Frontispiece from Le Château étoilé

1934–1935

“Une semaine de bonté” and the first sculptures

In 1934 appeared Ernst’s next collage novel, Une semaine de bonté. He spent the summers of 1934 and 1935 at Maloja with the sculptor family Giacometti and turned to sculpture.

1936

Shows at MoMA and in London; decalcomania

In 1936 Ernst took part in the exhibition Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism at MoMA in New York and in the large surrealist exhibition in London; that year Óscar Domínguez introduced decalcomania, which Ernst began to use in oil painting.

1937

Leonora Carrington: a passion and a house in the Ardèche

In 1937, at Roland Penrose’s in London, Ernst met Leonora Carrington, who had been struck by his paintings at the surrealist exhibition a year earlier. A passion flared between them and Leonora followed him to Paris; he left his wife and lived with her for several years, buying a house at Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche where he made many frescoes and sculptures.

1937

The text “Au-delà de la peinture” in “Cahiers d’art”

In 1937 a special issue of Cahiers d’art published Ernst’s text Au-delà de la peinture on his work from 1918 to 1936; that year he also designed Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu enchaîné.

1938

Peggy Guggenheim buys his work

In 1938 Peggy Guggenheim acquired a significant part of Max Ernst’s works and displayed them in her new gallery in London.