The whole city
| The whole city |
|---|
| Max Ernst , 1935/36 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 60 × 81 cm |
|
Kunsthaus Zurich , Zurich
Link to the picture |
| The whole city |
|---|
| Max Ernst , 1935/36 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 97 × 145 cm |
| Privately owned
Link to the picture |
The whole city (French: La ville entière ) is the title of surrealist paintings by the painter and sculptor Max Ernst , which he created in Paris in 1935/36 after numerous preliminary studies. The smaller picture with the dimensions 60 × 81 cm is in the possession of the Kunsthaus Zürich in Zurich, the larger one with the dimensions 97 × 145 cm is privately owned.
Description and interpretation
The pictures show mysterious, ruin-like buildings reminiscent of fortresses or temples as a petrified city on a mountain with a desolate appearance. Lush, jungle-like plants grow in the foreground and seem to engulf the buildings in the middle distance. The smaller Swiss version is vaulted by a huge sun disk, it shows a ruined castle at the top. The sunless version, on the other hand, shows several buildings with columns that are reminiscent of an acropolis . The image composition, produced using the artistic grattage technique invented by Max Ernst , is in the tradition of romantic world visions. The mountain landscape is reminiscent of Albrecht Altdorfer . In the motifs of the superimposed layers, the artist oriented himself on his earlier collages from the 1920s , which he had created from natural history illustrations from the 19th century. In addition to the memories of lost civilizations with archaic temple architecture, a vision of the future may also appear in the picture. The painting offers the viewer the imaginary and dreamlike visions of the surrealist artist.
literature
- Ulrich Bischoff : Max Ernst 1891–1976. Beyond painting . Taschen, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-8228-0244-1 ; New edition 2009 ISBN 978-3-8228-6594-1
Web links
- La ville entière. The whole city in: Fondation Beyeler , Riehen near Basel (keyword Max Ernst)
- Designed in 1934 at the Tate Gallery , London
