Feast of the Gods - Max Ernst
Archival giclée
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Description
A 1920 oil painting by Max Ernst, featuring geometric abstraction and the surrealist motifs that defined his early career.
Feast of the Gods, painted by Max Ernst in 1920, represents a period of transition in the artist's career as he moved from the influence of Expressionism toward the formation of the Cologne Dada group. The composition is structured around geometric forms and sharp, angular planes that suggest a mechanical or architectural interpretation of human figures. The palette relies on high-contrast yellows, oranges, and deep blues, which create a sense of artificiality and tension.
Ernst employs a flattened perspective, typical of his early experiments with collage and assemblage techniques translated into paint. The figures appear as hybrid entities, blending organic shapes with rigid, industrial lines. This work reflects the artist's interest in the irrational and the subconscious, themes that would later define his contribution to the Surrealist movement. The central figure, encased in a pyramid of colour, acts as a pivot for the surrounding elements, which seem to float in a non-representational space. By deconstructing the traditional subject of a feast, Ernst removes the narrative comfort of the viewer, replacing it with a visual puzzle that demands careful observation of its formal construction.
The painting demonstrates the artist's early mastery of colour theory, using saturated hues to define space rather than traditional chiaroscuro. The absence of a clear horizon line or depth cues forces the eye to move across the surface, engaging with the repetition of triangular motifs and the interplay between light and shadow. This piece remains a significant example of the early twentieth-century avant-garde, capturing the restless energy of the post-war period in Germany. It is a study in the tension between order and chaos, rendered through a precise, almost clinical application of paint that denies the viewer a singular point of focus.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Feast of the Gods - Max Ernst
Artist Biography
Max Ernst
He was born in Brühl, near Cologne, and studied philosophy and art history at the University of Bonn. He had no formal art training. He saw a Picasso exhibition, joined the Rhineland Expressionists, served in the German army during the First World War (artillery), and emerged with what he described as a compulsion to find something beyond rational thought. Dada gave him the method. Surrealism gave him the framework.
His collage novels, made from cut-up Victorian engravings reassembled into dreamlike narratives, are among the most original works of the twentieth century. Une Semaine de Bonte (A Week of Kindness, 1934) is a series of 182 collages arranged in five chapters, each associated with an element and a day of the week. The imagery is violent, erotic, and funny. The source material, melodramatic Victorian illustrations, is treated with deadpan seriousness.
He married four times. His second wife was Peggy Guggenheim (briefly). His fourth was the painter Dorothea Tanning. He moved to America during the war, lived in Sedona, Arizona, and then returned to France. He died in Paris in 1976, the night before his eighty-fifth birthday.
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