Max Ernst

Max Ernst was a German-born artist who became a naturalized American in 1948 and French in 1958. He was a pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic training, but his experimental attitude toward the making of art resulted in his invention of frottage and grattage, techniques that use pencil rubbings and paint scraping to create images. He also used collage and novel drawing methods to produce his artworks. He served as a soldier for four years during World War I, and this experience left him shocked, traumatised and critical of the modern world. During World War II he was designated an "undesirable foreigner" while living in France. He escaped to the United States with the help of Peggy Guggenheim, whom he married in 1942. He later divorced her and married Dorothea Tanning, another surrealist artist. He returned to France in 1953 and continued to work until his death in 1976. He was a prolific artist who created many paintings, sculptures, prints, graphic works, and poems. He was influenced by Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, and the art of the mentally ill. He also influenced many other artists such as Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. He was awarded the Grand Prize for painting at the Venice Biennale in 1954. He is widely regarded as one of the most original and influential artists of the 20th century.