Biography for Max Ernst

Education

Ernst studied philosophy at Bonn University (1908-1914) but neglected his studies for painting when he became fascinated by the art of the insane.

Travels

Ernst lived for some time in Cologne before settling illegally in France in 1922. He fled to New York in 1941 then moved in 1946 to Sedona in Arizona, gaining U.S. citizenship in 1948. Ernst then moved again to Huimes, France where he acquired French citizenship in 1958 before moving to Seillans, France in 1963.

Employment

Ernst made contact with the Blaue Reiter group through August Macke (1887-1914) in 1911, met Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) and Robert Delauney (1885-1941) in Cologne in 1913 and Jean Arp (1887-1966) in 1914. He served as an artillery engineer during World War I. In 1919 he became leader of the Cologne Dada group and working under the name 'Dadamax' he made his first collages. In 1921 he participated in Austrian Dada activities with Arp and André Breton (1896-1966) and after moving to France, became a member of the Surrealist Movement from its formation in 1924, exhibiting at the first Surrealist group exhibition in 1925. Ernst worked with Joan Miró (1893-1983) in Paris in 1926 on the decor for Sergei Diaghilev's ballet 'Romeo and Juliet' and whilst there he associated with Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) and Salvador Dalí (1904-89). In New York in 1942 he collaborated with Breton, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and David Hare (b.1917) on the periodical 'VVV'. Ernst was briefly a visiting lecturer at the University of Hawaii before moving and working in France from 1953 until his death in Paris on 1 April 1976.