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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
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Dadaville was a cityscape prepared by Max Ernst in 1924. He was a key figure at Cologne Dada before he made his way to Paris and enjoined the Surrealism movement. He used oil painted plaster and mixed cork to work on his canvas service, resulting in a strange creation.

Today, the piece of art is privately owned and not on display. It was prepared at a time when Max was starting to appreciate his inner conscious. He would refine the pieces of art in later creations that he was best known for by art enthusiasts.

Ernst's Dadaism roots ensured that he knew all that was involved in the style. His experimental use of mixed materials for his creative work may have been because of various inspirations and preferences. First, Ernst was eager to try other materials and not the traditional ones just to see the outcome of his work. Unfortunately, he seems not to have explored the use of such materials later in life. Second, the use of the material may have been a reflection of his style of art, shaky, but had resilient nature. The piece of work resembled a wall that surrounded a village that the reader cannot see. However, even though the wall looks strong, it also seems to be crumbling away in some areas. This may have served to show that the toughness and resilience of the type of art were finally failing.

Ernst used the Dadaism style of painting to create his art. This style of painting came to be around the First World War. It aimed to use the meaningless things to send the message across or ridicule the existing norms of the society. Specific areas that the style was against included the nationalistic and nationalistic attitudes that were much alive at that period. It was associated with such concepts as the absurd, grotesque and the macabre. Artists, who used this type of art, including Arthur Adamov and Jean Genet, tried to simplify their artistic images to convey the meanings of life from a much lower perspective that was shown to the world at the time.

The style of art is believed to be the one that founded Surrealism, a style that Max Ernst is best known for by the public. Therefore, starting with simple and absurd creation, Ernst graduated to creating deeper pieces that included At the First Clear Word, The Robing of the Bride, Forest and Dove and Europe after the Rain II. Some of the ideas of the period are still in use in today’s modern art.