Max Ernst was born in Cologne in 1898. He grew up in the environment of the Dada movement, where he was exposed to works of surrealism, cubism, and futurism. He began to paint when he was only thirteen years old and soon became influenced by primitive art. He left home at seventeen to study painting in Paris with Pierre Desein and Hans Arp, who encouraged him to experiment with techniques such as collage
His first exhibition was held during World War I at the Galerie Der Sturmfuhrer, a Berlin gallery inspired by his brother Hansi's avant-garde woodcuts. In 1922 he moved to Brussels, where he met André Breton, Paul Éluard, Guillaume Apollinaire, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. Breton introduced him to the Surrealists and it is said that his first Surrealist painting was a wooden head which he called La tête de "l'homme qui regarde en rond".
In 1924 Ernst returned to Cologne where he married Marguerite Bonin. Their daughter Lisa was born in 1927. In 1930 Ernst moved back to Paris and founded his own studio called "La Côte Basque".
In the same year he joined the Society of Independent Artists, a group which included Richard Deacon, Victor Brauner and Georges Mathieu.
When the artist finds himself he is lost. The fact that he has succeeded in never finding himself is regarded by Max Ernst as his only lasting achievement.Max Ernst
Art has nothing to do with taste. Art is not there to be tastedMax Ernst
Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.Max Ernst
