Max Ernst in Arizona and the Hysterical Landscape

FAIN: FT-51720-03

Samantha Kavky
Penn State (University Park, PA 16802-1503)

The Surrealist artist Max Ernst received asylum in America at the beginning of World War II, and remained until 1956. For ten years he and his wife lived in Sedona, Arizona, where he produced numerous landscapes inspired by the unique southwestern geography. It is unfortunate that these works have received little scholarly attention considering that they mark the intersection of three distinct cultural expressions: European Surrealism, American Western Landscape Painting and Abstract Expressionism. My study explores issues of identity and dislocation as Ernst tries to literally "naturalize" himself as an American by adopting the persona of a Native American Shaman and claiming a psychological connection with the landscape itself.