collage.
The exhibits cover the period from 1919 to 1974, and have been brought together as a part of the German airline's cultural program by Werner Spies, a friend of Max Ernst and a leading authority on his work. This first opportunity to see the exhibition in Italy follows its previous presentations in Germany, Japan, Korea, China, Russia and Spain.