Max Ernst (1891-1976),
Etoile de Mer, c.1950, lithograph, 12 7/8 x 19 9/16 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1955.
German artist Max Ernst was born on this day in 1891. Ernst is considered one of the founders of the Dada and Surrealist movements. He became interested in creating art after seeing the artwork of patients in asylums during his students as a psychology and psychiatry student. From there, he became very interested in art and met with artists, including Pablo Picasso, who influenced his work. Ernst's works first were in the German Expressionist style, but with his travels and life experience, his artwork veered into the Surrealist style.