Mr. Knife, Miss Fork
<p><em>Mr. Knife, Miss Fork</em> is a petite, embellished book that includes writing by René Crevel and 19 photograms by Max Ernst. To make the photograms, Ernst first employed frottage, a technique that involves rubbing graphite on a piece of translucent paper (or tissue) placed upon a textured material. He then laid the tissue paper over a photosensitive paper to create a reverse image––effectively turning the rubbing into a photographic negative. This technique was significant to the Surrealist movement; it allowed artists to draw images from the subconscious and create unusual juxtaposition through chance. The book’s text is a translation of the first chapter of René Crevel’s 1927 novel <em>Babylone</em>, a landmark of Surrealist literature that embraced themes of revolt and fear.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1931
- Dimensions
- 18.5 × 12.5 × 1.8 cm (7 5/16 × 4 15/16 × 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Max Ernst
Artist
Painting
Max Ernst was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic training, but his experimental attitude toward the making of art resulted in his invention of frottage—a technique that uses pencil rubbings of textured objects and relief surfaces to create images—and grattage, an analogous technique in which paint is scraped across canvas to reveal the imprints of the objects placed beneath. Ernst is noted for his unconventional drawing methods as well as for creating novels and pamphlets using the method of collages. He served as a soldier for four years during World War I, which left him shocked, traumatised and critical of the modern world. During World War II he was designated an "undesirable foreigner" while living in France.
Full artist profile →More
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Plate (folio 20) from Hommage à Roger Lacourière
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Page 16 from 65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy (65 Maximiliana ou l'exercice illégal de l'astronomie)
1964 · Page from an illustrated book with twenty-eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints
Wrapper from 65 Maximiliana ou l'exercice illégal de l'astronomie
1964 · Wrapper from an illustrated book with twenty-eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints
65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Practice of Astronomy (65 Maximiliana ou l'exercice illégal de l'astronomie)
1964 · Illustrated book with twenty-eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints
Page 1 from 65 Maximiliana ou l'exercice illégal de l'astronomie
1964 · Page from an illustrated book with twenty-eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints
Hommage a Rimbaud
1961 · Etching with aquatint in two colors on paper
Record
Verified by WattsOSSource
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified