Soleil Crocodile, Max Ernst

Archive Label 2003:
The title of this collage literally translated is “Sun Crocodile,” a meaningless pairing of words. It is not the meaning of the words, but the sound of them in combination that likely appealed to Max Ernst. Nonsense words and word sounds were an element of both the Dada and Surrealist movements of which Ernst was a leader in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. He remained a vital force in the development of modern art until his death. Never satisfied with traditional techniques for the visualization of his typically cryptic and incongruous images, Ernst experimented freely with various materials and was particularly innovative in his use of collage and his invention of frottage (texture rubbings).

From Ernst’s early frottages of the 1920s to his late works, such as Soleil Crocodile, he sustained an interest in the mixed media collage technique. He typically used subconscious sources for the abstract designs of his collages, an essential element of the Surrealist spirit that pervaded modern art in the 1930s. Ernst continues his fascination with the subconscious in Soliel Crocodile, a combination of such disparate objects as sandpaper, imitation snakeskin, painted fabric, and a painted panel that results in an abstract but personally meaningful vision.