The Nymph Echo Max Ernst Buy Art Prints Now
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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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The Nymph Echo refers to an oil painting, written by Max Ernst, a German artist, graphic artist, sculptor, and poet. This painting lives in New York, in the Museum of Modern Art. The image is used following educational approaches and is referred to as the nymph, garden and flowers.

Ernst painted the echo of a nymph with oil paint in 1936. A closer look on the upper right reveals a naked woman. She is said to be an echo, a mountain sprite in the Greek tradition. A giant flower or plant is a representation of a narcissus. Echo felt so much love for Narcissus, but they suppose that what he fell in love with is his reflection and misused his unfulfilled desires, eventually turning into a flower. This artwork is intended to demonstrate the moment of metamorphosis. This is a very bright portrait consisting of green, purple, pink and blue. In case you take your time and focus on the picture, you can see a big bird with human hands because of his charm and alter ego Loplop.

This canvas reflects the modern age because it is a surreal work of art. The surrealism movement was founded in 1924 by the poet Breton and tried to unleash the power of conceptions. Surrealist painters created extraordinary creatures from everyday objects and developed methods with which the unconscious could express themselves. These pictures should not make sense. They should allow you to explore your imagination and interpret it for everyone. In The Nymph Echo what is seen is that the creature was made from leaves and flowers. A lot happens on this portrait, for instance, birds with human hands and a small stark-naked woman in the upper right corner.

When you look at this portrait for the first time, many things come to mind and you begin to understand what this can or may mean. The Nymph Echo is one of the most famous paintings by the artist. Many portraits made use of similar methods. Similar shapes and colours can be found in diverse works. The tone of the contrast, colours, depth and perspective, the image of complete disruption leaves traces in our imagination. It is an amazing portrait.