An artwork on Galleree from The Art Institute of Chicago.
About the artwork
Forest and SunMax Ernst
French, born Germany, 1891–1976
1927
66 × 82.5 cm (26 × 32 1/2 in.)
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler
['forests', 'suns', 'grattage', 'frottage', 'automatism', 'petrified', 'trees']
['painting', 'Surrealism Highlights', 'oil on canvas']
['oil paint (paint)', 'canvas']
['oil painting', 'painting (image making)']
['Essentials']
Among his many recollections of childhood, Max Ernst often recounted his fear and fascination with the forest that surrounded his home. He wrote of feeling “delight and oppression and what the Romantics called ‘emotion in the face of Nature.’” By expressing his thoughts in these terms, Ernst linked himself with the spiritual landscape tradition of Romanticism, which conceived of an invisible realm at work in the natural world.
This dark and mysterious forest scene dates to one of the most creative periods of Ernst’s career. Spurred by the Surrealist leader André Breton’s proclamation of “pure psychic automatism” as an artistic ideal, he developed the innovative technique of frottage, his term for the method of reproducing a relief design (like the surface of a piece of wood) by laying paper or canvas over it and rubbing it with a pencil, charcoal, or another medium. In Forest and Sun Ernst used this technique to create a petrified forest, which he imbued with a sense of primordial otherworldliness. By scraping away almost-dry paint on the canvas (a process he called grattage), the artist produced the encircled sun at the center of the composition. Ernst painted six variations of the forest and sun theme. As in the other five canvases, the tree trunks suggest a letter in the artist’s name: in this case, a capital M.
| attributed to Art Institute of Chicago under CC-By license
In the heart of a shadowy forest, where the light danced timidly through the dense canopy, young Max Ernst both feared and embraced the wild beauty that surrounded his childhood home. This mystical place, rich with the whispers of ancient trees and the soft rustle of leaves, held a duality of delight and oppression for him. He would often reflect on this paradox, describing an almost spiritual awakening in nature, where he felt what the Romantics poetically termed “emotion in the face of Nature.”
This interplay of fear and fascination fostered a profound connection to the spiritual realm, a place where the visible intertwined seamlessly with the invisible. Ernst’s experience became the foundation for a rich creative journey that would unfold on canvas, echoing the sentiments of those Romantic dreams.
In the midst of a prolific artistic period, a wave of inspiration surged through his veins—ignited by the fervent ideas of Surrealist leader André Breton. Ernst found himself drawn to the concept of “pure psychic automatism,” a philosophy that urged artists to relinquish conscious control and let the subconscious guide their hands. It was during this time that he pioneered a striking technique known as frottage. Imagine him in his studio, laying sheets of paper over rough surfaces—old wood, perhaps, its texture telling stories of generations past—then gently rubbing with pencils or charcoal, coaxing forth a haunting relief design.
The result was an otherworldly vision of a petrified forest, where trees stood like silent sentinels beneath a sun encircled in a cosmic embrace. In his artwork titled *Forest and Sun*, Ernst wielded not only frottage but also a technique he dubbed grattage, scraping away almost-dry paint to reveal the sunlight’s heart, casting a glow of primordial essence into the composition.
What followed was a series of six variations on this theme, each one a testament to his deep artistry and connection to nature. Interestingly, in this canvas—as in the others—Ernst wove his initials into the fabric of the trees. The trunks morphed into a capital “M,” a subtle yet profound signature, representing not just his identity but also an intimate conversation with the shadows and light of the forest that had so shaped him.
Max Ernst’s journey into the depths of nature was more than mere inspiration; it was a dialogue—a quest that invited viewers into the very heart of creation and the unfathomable essence of life itself.
About the artist
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