Attirement of the Bride (L'habillement de l'épousée (de la mariée)), 1940. Oil on canvas, 51 x 37 7/8 inches. Peggy Guggenheim Collection. 76.25

Written by Michael Chan 2007.

Max Ernst (April 2, 1891 – April 1, 1976) is one of the master artists that I admired. He has study in University of Bonn in liberal arts, but self-taught as a Surrealism painter. He also was an artist with different knowledge in Germanic and Romance languages and literature, art history, psychology and psychiatry[1]. “He was interest in seditious philosophy and unorthodox”[2]. I believe that these background which help one artist to have more layers of complexity in building of the content of artworks and new-way of thinking in representation. With these backgrounds not mean a crucial formula of success in art world. But with his braveness of getting out of the existing constraint and the existing boundary of art history and critic at his time maybe a critical inside elements that make him as one of the great and successful artist within his own lifetime. In addition, Max Ernst attract me was he has applied the method of dream interpretation and the discipline of psychoanalysis which influence by Sigmund Freud’s “Leonardo” essay[3] that make the content and visual contain a special atmosphere which I believe that other artist has did not have. With reference to the book Max Ernst by Ulrich Bischoff, Taschen, Ulrich said “The conscious incorporation of insights gain from reading “The Interpretation of Dreams” and the ”Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious” distinguishes Ernst from other artist of the Dada period…”[4] also coherent with my personal experience towards Max Ernst. In my journey of studying art, I am finding ways of representation and reordering my unconscious into my artwork and using sex appeal as the part of my representation of my own scare about future.  Max Ernst did a good example to me. He rejected the narrow bourgeois view of culture at his time and make good use of unconscious[5]. I believe that here is a relationship of his background and interest in Freud’s theories. All these have lead to my supportive thinking towards my own intention to find a piece of artwork by Max Ernst inside the collection from Guggenheim.

In this assignment, I have choose Attirement of the Bride (L'habillement de l'épousée (de la mariée), 1940 by Max Ernst. I choose this painting for my discussion because I can identify this is a good art, not because Guggenheim Museum has collected this painting. Other than the visual itself, the creation of this painting give me a sense of consciousness of expressing himself, even though he may have apply unconscious inside his painting. With reference to R.G. Collingwood, he identify good art is truthful and consciousness[6]. Collingwood have said that “…. To raise the psycho-physical activity of painting to the level of art by becoming conscious of it, and converting it from a physical experience into an imaginative one.” In addition, Collingwood also mention “What the artist is trying to do is to express a given emotion. To express it and to express it well, are the same thing” I believe that the outbreak of World War II has a deep influence in Max personally. In 1939/40, Max has arrested after Germany advance in France. He has escaped and was arrested again several times before he flee to America, with the help from Peggy Guggenheim, who was an influential sponsor of arts and Max’s close friend[7]. The impression and the actual affection by World War II were given an emotion against his personal safety and raise the concern of about where is a good place for him to continue his art career, which was his future. Inside this painting, Max want to express his view of political consciousness with a hidden reference to the dangers involved in a marriage of French Bride to the German Barbarian[8]. He had shown untruthfulness with the war and Nazism.

This painting was a totally different from the pervious artwork and the coming artwork by Max Ernst himself. This is the 2^nd last painting that he created in Europe before he flees to America. Inside this painting, Max constructed the visual with repeating of sex organ from female and male many times in addition with birdman – which he called Loplop[9], the alter ego that he has invented in 1930[10] inside his painting Loplop introduce Loplop.  Using contrast of color of green and red to separate the bride and the birdman which I believe that Max want to contradicting the behind meaning of these two subject matter, with addition of a little monster combining of male and female with a sad face which represent the meaning of a baby that will born by them and will sad about the future world. This point that I have mention in the early paragraph that I am also interested in using sex appeal to represent my scare of my own future.

In addition, I found some clue to my query about why this painting was fall into the Collection of Guggenheim Museum. Inside my research, I found that Peggy Guggenheim want to acquire artworks from Max in 1938. Because the World War II is near and with the help by an American journalist Varian Fry, Max and Peggy Guggenheim flee to America and arrive in America in 1941, then, Max and Peggy were married the following year[11]. I believe that this might be an underlying reason other than Max was a talented artist.

Bibliography:

1. Charles Harrison & Paul Wood, New Art in Theory 1900-2000, Anthology of changing Ideas, Blackwell Publishing, 2002

2.Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 2005

3. Michael Clarke, Concise Dictionary of Art Terms, Oxford University Press 2003

4. Max Ernst, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Guggenheim Museum http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_md_45_2.html (Access 13 Sept, 07)

5. Surrealism (Up-dated 1978) Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Guggenheim Museum

http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_35.html(access 13 Sept, 07)

6 Giorgio de Chirico (Up-dated 1978) Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Guggenheim Museum http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_35.html (access 13 Sept, 07)

 

 

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[1] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:7-8

[2] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:8

[3] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:14

[4] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:15

[5] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:20

[6] Charles Harrison & Paul Wood, Art in Theory 1900-2000, An Anthology of changing ideas, Blackwell Publishing, 2003:536-539

[7] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:64

[8] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:64

[9] http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_md_45_2.html

[10] Ulrich Bischoff, Max Ernst, Taschen, Germany, 1987:49

[11] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ernst