Max ERNST. Aquis submersus. 1919. 54 X 43.8,
Francfort, Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie
Max Ernst
Aquis Submersus, 1919
Aquis submersus means “submerged in
water” and is the title of a novella by Theodor Storm relating the tragic
events of a forbidden love affair and the death of the child born of it. When
Max Ernst worked on this small canvas, he was at the threshold to surrealist
art. Here he was reacting specifically to the unreal, magic worlds in the
“pittura metafisica” of the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico. Among the
features Ernst adopted from them were the strong central perspective with the
overly accentuated vanishing lines, the formation of space by means of
simplified architectural constructs, the distinct shadows, and the clock at the
upper edge of the canvas. The motionlessness of the objects and beings should
have a stabilising effect, but is in fact disquieting. One surreal aspect of
the work is its rejection of stringent logic. Take the clock, for example: it
is hanging on the sky – or is it a wall? What is more, in the murky water it is
reflected as the moon. Spatial questions are answered no more satisfactorily
than questions as to the meanings of the pictorial elements, many of which
convey a certain sense of humour.
© VG Bild-Kunst
