Max Ernst

MAX ERNST (Brühl, Germany, 1891 – Paris, 1976).
“Monkey Pursued by an Elephant for a Flight of Hat,” 1974.
Color lithograph on paper, print no. 56/99.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
Printed by Pierre Chave.
Bibliographic reference: Spies/Leppien, no. B1014.
Measurements: 58 x 47 cm (image); 76.6 x 57 cm (paper).

This lithograph captures with particular clarity the world of Max Ernst, where absurd humor, metamorphosis, and irrational association transform the image into a sort of surrealist hieroglyph. In the center, an elephant chases an ape-like figure—a deliberately incongruous scene surrounded by a wreath of medallions featuring hats, feathers, and ambiguous shapes.

The work belongs to the artist’s late period, when Ernst revisited and reworked many of the techniques and symbols that had defined his career since his days in Dadaism and Surrealism. The delicate palette of blues, yellows, and violets is a hallmark of the scene's unsettling nature, while his penchant for imaginary taxonomies ties in with his collages, graphic novels, and fantastical bestiaries.

Max Ernst was a key figure in Dadaism and Surrealism, and one of the great innovators of the visual arts in the 20th century. He experimented with techniques such as collage, frottage, grattage, and decalcomania, exploring chance and the unconscious as driving forces of creation. His work is held in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate.