Europe after the rain
| Europe after the rain II |
|---|
| Max Ernst , 1940–42 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 54.8 x 147.8 cm |
| Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
Link to the picture |
Europe after the rain (French: L'Europe après la pluie , English Europe After the Rain ) is the title of two paintings by the surrealist painter and sculptor Max Ernst , which he created in two versions in 1933 and from 1940 to 1942. Europe after the Rain I was acquired by the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe in 2007 . The second painting, Europe after the Rain II , measuring 54.8 × 147.8 cm, is in the possession of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
Description and interpretation
Europe after the rain I
After the profound political changes in Germany and Europe, Max Ernst created Europe after the Rain I in Paris in 1933 . The picture consists of a plaster relief and shows the map of Europe without national borders. The boot of Italy has disappeared as well as parts of Spain and France. The Mediterranean can be seen, but is shown without any connection to the Atlantic. Europe appears to have been hit by a major natural disaster.
Europe after the rain II
In 1940 the artist started the second version in France before fleeing into exile in the USA. Since he could not transport the picture himself, he sent it to “Max Ernst c / o Museum of Modern Art ” before fleeing ; it arrived in New York almost at the same time as the artist. In 1942 he completed this second version. The picture painted in the technique Décalcomanie, newly invented by Ernst, shows living beings as well as women's bodies in a petrified-looking, leafless swamp from which rock formations protrude, some of which are walled in or, like Lot's wife from the Old Testament, solidified into a pillar of salt. The image could prophetically point to the consequences of the devastation wrought by World War II .
appropriation
The Austrian surrealist Wolfgang Paalen created the picture Pays interdit (Forbidden Land) in 1936/37 , in whose apocalyptic Paalen himself wanted to discover a parallel to Max Ernst's painting.
In 1978 the documentary Europe After the Rain was directed by Mick Gold , which dealt with the topics of Dada and Surrealism.
The painting title inspired the British musician John Foxx . The song Europe After the Rain was the opening title for his 1981 album The Garden .
British science fiction writer JG Ballard was inspired by the surrealists and especially by Max Ernst. His collection of short stories Memories of the Space Age from 1988 shows the second version of the painting on the cover.
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
- Troy Dole: Max Ernst and Europe after the Rain II (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Culture: A major work of surrealism , karlsruhe.de, accessed on October 21, 2012
- ↑ Europe after the rain I (fig.)
- ↑ Bischoff: Max Ernst , p. 66 f.
- ↑ Andreas Neufert : On love and death. The life of the surrealist Wolfgang Paalen . Parthas, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-86964-083-9 , p. 284
- ^ Europe After the Rain , imdb.com, accessed November 19, 2011
- ^ The Garden , allmusic.com, accessed November 19, 2011
- ↑ Memories of the Space Age , ballardian.com, accessed November 19, 2012
