Arp, Max Ernst, A. Giacometti, Miro, Gonzalez
Max Ernst
French and American, born Germany. 1891–1976
1934
A 1934 letterpress poster by Max Ernst created to advertise an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich, using playful, surreal imagery to point viewers toward a roster of modern artists.
A broad white field is punctuated by a vertical array of gradient-colored Victorian pointing hands that converge visually on a finely etched, anatomical profile of a head, while bold, ornate purple-and-red lettering at the bottom grounds the composition with exhibition dates.
The work shows how Surrealist artists crossed into graphic design, using letterpress techniques and psychoanalytic motifs to bring avant-garde ideas into public exhibition culture and help reshape modern visual communication.
Medium
Letterpress
Dimensions
38 1/8 X 27 3/8" (96.8 X 69.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Kunsthaus Zürich
Accession
155.1952
Palette
Exhibitions
