Death is Something Like Cousin Cynthia

Max Ernst

1891–1976

Death is Something Like Cousin Cynthia, 1931

Where object was made: Germany

Material/technique: wove paper; photogram

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 175 x 111 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 300 x 251 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 6 7/8 x 4 3/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 11 13/16 x 9 7/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 1995.0046

Not on display

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Label texts

Archive Label 2003: Ernst made nineteen illustrations for René Crevel’s novel Babylone (1927) into a collection known as the portfolio Mr. Knife and Miss Fork. These are nicknames from the text, given by the child narrator to her father and her Cousin Cynthia, who ran away together. Ernst excerpted pages from the book to illustrate and chose particular quotes to include on the sheets of his own pencil rubbing “frottages” printed as negative images on photo-sensitive papers. The hint of menace and preoccupation with death reflects a common theme among artists and authors who experienced World War I firsthand. Four years serving in the German army had left Ernst, like many soldiers, forever scarred and wary of political conflict. When the war ended, Ernst first went to Cologne, but in 1922 he illegally relocated to Paris to join other Dada adherents and Surrealists working there. The artist was still in the city when World War II erupted, and was interned by the French as an enemy alien in 1939. He escaped from the camp twice and was hunted by German gestapo, but the Emergency Rescue Committee helped him emigrate to New York in 1941. Ernst often complained about his awkward situation as political exile and returned to Paris in 1953.