Description:
abstract
Label Text:
Ernst was a major figure in the avant-garde artistic movement known as Surrealism. Along with other Surrealist artists, he viewed painting as a form of automatism, or performance without a specific intention that largely relies on the subconscious. Ernst was not formally trained as an artist but he studied philosophy, psychiatry, and art history, all of which influenced his art. Moving away from figurative painting, his shapes and forms may be understood in multiple ways. The head of a bull is evoked through the painting’s title, abstracted forms, and the color red, but is not necessarily the only subject of this painting. We are each meant to view this work according to our own perceptions and experiences.
Born in Germany, Ernst served in the German army during World War I but he became disenchanted by his experience
of war. He sought to free himself from European culture by uprooting Western academic art, challenging social mores,
and questioning Christianity.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1991.36.1 |
