Max Ernst

Max Ernst was a foundational figure in both the Dada and Surrealist movements, creating works that were as unsettling as they were innovative. His artistic journey, marked by automatism, frottage, and grattage, was less about cultural heritage and more about the uncanny, the illogical, and whatever might lurk behind the velvet curtains of the human psyche. One could argue his contributions were profound enough to make anyone kvell, regardless of shared ancestry.

Born in Brühl, Germany, Ernst managed to serve in World War I, which apparently fueled his later anti-establishment and irrational artistic expressions. He then hopped between artistic hubs like Cologne and Paris, becoming a key player alongside André Breton and Salvador Dalí, proving that even a German Gentile could inspire a movement full of angst and Freudian slips.

His Jewish score, however, remains stubbornly at zero across the board. While his work delved deep into human experience and challenged conventional thought—something many Jewish thinkers have excelled at—Ernst himself was as Jewish as a ham sandwich, which is to say, not at all. He eventually became an American citizen, escaping Nazi persecution, though not for any personal Jewishness, but rather for being a 'degenerate artist.'