MAX ERNST After I Sleep, 1970

Max Ernst (April 2, 1891 – April 1, 1976) was a German painter, sculptor, and poet, renowned as a founding figure of the Dada and Surrealist movements. Having lived through both World Wars, Ernst's work revolutionized artistic expression. During WWII, he was arrested by the Gestapo but escaped with the help of Peggy Guggenheim and journalist Varian Fry, fleeing to the U.S. in 1941. In New York, he contributed to the development of Abstract Expressionism alongside artists like Marcel Duchamp and Marc Chagall. Ernst later married Dorothea Tanning in 1946. His art was defined by constant experimentation, employing techniques such as frottage, grattage, and decalcomania to express the irrational and unexplainable, pushing the boundaries of traditional painting.