Max Ernst (1891- 1976) is one of the most photographed artists of the 20th century. Private snapshots, classic portraits and posed arrangements with his artist friends recall his multifaceted personality as well as his colorful and creative life.
With a selection of around 150 chosen images, the exhibition presents for the first time the extensive collection holdings of the Max Ernst Museum, including an endowment of the artist Dorothea Tanning, Max Ernst’s fourth wife. It also features photographs from Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yousuf Karsh, Robert Lebeck, Lee Miller, Arnold Newman, Irving Penn, Edward Quinn and Man Ray, among others.
The exhibit offers a photographic perspective on Ernst’s life, which was marked by his personal experience of two world wars, changes of location and his involvement with the group of Dadaists and Surrealists. It also highlights the question of the artist‘s own image: the way of depicting oneself as well as and above all, under the gaze of others through the camera lens.
