Max Ernst (1891–1976) was a pioneering German-born French artist who served as a central figure in both the Dada and Surrealism movements. Born on April 2, 1891, in Brühl, Germany, Ernst was largely self-taught, receiving no formal art training from his father, who was an amateur painter. He enrolled at the University of Bonn in 1909 to study philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, and art history before ultimately abandoning his academic career to pursue art full-time.
After serving in the German army during World War I, Ernst co-founded the Cologne Dada group in 1919 to challenge traditional bourgeois culture through provocative, anti-art expressions. He moved to Paris in 1922 and became a founding member of the Surrealist circle, focusing on unlocking the unconscious mind through innovative artistic techniques. During this highly creative period, he invented "frottage" (rubbing pencils over textured surfaces) and "decalcomania" (pressing paint between surfaces), while also creating early "collage novels" like The Woman with 100 Heads.
With the outbreak of World War II, Ernst was briefly imprisoned in France as an undesirable alien. He managed to escape to the United States in 1941 with the help of art patron Peggy Guggenheim, whom he briefly married. In 1946, he married artist Dorothea Tanning, and the couple moved to Sedona, Arizona, where Ernst created striking desert-inspired landscapes and sculptures. He eventually returned to Europe and passed away on April 1, 1976, in Paris, France.