A Dada and Surrealist painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Ernst experimented with the technique of frottage, or rubbing, in an attempt to probe the unconscious. He created these images by rubbing various materials—wood, crumpled paper, crusts of bread—with a pencil or crayon through a sheet of paper, then allowing the resulting textures to inspire him to invent strange landscapes, objects, and animals.
Gallery label from Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities, July 30–November 10, 2008.
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