Max Ernst is a well-known surrealist who hints at the potential grotesque images contained within the subconscious mind in his oil on canvas painting “Celebes.” The beheaded nude female figure in the presence of a mechanical beast in the form of an elephant can be difficult to wrap one’s head around. Perhaps the elephant is the reason the woman no longer has a head? Perhaps the lack of a head represents that she has allowed her head to venture into the subconscious and the images contained in the painting are what she has imagined. |
Ernst,
M (Artist). 1921. Celebes [oil on canvas]. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ernst-celebes-t01988
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