Between Chance and Transformation

Max Ernst, The Fascinating Cypress, 1940

The Surrealists not only freed themselves from the conventions of society but also questioned established practices of artistic creation. From alienation to provocation, they relied on a combination of traditional painting techniques and experimental processes to eliminate the rational control of the mind and allow creativity to unfold without restriction. Accordingly, their rejection of reason and embrace of intuitive creation are reflected not only in the content of their works but also in their surfaces.
Rapid strokes and uncontrolled movements – forms of ‘automatism’, rooted in literary practice – enabled an intuitive approach. The arbitrary combination of motifs and disparate materials allowed the fantastical to materialise in reality.
The Surrealist Max Ernst deliberately used various chance techniques to discover hidden imagery and even developed them further. He first turned to frottage, in which textures are transferred to the support by rubbing. From this, he developed grattage as a kind of reversal of this process, in which still-wet layers of paint are scraped away again with tools such as spatulas, knives, and combs, revealing patterns and objects beneath. Then there is decalcomania – a technique that involves transferring paint onto the picture surface, causing unforeseen branching patterns, colour gradients, textures, and biomorphic forms to emerge, which Ernst then elaborated into rock-like landscapes, bizarre crystalline worlds, and hidden creatures. He depicted nature in a wholly defamiliarised form, thereby creating ambiguous experiences of nature.

Leonor Fini met Max Ernst at a party. Acquaintances became lovers, after which a lifelong friendship developed. The extent to which his work and his preferred techniques influenced her can only be surmised.
In Fini’s case, it is the works of her ‘mineral period’ that reveal this experimental approach most clearly. The works from this creative period differ markedly from her other art, which is usually imbued with symbolism and strongly figurative. She uses luminous, contrasting colours to evoke the elements. Crystalline structures and fossil formations suggest mineral-like bodies that scarcely retain any human anatomy. They appear as if captured in a snapshot for eternity, in the midst of their metamorphosis, frozen on the canvas – some as though they were taking shape anew, others as though they were dissolving. Yet these transformations are never presented as forms of death; rather, Fini depicts intermediate states, transitions, and transformations.
This makes it clear that the experimental techniques in Surrealism served less of a decorative purpose and went far beyond mere technical innovations. They served as a means of evoking inner visual worlds and making processes of transformation visible.